The Kishwaukee Sunrise Rotary Club of Sycamore/DeKalb recently completed its fourth year of award selections for its annual Community Grant for Children, Youth and Families of DeKalb County. The club raises money each year through the “Taste of DeKalb” event held in September, in conjunction with the Corn Classic Run, to fund an annual $10,000 grant to local non-profit organizations with a project that will directly benefit children, youth, and/or families in the county. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, both the fund-raising efforts and the Taste of DeKalb event were impacted, resulting in reduced awards for 2020 to $5,000.The Taste of DeKalb event, originally scheduled for September 26, 2020, has been canceled, but that didn’t stop a number of community-minded business and individual donors from still contributing to the community grant. Because of their generosity, we are thankful to have awarded $5,000 to deserving projects in the county.
Awardees for 2020 include AdventureWorks, the Regional Mobilization Access Program (RAMP) and the Northern Illinois Food Bank. AdventureWorks was awarded $2,500 to support its Little Adventurers program, which is a social-emotional kindergarten readiness program for four- and five-year-olds. RAMP received $1,500 to support Project SEARCH, a unique work immersion model for at-risk high school students with developmental disabilities who are transitioning from school to work. The Northern Illinois Food Bank received $1,000 to support its Backpack Program and provide 125 food-filled backpacks to students facing a risk of hunger.