The Auxiliary Ends
The Auxiliary at which raised millions to help the needy get health care and provide scholarships for nursing students, among other important community efforts, has ended nearly 100 years of charity work.
Oak Leaves reports that the organization was forced to disband because the center's new owner, Vanguard Health System, is a for-profit institution and cannot accept financial contributions. That took away the Auxiliary’s purpose as a non-profit fundraiser.
The Auxiliary, which had its final meeting last month, will award its remaining funds – about $200,000 – to six organizations including the PCC Community Wellness Center and The Children’s Clinic. The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation will also get funds to start a Auxiliary of West Suburban Medical Center Endowment and contribute toward the Communityworks endowment.
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Long Time Oak Park Activist Dies
Shirley Klem, a long-time community activist who served as an Oak Park trustee just as the community was beginning to make concerted efforts toward integration, died earlier this week after a lengthy illness. She was 85.
The Wednesday Journal reports that Klem served two terms between 1973 and 1981, during the time that the began and other efforts to advance diversity in the village started taking shape.
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While on the board Klem, an arborist, played a pivotal role to prevent the dreaded Dutch Elm disease from decimating the village’s extensive elm tree population.
Klem also championed the arts and served on the board of the .
A celebration of her life will be at 8 p.m. this Friday at , 875 Lake St., Oak Park. A reception will follow.
District 200 Sues to Get Tuition
is accusing the parents of two students that they owe the district $30,000 in tuition because they did not live in the village when their youngsters attended the high school.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Maurice Carter and Terri Shaw Carter lived outside of school boundaries during the 2009-2010 school year, thus making their children ineligible to attend Oak Park and River Forest High School.
The Carters say they owns and lives in a condominium in Oak Park, but court documents and an attorney handling the matter say that the family was living in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago.
The family says this is part of a continuing saga between them and the high school.
