4/15/26
Today, our guest speaker was Tinamarie Hernadez, Executive Director at Diveheart. To learn more, visit: https://www.diveheart.org/ and https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=diveheart+documentary
1. E-mail: click any of the Executives & Directors listed on the right side of this home screen
2. Mail: P.O. Box 91, Wheaton, IL 60187-0091
Our Club was chartered November 16, 1990, and we currently have two dozen friendly, active members. Our Club is all about fellowship in community service, and members are expected to be involved beyond attending our weekly meetings.
Our club in action: In addition to supporting community service not-for-profit organizations, including those listed in the Community Links, we award collegiate and vocational scholarships to graduates of the Wheaton high schools. Our philanthropy is funded by our annual Poinsettia Sale, the Fun Run (co-sponsored with the Wheaton Park District), and contributions by club members.
Meetings: Our Wednesday morning meetings are an hour's duration and typically feature a guest speaker addressing matters of community interest. See the schedule of upcoming speakers on the right side of this Home Page. Guests are always welcome!
For additional information, please contact any member of the Club Leadership listed on this Home Page simply by clicking one of the names.
4/15/26
Today, it was our great pleasure to have Abigail Thomas and Hunter Cole attend our breakfast meeting. They are recipients of our vocational scholarships.
Both attend the Technology Center of DuPage and will soon be graduating from Wheaton Warrenville South High School. Abigail is pursuing a career in cosmotology and makeup, and Hunter is pursuing a career in welding and pipe fitting. Congratulations to both!
4/8/26
Today, we were immensely pleased to have two recipients of our collegiate scholarships join us for breakfast and tell us about their high school experience and plans for continued education.
Caroline Zorn is graduating from Wheaton Warrenville South. She plans to study International Relations and has narrowed her college choices to Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan State.
Emma Dodge is graduating from Wheaton North. She will be majoring in pre-law and will attend either Vanderbilt, Clemson, or Notre Dame.
4/8/26
Today, our guest speaker was Jen Bestry, Director of Community Engagement with Bridge Communities. (Terrible photo/excellent presentation!)
What is Bridge Communities (https://www.bridgecommunities.org)? Established in 1988 and based in Glen Ellyn, Bridge Communities provides free transitional housing to 100+ DuPage County families each year. During the two years each family spends in the program, they are able to save money, learn budgeting skills, and obtain better employment, so they can live self-sufficiently once they graduate. Bridge Communities provides a holistic program of services that provide the necessary elements to create permanent change in the lives of families experiencing homelessness in DuPage County.
- Housing: Client families reside in Bridge Communities owned apartment buildings spread throughout DuPage County in Glen Ellyn, Addison, Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Naperville, Westmont, and Woodridge.
- Cases Management: Bridge Communities' professional case managers are available to assist mentors and client families in accessing resources that are important for families to achieve their individual goals.
- Tutoring: Bridge Communities provides experienced tutors to tutor all school-age children once or twice weekly throughout the school year.
- Car donations: Bridge Communities solicits auto donations from people in our community to give to the families in our program in need of reliable transportation.
- Counseling Resources: At times, client families need additional resources to help cope with life stressors or ongoing emotional issues. To help, Bridge partners with community-based psychological services for short or long-term counseling.
- Mentoring: Volunteer mentors from Program Partners sponsor and assist the client families as they work to develop the life-skills necessary for self-sufficiency. Mentors help families with budget development and savings plan, debt reduction, financial literacy, self-esteem, emotional support, parental skills and healthy decision making.
- Employment & Adult Education: Bridge Communities' employment team assists client families in securing and maintaining employment that will sustain their economic self-sufficiency upon graduation from the Transitional Housing Program. Job readiness training, resume writing, educational coaching, and mock interviewing are some of the counseling services offered.
- Family Wellness: As part of the holistic approach to helping client families achieve lifelong success, Bridge Communities provides them with family wellness services including nutrition counseling, a gardening program, and peer-to-peer support workshops to encourage clients to come together in fellowship, create connections over shared lived experience, and build resilience.
- Stability Program: Some client families with more complex needs require the opportunity to stabilize before transferring into the Transitional Housing Program and getting assigned a Program Partner and mentor. In the Stability program, Bridge Communities provides clients with more direct case management and supportive services.
- Children's Program: Bridge Communities' Children’s Program takes a holistic, preventative approach to breaking the cycle of poverty and helping children overcome the trauma of homelessness. Each child has their own case management, goals for the program, plan for a better education, and resources for improved social, emotional, and behavioral health.
Lasting change:
4/1/26
Today, our guest speaker was Will Vaeth, certified arborist with Davey Tree (https://www.davey.com/)
With an audience consisting of many long time homeowners, Will confined his presentation to the critical importance of having and maintaining good soil to have healthy trees. Good soil is not dirt and solid clay is not good soil! Good soil is a living ecosystem with nutrients, organic matter, and billions of organisms including bacteria, insects, worms and other invertebrates. However, good soil can be severely compromised by compaction caused by grading with heavy equipment, riding lawnmowers, etc. Signs of stressed/diseased trees include a thinning canopy, fall leaf colors appearing early, dead branches, abnormal leaf size, and reduced growth.
What can we do?
- Add mulch and organic matter such as fallen leaves beneath the canopy
- Fertilize: either surface application or deep root feeding (inject liquid fertilizer into the soil at 12–15 inch depths, ideal for compacted soil or mature trees)
- Air spading. See https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/relieving-compaction-around-tree-roots.htm#:~:text=An%20employee%20uses%20an%20air%2Dpowered%20excavation%20spade,a%20tree%20through%20wear%20and%20soil%20compaction.
3/25/26
Appropriately, with today being Opening Day for major league baseball, our guest speaker Kevin Russell is a Chicago Cubs super fan. Kevin is the co-founder of Six Degrees Search which provides accounting and finance staffing solutions. See: https://6degreesinc.com/
Wheaton, IL 60187
United States of America