The sixth annual A Pint for Kim blood drive and festival will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 10, at Naperville North High School, 899 N. Mill St. in Naperville.
Area residents can make an appointment or drop in during the event to donate blood. Organizers recommend arriving a half hour before a scheduled appointment.
There are 1,300 blood donation appointment spots available, and the last walk-in will be taken at 3:15 p.m., an event announcement said.
As part of the gathering, there will be live music, a car show, food trucks, raffle prizes, a dunk tank, face painting, U.S. Marine Corps’ pull-up challenge, children’s crafts, games and bounce houses, Edward Hospital therapy dogs and other attractions and activities.
Each blood donor and event volunteer will receive 10 tickets for a raffle for about 100 prizes worth more than $25,000. Each donor also will be given a pass for themselves and their children to sit in one of the cars in the Hamilton Collection Car Show, the announcement said.
Organizers hope to break their record of collecting more than 600 pints, the largest one-day blood drive in the state, the announcement said. The event started in 2020 to honor Naperville resident Kimberly Sandford, who lost her eight-year battle with a rare cancer.
To sign up to donate blood, volunteer or for more information, go to apintforkim.com.
Tour to visit historic cemetery near Oswego
Registration is still open for the upcoming Oswegoland Heritage Association, Oswegoland Park District and Little White School Museum bus tour of the historic Evergreen Cemetery, according to a press release from the museum.
The bus will leave at noon Saturday, May 10, from the Little White School Museum, 72 Polk St., Oswego, to visit the pioneer burying ground.
Advance registration is required. The cost is $7 for Oswegoland Park District residents and $10 non-residents, officials said.
Evergreen Cemetery, formerly owned by the Oswego Prairie Methodist Church but now part of the Oswego Township cemetery system, is on Roth Road east of Oswego. The cemetery’s burials include some of the community’s earliest German immigrant farming families, according to the release.
To register or for more information about the tour, call the park district at 630-554-1010 or go to the museum’s program registration site at bit.ly/LWSMPrograms.
For more information about the Little White School Museum, email info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org or go to www.littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org.
Paint the Riverside event planned in St. Charles
The annual Paint the Riverside event is planned for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 10, at the intersection of Walnut and Riverside avenues in downtown St. Charles.
The free event, sponsored by the St. Charles Arts Council, invites community members of all ages to join in painting a public mural right on the pavement at the site.
No registration is required, organizers said. Paint and rollers will be provided at the site.
Each year, the mural design changes to bring something fresh to the downtown area, according to a press release about the event. This year’s artwork has been created by local graphic designer Dennis Pryber.
In addition to mural painting, families can enjoy face painting for kids by Becky Blaine, along with free coffee and doughnuts, organizers said.
Stamp Out Hunger food drive scheduled
Saturday, May 10, is the date for the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
The Kiwanis Club of Aurora is set up to help in the drive, club officials said in a press release.
The Kiwanis International Illinois-Eastern Iowa District and its 165 clubs have been encouraged to participate to help ease the burden for the postal carriers with volunteers helping in the sorting of food donated for local food pantries, club officials said.
National Association of Letter Carriers Region 3 Coordinator Tenisha Watkins said the food drive is an annual tradition.
“Each year, letter carriers across the country head out on their routes on the second Saturday in May to collect donations of non-perishable food items to benefit local food pantries,” Watkins said in the release. “Since launching in 1993, the National Association of Letter Carriers’ annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive has grown into the nation’s largest one-day food drive, helping to fill the shelves of food banks in cities and towns throughout the United States.”
Watkins said it is easy for residents to take part in the food drive.
“Simply leave your donation of non-perishable food in a bag near your mailbox on the second Saturday in May, and your letter carrier will do the rest,” Watkins said.
