Pictured Kiki Dorn and Matt Armfield, Eugene Chung and students painting in one Chicago House residence. The School Chest of Deerfield High School each year raises funds for a charity selected by the School Council of the North Suburban public school. Chicago House Special Events Manager Jeremy M. Hilborn, who attended Deerfield, submitted Chicago House for this year’s beneficiary, and they won. Every homeroom produces a fundraising vehicle of their own to help support the charity. ‘This is wonderful news, as we’ve had some difficulty breaking into suburbia and tapping into youth to teach them about prevention, while getting the ball rolling for them to become supporters of HIV/AIDS organizations like Chicago House,’ Hilborn said. ‘In years past, School Chest has raised over $70,000 a year for the beneficiary, so Chicago House is indeed fortunate to have their support. Students, teachers, and parents spend the entire month of December doing various fundraisers around the school and the community to raise these important funds.’ On top of raising money—which this year because a dinner benefit was added, could be well over $70,000—about 75 students and four teachers also volunteered last Saturday to paint, stuff envelopes, bake cookies and decorate the various residences and offices of Chicago House. The Student Council sponsor is science teacher Eugene Chung. Matt Armfield, a biology and chemistry instructor, also pitched in with a paint brush. Armfield said his colleagues have been supportive, and in fact the school seems excited about dealing with a charity not as ‘safe’ (non-controversial) as some chosen in the past. The event serves a dual purpose of not just raising money and volunteer hours, but also is educational about the continued impact of HIV/AIDS. Chicago House Director of Finance Kiki Dorn was also on hand for the volunteer day. She reported on the various needs of the facilities, including an elevator at the independent living property. Renovations are nearly complete on one of the family facilities which has three apartments, and another facility has nine families. One other location has community living for 16 people. Chicago House rents out their hospice facility to an agency dealing with people in recovery, because the needs for ongoing critical care for people with HIV/AIDS have lessened in recent years.— Text and photos by Tracy Baim
Student Pride in Deerfield
