Losing for good

Residents' weight loss is Loaves & Fishes gain

Naperville residents watching their weight have found a unique form of motivation -- the Lose For Good campaign.

As local Weight Watchers members lose weight, they've also been collecting food earmarked for Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry. Within seven weeks, the group lost 6,545 pounds and collected 401 pounds of food.

"The Lose For Good campaign provides a chance for folks to adopt a healthier lifestyle, reduce their weight and help someone in need," said Barb Dwyer, coordinator of Naperville Weight Watchers Lose For Good. "Some members have brought in food donations equivalent to their weight loss so they can make sure their loss is someone else's gain."

Naperville mom Danna Korell was particularly proud of her son Jacob, a senior at Neuqua Valley High School. So much so, that she nominated him for a Local Heroes award at suntimes.upickem.net .

The contest was looking for people in the community doing extraordinary things.

The 17-year-old said he was looking for a service project and started "Savin' for Soldiers."

"While he doesn't like war itself, he wanted to find a way to say "thank you' to all of the military personnel and families that give up so much for our great country," Danna's entry said. "Jake distributed fliers all around our community and painted and designed drop boxes to be placed at various locations so that people in the community could help him collect money saving manufacturer coupons for military families."

"After sorting his stash, he totals the value of the coupons and mails them to Okinawa, Japan, a U.S. Air Force base he has chosen to 'adopt' for his project," his mom wrote. "To date Jake has collected over $120,000 in money-saving coupons."

Jake said that other than helping others, he's learned another valuable lesson.

"You can save a whole lot of money clipping coupons," he said. "When I get older, I will definitely clip coupons."

If Jake wins, he'll earn $1,000, which he says he'll put toward college, where he'll pursue physics and film production.

People can vote for Jacob at suntimes.upickem.net until 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

During a meeting this week at a local day care center in need of some financial help, State Rep. Darlene Senger, R-Naperville, shared a lesson learned the hard way on her last walk down the campaign trail.

The Aurora center's owners were wondering whether maybe they'd like to attach fliers to the windshields of cars that park in the lot at the adjacent Westfield Fox Valley Mall. Senger, who recently launched a re-election bid, doesn't suggest it.

"You can't do that," she said, smiling just a little sheepishly. "I tried."