#ILGive on GivingTuesday is gaining major traction as a unique way to encourage individuals to support their favorite charity or cause on a specific day. It is also a great way for nonprofits to build their skills in digital marketing and digital fundraising. Giving Tuesday is a global giving movement and ILGive is specific to nonprofits in Illinois. This years event is held on November 27th.

In partnership with Forefront, educational workshops are held for nonprofits in the Dunham Fund Service Area and the broader Fox River Valley during the fall leading up to Thanksgiving.

These workshops teach nonprofits skills needed to run successful digital marketing and fundraising, best practices for hosting an #ILGive campaign and how to engage others to support their campaign the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

Last year $13.5M was raised for service agencies across Illinois. In the Dunham Fund Service Area, $625,000 was donated by 1,710 individuals to 58 nonprofits in 2017.

In 2018, 9,370,640 was raised across Illinois for nonprofit agencies. For those organizations who have participated in GivingTuesday workshops hosted in partnership by the Dunham Fund and the Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley, 77 nonprofit organizations received over $813,800 from 2,530 donors.

At a celebration party held in honor of those nonprofits who attended the 2018 workshops and participated in the #ILGive campaign – ten nonprofit names will be drawn during the party for qualifying organizations and will receive a Dunham Fund grant of $3,500 in addition to what they raise during the campaign.

Recipients are:

Association for Individual Development

Aurora East Educational Foundation

Family Focus

Fox Valley Park District

Fox Valley hands of Hope

Giant Steps

Marklund

Mutual Ground

Spectrios

World Relief

In partnership with the West Aurora School District (WASD), Fox Valley Park District (FVPD) and the WAHS class of ’68, the Dunham Fund provided a $3,250 grant and $25,000 of a $1 for $1 challenge grant. WASD and FVPD both also contributed $50,000 towards this project.

The grant will provide for the creation of the new Wally Smith Playground at Hill Elementary in the Illinois School District 129. Hill school currently has a playground for younger children. The new playground will be designed for 3-5th-grade children.

Wally Smith grew up across from and attended Hill Elementary. Upon graduating from Aurora University, he taught in the West Aurora School District for 30 years before his passing in 2015. This playground will honor his legacy and leave a lasting impact on West Aurora students at the school where Smith faithfully taught.

In 2017, Annunciation School launched a new, cutting-edge STEM curriculum and a new designated science lab designed to help prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The new lab will provide a dedicated space to help students fully utilize the new STEM curriculum through hands-on engagement.

The new curriculum and laboratory will help prepare 230 Annunciation students, who all live in the Dunham Fund service area, for success in STEM courses at the high school and college level.

To support this curriculum and STEM initiative, Annunciation School will also offer a Lego and robotics program as after school and summer camp opportunities, open to both Annunciation students and Aurora District 131 students.

This will be the first private school in east Aurora offering a robust STEM program with a dedicated science lab, with the goal of fostering interest in STEM fields and preparing students to excel in STEM-based private and public high school courses.

Dunham Fund is proud to partner with Annunciation School to help bring STEM education to the east Aurora community and more than 200 local students through a grant of $140,577.

The annual Association for Individual Development (AID) Benefit Auction supports AID’s programs that help local residents with physical, developmental, and intellectual challenges enjoy lives of dignity and purpose. The Benefit Auction will raise much needed funds to support AID programs and services, which are expanding to meet local needs.

There are approximately 1,500 children and adults with disabilities living in the Dunham Fund service area who are on waiting lists, not receiving adequate care from service organizations due to backlog. AID’s goal is to eliminate this waiting list and provide vital support and services to all local people in need.

This $15,000 Dunham Fund grant will support AID fundraising efforts as a sponsor for the 2019 annual AID Benefit Auction.

Aurora Area African American Men of Unity (AAMOU)’s FIRE program provides mentoring to at-risk Aurora high schoolers to help them achieve their full potential. Through group and one-on-one mentoring, this program provides students with strategies, coping techniques, and tools to help them make decisions that lead to lifelong success. FIRE’s innovative behavior intervention program takes students who have been suspended, expelled, arrested, or have gang affiliation and provides positive intentional mentoring.

The Dunham Fund is proud to partner with AAMOU to support the FIRE program. This grant, which will be paid out over two years, allows FIRE to reach 100 at-risk area students through intensive mentoring that includes life coaching, tutoring, counseling, behavior management, job and career counseling, pre-apprenticeship sessions, paid internship opportunities, and skill development. The skills learned at FIRE can transform lives and help at risk area students become self sufficient, find careers, continue education, and make a living wage. This grant will be paid equally over two years in 2018 and 2019.

Building on the ongoing successes of the Dunham Fund-supported Benavides STEAM Academy, East Aurora School District 131 is developing three new grade-level STEAM academies: Rollins STEAM Academy (kindergarten – 2nd grade), Oak Park STEM Academy (3rd grade – 5th grade), and Beaupre STEM Academy (3rd grade – 5th grade).

This new project will redesign three existing elementary schools into new grade level centers, creating academies focused on a challenging integration of core content within STEM-based electives. These new academies will also emphasize community involvement through community events, including STEM-a-Palooza, an event for students and their families to participate in hands-on activities, and the Aurora STEM/STEAM Institute, a two-day professional development session for 400 educators in Kane County.

To help facilitate this large and important restructure, Dunham Fund will provide a total of $675,000 over the three years ($225,000 in 2018, 2019 and 2020) to help build these new STEM/STEAM academies. This funding will help provide 1,200 students a new educational environment, iPads loaded with textbooks and STEM software, support the renovation of four classrooms into interactive learning spaces, provide an annual professional development institute for upwards of 400 teachers to learn about STEM education, and support community STEM/STEAM events.

Rollins STEAM Academy, Oak Park STEM Academy and Beaupre STEM Academy will be managed by an interdisciplinary team of local educators, scientists, and community experts who will develop engaging STEM/STEAM curriculum and foster a cutting-edge learning environment for local students.

The Conservation Foundation presented the 9th Annual Aurora GreenFest on September 22, 2018. GreenFest is a free event that brings ideas for everyday sustainable living and conservation to the Aurora Area; including protecting local water supplies, appreciating the natural environment and wildlife, growing organic food at home, and supporting local food systems.

The Dunham Fund is proud to support GreenFest again this year. Helping keep the festival free allows more people in the community to enjoy GreenFest, learn how to adopt a green and energy saving lifestyle, help to keep the Fox Valley sustainable and beautiful for generations to come.