Naperville News Digest: Naperville Heritage Society receives $20,000 exhibit grant; Paws for a Cause offers discounts on spay, neuter surgeries
Naperville Heritage Society receives $20,000 exhibit grant
Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley has awarded a $20,000 grant to the Naperville Heritage Society to create a 'Careers in Agriculture' exhibit at Naper Settlement.
The display will be part of the larger 'Inventing Agriculture' exhibit at the settlement's Mary and Richard Benck Family Agriculture Center.
It will be designed for students in kindergarten through high school with a focus on how they can contribute to the future of agriculture, a news release from Naper Settlement said.
Agriculture careers can involve such skills as robotics, AI, remote farming, policy, inventions, marketing, food distribution and security, bioengineering and small-scale specialty farming, the release said.
The exhibit also will recognize Naperville's contributions in agriculture and from farm families.
Paws for a Cause offers discounts on spay, neuter surgeries
Paws for a Cause Vet Care in Naperville is offering 25% off spay and neuter surgeries for dogs and cats through the end of February.
February is National Spay and Neuter Month, officials with the nonprofit organization said. Spaying and neutering pets helps reduce overpopulation, prevent certain cancers and improve the pets' overall health and behavior, officials said.
The offer includes a pre-surgery exam and pain injection, anesthesia, spay or neuter surgery, pain medication and post-operation monitoring.
Paws for a Cause Vet Care, formerly Spay Illinois, is now located at a new, expanded facility at 1620 Bond St.
For appointments, call 630-961-8000 or go to www.pcvetcare.org.
DuPage County proclamation recognizes 211 helpline
The DuPage County Board proclaimed Feb. 11 as 211 Day at its meeting Tuesday to recognize the helpline that connects county residents with health and human services.
Residents can dial 211 to receive around-the-clock information and referrals to mental health services, addiction support and rehabilitation, crisis counseling, supplemental food programs, shelter and affordable housing options, a news release on the board's action said. Additional services include information on employment, financial assistance, senior programs and transportation.
To access the free, confidential service, call 211, text a ZIP code to TXT211 or 898211, or go online at www.211dupage.gov.
In 2024, specialists connected about 8,650 people to services, according to the release. More than 4,100 residents sought assistance for utility payments, more than 2,100 requested rent assistance, and about 650 received referrals to local food pantries, the release said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
01-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Paws for a Cause Vet Care leaves Lisle location for new expanded facility in Naperville: ‘Like a dream come true'
Paws for a Cause Vet Care — a low-cost veterinary clinic formerly known as Spay Illinois — has moved from its longstanding location in Lisle to an expanded space in Naperville. Though they officially opened in their new 16,000-square-foot facility at 1620 Bond St. in early April, the clinic will celebrate with a grand opening event from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15, at which the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce will hold the ribbon-cutting. '(It's) kind of like a dream come true,' Brittany Eslary, Paws for a Cause Vet Care's chief development officer, said Thursday. The new facility is about quadruple the size of where they had been operating previously, Eslary said. The clinic offers preventative care, diagnostic services, surgical services, dental care and an on-site pharmacy. Services are devised to be comprehensive and affordable, according to Eslary. The latter goes back to the nonprofit's founding mission to make pet care more accessible as a means of preventing pet homelessness and shelter overpopulation. 'That's really been a big piece of the puzzle and focus — making sure that affordability and price wasn't the reason that people weren't able to get care for their pet,' Eslary said. The origins of Paws for a Clause date back more than 15 years. The venture started in 2009 when founder and CEO Kathi Daniels, alongside a small group of volunteers, started organizing low-cost and free spay/neuter clinics in the Kankakee County area, she said. From there, 'by word of mouth it just grew,' Eslary said. In 2010, the nonprofit opened its first stationary clinic in Momence, about an hour and a half southeast of Naperville. In 2013, the nonprofit started renting a space in Lisle, which is where the venture really started to become more of a full-time operation, she said. Meanwhile, the clinic still traveled to off-site locations to offer vaccinations and microchipping to other communities. That was the clinic's model for years until the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to off-site work, Eslary said. But in the pandemic's wake, the nonprofit honed in on a years-long goal of expanding and bringing services under one comprehensive roof. 'Our new space allows us to meet the growing needs of our community while staying true to our mission of keeping pets healthy and in loving homes,' Daniels said in a news release. 'Our new location not only expands our capacity but also enables us to introduce a wider array of services that address the comprehensive health needs of pets.' Last year, the clinic had more than 27,000 pet visits, including 15,562 general wellness visits, 11,116 spay and neuter surgeries, and 334 dental procedures, according to the nonprofit's website. With the opening of its new facility, Paws for a Clause now has a staff of 47, Eslary said. She started working with the nonprofit in 2014 after graduating from college, she said. For six years, she was the clinic's assistant development director. In 2019, Eslary left to take a job out of state but returned last October as chief development officer. 'Seeing the slow growth over time and having this opportunity to have what's becoming a state-of-the-art facility brings (this) to a new level of affirmation,' she said. 'It definitely keeps you motivated to want to do more.'
Chicago Tribune
12-02-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Naperville News Digest: Naperville Heritage Society receives $20,000 exhibit grant; Paws for a Cause offers discounts on spay, neuter surgeries
Naperville Heritage Society receives $20,000 exhibit grant Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley has awarded a $20,000 grant to the Naperville Heritage Society to create a 'Careers in Agriculture' exhibit at Naper Settlement. The display will be part of the larger 'Inventing Agriculture' exhibit at the settlement's Mary and Richard Benck Family Agriculture Center. It will be designed for students in kindergarten through high school with a focus on how they can contribute to the future of agriculture, a news release from Naper Settlement said. Agriculture careers can involve such skills as robotics, AI, remote farming, policy, inventions, marketing, food distribution and security, bioengineering and small-scale specialty farming, the release said. The exhibit also will recognize Naperville's contributions in agriculture and from farm families. Paws for a Cause offers discounts on spay, neuter surgeries Paws for a Cause Vet Care in Naperville is offering 25% off spay and neuter surgeries for dogs and cats through the end of February. February is National Spay and Neuter Month, officials with the nonprofit organization said. Spaying and neutering pets helps reduce overpopulation, prevent certain cancers and improve the pets' overall health and behavior, officials said. The offer includes a pre-surgery exam and pain injection, anesthesia, spay or neuter surgery, pain medication and post-operation monitoring. Paws for a Cause Vet Care, formerly Spay Illinois, is now located at a new, expanded facility at 1620 Bond St. For appointments, call 630-961-8000 or go to DuPage County proclamation recognizes 211 helpline The DuPage County Board proclaimed Feb. 11 as 211 Day at its meeting Tuesday to recognize the helpline that connects county residents with health and human services. Residents can dial 211 to receive around-the-clock information and referrals to mental health services, addiction support and rehabilitation, crisis counseling, supplemental food programs, shelter and affordable housing options, a news release on the board's action said. Additional services include information on employment, financial assistance, senior programs and transportation. To access the free, confidential service, call 211, text a ZIP code to TXT211 or 898211, or go online at In 2024, specialists connected about 8,650 people to services, according to the release. More than 4,100 residents sought assistance for utility payments, more than 2,100 requested rent assistance, and about 650 received referrals to local food pantries, the release said.
Chicago Tribune
17-01-2025
- Chicago Tribune
The Way We Were: Very first Medicare recipient in 1966 was a Naperville woman
This black-and-white photographic print from the Naperville Heritage Society collection shows Lillian Grace Avery, a Naperville resident and the nation's first Medicare beneficiary, signing government forms while recovering from minor surgery at Edward Hospital in Naperville on July 1, 1966. On the left is her husband, Robert, and in the center is hospital administrator Eugene Morris. President Lyndon Johnson signed the federal health insurance program for the elderly on July 30, 1965. An article by The Associated Press, which covered the signing event, said 'Blue Cross Association Headquarters in Chicago said Mrs. Avery was the first of the 19 million persons age 65 or over in the United States to be certified as eligible for Medicare.' When a reporter told her she would be the first to have her bills paid under the then-new program, she reportedly quipped, 'Oh boy! Now I can go to New York and get on the television program 'I've Got a Secret.''
