Polar Plunge in Oak Brook raises money for Special Olympics Illinois

By Anna Hughes | January 8, 2025

By Anna Hughes | Photos courtesy of Special Olympics Illinois Mike McLaughlin is a multi-sport athlete. In 35 years with Special Olympics Illinois (SOILL), he’s participated in volleyball, basketball, softball, bocce ball, and bowling. His sister, Kathy McLaughlin, is his biggest supporter, on the sidelines, cheering him on whenever her schedule allows. It’s been a…

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Girls Just Want to Give Funds: The Western Suburbs Giving Circle

By Anna Hughes | January 8, 2025

By Anna Hughes Women supporting women: that’s the core of the Western Suburbs Giving Circle (WSGC). The WSGC is a subset of the Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW), an organization focused on bringing health, safety, and economic prosperity to women, girls, transgender, and nonbinary individuals across the Chicagoland area. Since 1985, they’ve invested over $50…

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Oak Brook Sports Core: A Year of Growth and Innovation

By Magazine Staff | January 8, 2025

Changes made in 2024, including financial and facilities improvements are positioning the Oak Brook Sports Core for continued success and expansion in 2025 and beyond. Oak Brook Golf Club The Oak Brook Golf Club has seen a significant increase in its popularity, with rounds played rising to nearly 51,000 in 2024, a record high for…

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DuPage Foundation

By Magazine Staff | January 8, 2025

In early November, the DuPage Foundation celebrated its Annual Benefit: Through the Looking Glass at The Westin Chicago Lombard, welcoming over 425 guests. The event raised nearly $700,000, with additional contributions expected. These funds are vital to supporting the Foundation’s efforts in addressing community challenges and opportunities while aiding donors and businesses in achieving impactful…

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Assistance League Chicagoland West

By Magazine Staff | January 8, 2025

Photos by Michelle James The Assistance League Chicagoland West hosted its annual Books & Brunch in early November at The Abbington in Glen Ellyn. Close to 500 attendees joined the lively conversation with Pulitzer Prize Winner Jonathan Eig as well as authors Luis Urrea and Libby Fischer Hellmann, and moderator Andrea Thome. The Assistance League…

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Snapshot: Montini Catholic High School

By Magazine Staff | January 8, 2025

Being a teenager today is more challenging than ever and the Lasallian approach to education that Montini Catholic has provided since their founding – knowing, seeing, supporting, and loving each student – is more relevant than ever. Located in Lombard, Montini Catholic High School is a family-centered, coeducational, college preparatory high school rooted in the…

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The DuPage County Underground Railroad

By Maureen Callahan | January 8, 2025

Local Underground Railroad stations invite visitors to hear freedom seekers’ stories By Maureen Callahan From the start of slavery, freedom seekers (formerly known as enslaved people) sought a better situation than the one into which they were born or sold. The 1860s found the nation embroiled in the Great Civil War, with slavery as a…

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Snapshot: Notre Dame School

By Magazine Staff | January 8, 2025

Under the patronage of Our Blessed Mother, Notre Dame School partners with parents, the primary educators, in the sacred mission of guiding their children to Heaven. Our Catholic classical liberal arts education engages students’ natural desire for truth, beauty, and goodness. Through the integration of faith and reason, we form wise, virtuous, and free students…

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