The future of the 81-year-old McKee House is now in the hands of the village of Glen Ellyn, which has an agreement with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County Board to preserve the house.

COUNTY

Coroner facilitates two organ donations

The DuPage County Coroner’s Office honored the wishes of two deceased persons and their families by donating organs in two separate deaths recently. The consent process may occur when an individual allows organ donation by signing up for donation through the Secretary of State’s office. The deceased’s next of kin may also consent to donation after the person dies. Coroner Richard Jorgensen issued a statement saying that his office supports organ donation whenever possible, and the circumstances surrounding two deaths allowed his office to participate in successful way.

LISLE

Graduates donate to textbook program

The 545 graduates of Benedictine University donated to the Fr. Kevin J. Sheeran, O.S.B., Textbook Program as its class gift to the institution before its May 13 commencement ceremony, held at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex.

The Class of 2017 presented a gift of $7,545 to the University as a remembrance of their time at Benedictine. The money will support the program, which was created to help students in need to meet the cost of required textbooks. Awards are based on eligibility and supplement students’ existing financial aid resources.

Lee DeRemer, Ph.D. ’14, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and BenU alumnus, gave the commencement address.

The commencement convocation ceremonies for master’s and doctoral degree candidates will begin at 9:45 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. June 3, at the Rice Center.

GLEN ELLYN

Village will lease, repair historic building

The 81-year-old McKee House may have a future, after all. It is now up to the village of Glen Ellyn to preserve house after the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County Board of Commissioners on May 16 unanimously voted to lease the historic building to the village for the next 50 years.

The Forest Preserve District owns the limestone building, which was built in 1936 for the district. The McKee House is on the Glen Ellyn-Lombard border in Churchill Woods, and it has been vacant since 2002.

District staff members had recommended the building be razed because of the high cost to repair it, but the nonprofit group Landmarks Illinois put the structure on its 2017 list of the most endangered historic places in Illinois.

As part of the lease agreement, the village will pay the district $1 per year, and will be responsible for all restoration, maintenance repairs and improvements to the buildings.

The agreement states if the village or a third party is not able to raise $400,000 by Oct. 1, 2019, and restore and get an occupancy permit by Oct. 1, 2022, Glen Ellyn will demolish the property at its own expense.

ITASCA

Program to help keep youngsters safe

The Itasca police and fire departments will host Kids Identification and Safety Seat (K.I.S.S.) May 27, part of Illinois Tollway and Illinois State Police District 15’s Operation Kid 2017. The program provides free kids’ ID cards, and inspects and installs child safety seats.

At K.I.S.S. events, trained professionals take photographs and fingerprints of children 3 and older and gather vital information to include on an ID card that parents and caregivers can reference in an emergency.

Up to 90 percent of families will at some point temporarily lose a child in a public place, surveys indicate. Kids IDs are a tool that provide police with an accurate description to help locate lost children.

Certified child passenger safety technicians will inspect child safety seats and help with proper positioning and installation, as well as provide information on correct sizing, expiration dates and recalls to protect children most effectively.

The event in Itasca will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Future K.I.S.S. events will be held June 10 at the Hinsdale Oasis, Aug. 12 at the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville and Sept. 23 at the Family Safety Fair at the tollway headquarters in Downers Grove.

WESTMONT

5K to support People’s Resource Center

The Westmont Park District and People’s Resource Center have teamed up to host the 8th annual Race to the Flag 5K starting at 8 a.m. May 28, at Ty Warner Park, 800 Blackhawk Drive, Westmont. This event brings together the community who will be walking or running in support of a more hopeful future for neighbors being helped by the People’s Resource Center, which supplies food, job training and other services.

The run/walk is chip-timed and CARA certified, and all registrations include a pancake breakfast immediately after the race. Go to racetotheflag.org to sign up.

ELMHURST

Mac & Cheese for May nets 400 boxes

Macaroni and cheese is a favorite dish of many elementary school students. The first graders at Emerson Elementary School in Elmhurst shared their love for the dish with its community service project: Mac & Cheese for May.

The students’ families were invited to contribute boxes of macaroni and cheese to be donated to the Elmhurst-Yorkfield Food Pantry. The students collected more than 400 boxes to help the food pantry.

Student named Fulbright scholar

An Elmhurst College senior will travel this fall to the Slovak Republic to work as an English teaching assistant for a year. She will do so as a 2017 Fulbright U.S. student.

Isabel Juvan is the sixth Elmhurst College student to have won the award from the highly competitive Fulbright U.S. Student program, and was one of two Elmhurst seniors to be named a semi-finalist—the first time two students have achieved that distinction in the same year in the Fulbright program.

The Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program places students in classrooms across the world to assist local English language teachers and to serve as cultural ambassadors for the U.S. To succeed, students need excellent grades, experience studying abroad, community or campus involvement and excellent interpersonal skills.