Welcome to The Exchange Club of the Tri Cities
PROGRAMS & ACTIVITIES
The following summary outlines our main projects and activities. Our website will provide information about how to join our club, make donations to our worthy causes, or simply help us at our various fundraisers and community events.
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The Tri-Cities Exchange Club donated money toward the T-shirts that were used for the annual "Hands around the Courthouse" event during Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. The Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and Child Advocacy Center in Kane County hold the event each year to recognize the efforts of volunteers and agencies that help children from broken families. The Exchange Club donates to these and other causes annually. Pictured are, from left, Exchange Club members Dave Heun, Dennis Starns, Kane County Judge Susan Clancy Boles, CASA Executive Director Gloria Bunce, and Exchange Club members Charlie Brown, Brian Henry and Warren Kammerer.
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PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE: This is the national cause for Exchange Clubs and our local club has helped a child abuse prevention center become a reality in the Joliet area, while also aiding the Child Advocacy Center in Kane County, the Court Appointed Special Advocates program, and many other programs benefiting children from broken families. Our contributions laid the foundation for the Single Moms Support Group offered by TriCity Family Services, and our club leaders helped organize the first Naperville Exchange Club, which has gone on to become the largest in the state and has raised millions of dollars for child abuse prevention with its RibFest.
PROMOTION OF PATRIOTISM: When you see youngsters waving small American flags at the popular Swedish Days parade in Geneva each summer, it is because our club members have walked the parade route handing those out as patriotic reminders of our great homeland. We also recognize individuals and businesses in the community who display the American flag properly year-round in our "So Proudly We Hail" program, and we install Freedom Shrines at many area schools, libraries and public gathering places. This donation is a wonderful gift that illustrates all of the important documents in American history. Our outdoor Freedom Shrine is on display at the St. Charles Freedom Walk along the Fox River, near the St. Charles Police Station.
RECOGNITION OF STUDENT ACHIEVERS: Our Accepting the Challenge of Excellence (ACE) awards breakfast is one of our favorites of the year, as we host students from all of our area schools who have been chosen by their advisers or teachers as students who have overcome major challenges in their lives to forge ahead and excel in school.
These are not your top honors students or consistent high achievers. These are students who are almost always are under the radar of the school districts and have faced financial, physical or emotional challenges to reach their academic goals.
FUND-RAISING EVENTS: We have established annual events that support our funding of local child-abuse prevention and family-support programs. We have hosted a spaghetti dinner each fall for nearly 20 years at the Moose Lodge in St. Charles and it has consistently drawn as many as 400 patrons.
Our annual Draw-Down dinner raises more than $6,000 each year for our programs. For the Draw-Down we sell 100 or more raffle numbers that put participants in a game that could net $1,000 or more in prize money. We get involved in other community events and programs that result in funds that the club can donate to worthy organizations.
CLUB HONORS STUDENTS WHO PERSEVERE TO REACH GOALS...
The Tri-Cities Exchange Club has honored the effort and determination of 8 local high school seniors who have overcome obstacles in their lives to reach their goal of graduation.
The annual ACE (Accepting the Challenge of Excellence) Awards breakfast at Colonial restaurant on May 18, 2010 showcased two students each from Mooseheart, St. Charles East and St. Charles North high schools, as well as one from Batavia High School and Mades Johnstone Center.
Their teachers or counselors at the high schools nominated the students, who have overcome physical, emotional or social problems to excel in school.
The 2010 recipients of the ACE awards were:
Adriana Aguayo and Jasper Cheneyon of Mooseheart High School; Anthony Humbles and Monique Neetz of St. Charles East High School; David Morado and Ravynn Buie of St. Charles North High School; Gavin Zanocco of Batavia High School, and Steven Sloat of Mades Johnstone Center.
The Tri-Cities Exchange Club focuses on four national programs for prevention of child abuse, community service, Americanism and youth.
The ACE Awards, in its 15th year, represents the club's youth program and is organized by member Tom Dearing.
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