Tag Archives: community

Giving Back: Our Journey in Supporting Local Veterans

AKA April 17th #lentphotoaday prompt word is “AMONG”

I sing the National Anthem on top of a firetruck every Thanksgiving morning. It’s an honor to be asked because it’s an honor to serenade and thank the new recruits at the Great Lake Naval Base every year. These kids are most likely far away from home and I am sure missing their family. So our local amazing Moose Lodge #1969 here in Wauconda, of which I am a member, picks them up in a bus and feeds them a glorious Thanksgiving meal. But before they are fed, they bring them to Main Street where they can be honored AMONG our supporting and loving community.

As much as my husband and I have been able to, in the past 15 years living here, we try to give back to our community. We raised three kids and we have successfully finished that era, sending out last off to college this year. So we feel like we can start truly digging in…more time allocated to give back. We have tried to our best to keep the balance and help on top of our parental duties. We donate our time and talents when we can. He DJs for events like National Night Out and I donate my singing for events like the Turkey Trot and Memorial Day. We do also get hired to provide entertainment for events as well, but we always try to give back in some way. Our goal in the next two years is to establish a more solid commitment as to where and how can put our greatest gifts forward, whether it is more active in the Moose charities or perhaps even helping support Bangs Lake. We look forward to the next chapter for us to be more of an asset to our lovely town.

In events like the troops at Thanksgiving and the Turkey Trot race that 100% raises money for charities, we are surrounded by all the workers who are volunteering their time and energy. It feels so powerful to be AMONG a community that comes together in unity, to support and share the responsibility of taking care of one another.

Love you.

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National Night Out in Wauconda: 2021

Loved to see my husband donating his time to bring music to such a fantastic and meaningful event in our lovely town of Wauconda, Illinois. Proud that my number one, who is working hard to get his five year Master’s in Criminal Justice loved the event and loved talking to a bunch working officers. Love that I have awesome friends who are also superheroes.

I loved that we all saw our police department and other community servants as real life proud, hard-working residents walking around our Main Street with their families, showing everyone that they are human, kind and just like every one of us. (But also, super brave.) Loved that mom my could be there to see how lucky we are to live in a blissful place.

Love that my family loves our community. That our oldest son is helping to build a house on Bang’s Lake while he is home from college, my second son works his tail off at Bulldog’s, the best best burger joint around, and my daughter loves to shop local, dreams of someday working at Lindy’s and is only mildly embarrassed about her performing parents…

Loved to see another day that our community rallies together to make 60084 a special place to live. We love this town.

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