The Eureka Greater Area Kiwanis Soles of Car Seats fundraiser runs through the end of June. (Photo courtesy of Woodford Co. Health)

Woodford County

Eureka Kiwanis sponsors shoe drive

The Eureka Greater Area Kiwanis is coordinating a show collection fundraiser through the end of June. The club will earn funds based on the number of pairs of shoes collected as Funds2Orgs will purchase all of the donated shoes.

A bag of 25 pairs of gently worn, used or new shoes will average a $10 donation that will go toward the Soles of Car Seats fundraiser.

Shoes can be dropped off at the following locations in Eureka: Advocate Eureka Hospital, Community Bank, Dough See Dough, Goodfield Bank, Heartland Bank, IGA-CEFCU, and Eureka High School. In Goodfield, donations can be dropped off at Goodfield Bank and Scott Leman Automotive.

And donations can be dropped off in Washington at the Heartland Bank, South Side Bank and the Washington Police Station.

For more information of if you need shoes picked up, call (309) 467-4750.

Friends of the Barn to hold meeting

Support for the long-awaited Eureka Community Center can begin by joining the Friends of the Barn. An organizational and information meeting will be held from 3-4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23 at the Eureka Public Library.

The public is welcome to come learn about the project, see the model of the building, and join the organization to promote the project.

The Community Center will not only provide a gathering place for many organizations and groups, but it will also preserve the 180-year-old structure. The post and beam skeleton of the barn will be disassembled at its site north of Eureka and reassembled at Eureka Lake Park across from the pavilion.

The project is anticipated to cost $2 million, and when complete, will offer a large open space on the main level and many smaller areas in the lower level. Included in the lower level will be a Woodford County museum and genealogical library hosted by the Woodford County Historical Society, several art galleries, offices for local groups, a meeting room that will seat up to 100 people, and a long gallery that will face on the lake.

For more information, call Karen Fyke at (309) 360-6772.

Region

Greater Peoria Family YMCA announces new CEO

Greater Peoria Family YMCA announced that T. Andrew “Andy” Thornton will serve as its new president and Chief Executive Officer, effective June 05. He will succeed Dan Chonowski who had served as CEO for 17 years before retiring at the end of October.

Thornton currently serves as CEO at the Sterling-Rock Falls YMCA, a position he has held since 2010, and has more than 19 years of experience in Y work. Thornton’s impressive track record of executing significant initiatives that seek to improve local communities made him an ideal choice to lead the Greater Peoria Family YMCA.

“We are privileged to welcome Andy to our YMCA,” said Todd Huson, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Greater Peoria Family YMCA.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead an organization that has such a meaningful impact on the lives of families,” said Thornton. “The YMCA has consistently found innovative ways to address critical social needs, and I look forward to continuing that vital work back home serving the Greater Peoria region. “

Thornton and his wife, Dawn, with their 4 children, will be relocating to the Peoria area.

ICC softball and men’s golf teams take regionals

The Illinois Central College softball and men’s golf teams are Region 24 Champions.

The Softball Team upset the number 3 and top seeds to win the Region 24 Title. The Lady Cougars will go to the NJCAA National Championship in Clinton, Miss. May 17- 20.

Those ICC team members named to the All-Region Team are Madisyn McCoy and Cassie Shaw.

Those Lady Cougars named to the All-Tournament Team are Madyson Fox, Abrianna Hale, Abby Jacques, Madisyn McCoy

Cassie Shaw was named the tournament MVP and Heather Doty was named the Coach of the Year.

The men’s golf team fought out a close Round 3 with runner-up Parkland, but would come in 4 strokes ahead with a team score of 918 Sunday afternoon. The Cougars will travel to the NJCAA National Championship in Mesa, Ariz. May 23-26.

Making that All-Region Team are Jake Plummer, Jordan Perry, Chase Picken, and Seth Rebbe.

OSF HealthCare in top 20 percent in country

For the third year in a row, OSF HealthCare has been named one of the top performing healthcare systems in the country by Truven, an independent healthcare analytics research company. OSF HealthCare is ranked in the top 20 percent of large healthcare systems in the United States, and is one of only three in that category from Illinois.

The 2017 study analyzed 109 large systems, using unbiased, impartial, public data sources. The rankings are updated annually. Winners consistently set industry benchmarks for critical performance measures like 30-day readmissions, mortality rates, customer perception of care, and more. Hospital systems are categorized by financial size so comparison is fair.

Five components of hospital performance were measured, including inpatient outcomes, process of care, extended outcomes, efficiency, and patient experience. Those found to be top performing systems saved more lives and caused fewer patient complications, followed industry-recommended standards of care more closely, released patients from the hospital sooner, readmitted patients less frequently, had shorter wait times in their emergency departments, and scored higher on patient overall ratings of care.

OSF HealthCare serves nearly three million people through its 115 locations, including 11 hospitals throughout Illinois and Michigan.

–Woodford County News Briefs–