Community Briefs

The Downers Grove Area FISH Pantry will hold a volunteer recruitment and training session from 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 14 at Community Bank of Downers Grove, 1111 Warren Ave.

The pantry, at 4340 Prince St., provides support to residents in need living in Darien, Downers Grove, Lisle, Westmont and Woodridge. Volunteers are needed to help at the food pantry, drive clients to medical appointments and to handle telephone requests for assistance.

FISH maintains a free food pantry and clothing closet from 9 to 11:15 a.m. Monday and Friday. Assistance is provided to approximately 500 people each month.

FISH is a nonprofit, volunteer-run program supported by donations of food, clothing and financial aid.

FISH provides food and clothing, financial assistance for rent or mortgage, and car repair for those who qualify. It also provides eyeglasses to elementary school children and senior citizens in need.

To register, call Janet Pleimling at 630-968-4700 no later than Nov. 11. Materials and lunch are provided courtesy of the Community Bank. No FISH funds are used for this program.

St. Joan of Arc parishioners will be going door to door in Lisle and in western Downers Grove from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 8 collecting donations of nonperishable food and paper products for its annual Harvest Sunday Food Drive. Parishioners will be distributing fliers, picking up donations and sorting, packing and distributing food. Donations will be shared with local families as well as with the Lisle Township Food Pantry, FISH Food Pantry in Downers Grove and the People's Resource Center in Wheaton.

Seven of SEASPAR's Special Olympic Golfers participated in the Outdoor Sports Festival last month in Decatur.

The golfers received gold medals at the area competition Aug. 3, which qualified them to go to state. State results are as follows:

Gold Medal: Molly Sosnowski of Lisle, Randy Naberhaus of Woodridge and Jeff Osowski and Mark Maloney, both of Downers Grove.

Silver Medal: JoAnn Adamski of Downers Grove and Michele Forzley of Westmont.

Bronze Medal: Adam Sikora of Lisle.

The Downers Grove Park District Museum is seeking donations of historic photographs, paintings, clothing and other objects that are directly related to Downers Grove and its history.

The museum's mission is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret materials that explain and document the history of Downers Grove and its relationship to local, state, regional and national history.

The Park District Museum follows established museum standards and procedures and requires appropriate documentation when acquiring donations. The museum staff is prohibited from providing appraisals of monetary value.

Visit www.dgparks.org or call 630-963-1309. The office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday with public tours from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday through Friday.

Achieve long-term benefits in a high-energy and inspiring environment at the Downers Grove Park District Fitness Center's new aerobic exercise class, ZUMBA. Classes will take place from 10 to 10:55 a.m. Mondays and Fridays at the Recreation Center, 4500 Belmont Road, Downers Grove. ZUMBA is a Latin inspired fitness class that uses fast and slow rhythms along with international zest to tone and sculpt your body with an effective fat-burning aerobic workout. To participate, purchase a one-time visit, 10-visit, 20-visit or 30-visit FitCard from the Recreation Center or at www.dgparks.org.

Call 630-963-1300.

The Panther Junior Football Association collected nonperishable food items for the Immanuel Food Pantry, 5211 Carpenter St., Downers Grove at its recent Homecoming/Parent Appreciation weekend events. The pantry distributes about 30 bags of food each month.

The Center for History will hold a lunch for military veterans and their families at 11 a.m. Nov. 6 at 315 W. Front St., Wheaton. The event is part of the center's Dignity, Service & Valor oral history project. The event will offer a time for sharing artifacts, memorabilia and stories of their service time at home and abroad. Since 2002 the center has recorded more than 100 interviews with veterans and is looking for volunteers to continue the project.

A 1944 MB (Willys) World War II Military Jeep will be on display along with pieces from the center's extensive Trench Art collection.

For reservations or more information, call 630-871-6601. A $5 donation is suggested. Community briefs