Briefs: Safe Sitter program set

Lemont Junior Woman's Club is offering the Safe Sitter Certification Program from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 14 and 21 at the Lemont Safety Village, 55 Stephen St. This program is a medically accurate child care course developed especially for 11- to 13-year-olds.

This extensive 2-day course is taught by experts and trained volunteers. Safe Sitter teaches the skills needed to safely care for children of all ages. Classes are taught through hands-on practice, repetition, games and activities in a safe and controlled environment.

Cost is $55 a person and includes supplies and lunch.

Go to www.lemontjuniorwomansclub.org and click on the Safety Village page to locate and download the registration form. Mail the double-sided registration form, payment and self-addressed envelope to: Safety Village Programs, in care of Julie Tate, 1213 Pleasant Place, in Lemont.

Class size is limited. Please mail in as soon as possible. Students must attend both days for certification. No refunds will be granted.

Call MaryBeth Gaffney 630-243-9421 or Julie Tate 630-257-9211.

Lemont Public Library is partnering with the Women's Auxiliary of Lemont VFW Post 5819 to assist local veterans by collecting items for veterans at Hines Veterans Administration Medical Center and the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans Inc. These organizations are in need of cleaning supplies, paper products, toiletries, linens and office supplies. A complete list of items is available on the library's Webs site www.lemontlibrary.org or at the library.

Bring donations to the Circulation Desk during regular library hours through Nov. 11. For each donation, you will receive a coupon good for a free DVD rental or $1 off fines. Call Cheryl Jeans at 630-257-6541 or cljeans@lemontlibrary.org.

Two art classes for children and young teenagers will begin with Nicole Nelson, a former high school and elementary art teacher, at her home art studio at 1302 Prodehl Drive, Lockport. Each one-hour class is six weeks, and the fee for each class is $60 a student.

The classes will be on Views on Color. Students will see how color affects techniques and finished artworks in different ways.

Session A for children 5 to 8 years old will be at 4 p.m. from Thursday to Dec. 17. Session B, for children 9 to 14 years old, will be at 5:15 p.m. from Thursday to Dec. 17.

Class size will be a minimum of three and a maximum of 10.

Private lessons and semiprivate lessons also are available for preschool through retirement ages.

All classes will teach the core skills needed to see like an artist, the fundamentals of drawing techniques and how to compose layouts for artworks. Classes will explore either a historical or multicultural artist or genre each week.

Students will walk away with skills needed to create original artworks, not reproductions.

To sign up or for more information, call Nicole Nelson at 815-838-4630.

Rosanne Belczak of Homer Glen is holding a "Toyless" Toy Drive for the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation. The foundation was started in 1996 by Colleen Kisel, a Tinley Park mom who wanted to help other children with cancer after her son was diagnosed with and survived leukemia.

Kisel got donors to sponsor "Treasure Chests" filled with toys and placed them in pediatric oncology units providing gifts to children undergoing painful cancer treatments. The treasure chests are now found in 36 hospitals across the country.

A $10 donation will sponsor one toy for the treasure chest. These toys lift the spirits of children undergoing chemotherapy and other painful treatments.

Send checks payable to Treasure Chest Foundation c/o Rosanne Belczak, 13457 W. Little Creek, Homer Glen, 60491. Call 708-301-8816 for more details.

Goodings Grove School will host its Family Reading Night at the school from 6-8 p.m. Nov. 12. The event will include the Scholastic Book Fair and Cathy Meyers as storyteller. Meyers is the former Goodings Grove social worker. Also, Miss Kitty from the Homer Township Public Library will have a book talk and a book raffle.

The Lions will again have a collection for the Lemont food depositories, primarily the Bethany Lutheran and United Methodist churches. The Lions will be at the entrance to the Jewel grocery store on State Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and in front of Chipain's at the same time on Nov. 14. They will be asking shoppers to purchase nonperishable items as donations for the needy to be distributed by the local food pantries. Lemont has more than 100 deserving families in need of food every month. This past spring, the Lemont Lions first successful collection netted truckloads of food donated to the food depositories through the generosity of Lemont citizens.

Thanks Jordan is a foundation based on celebrating life. In doing so, Thanks Jordan helps families of a child with cancer maintain as much normal activity and family life as humanly possible during their present and future battles. Thanks Jordan is run completely on the kindness and generosity of volunteers, and those volunteers have reached and touched many lives.

Volunteers are needed to run the gift shop. Anyone interested can call Laurie Sloan at 773-430-8130. Stop by the gift shop at 130 E. Eighth St., Lockport.