DuPage County News Briefs

West Suburban Humane Society will begin collecting donations on #GivingTuesday for an emergency medical fund to ensure cats and dogs brought to the humane organization can receive life-saving veterinary care.

COUNTY

Jewel is offering home delivery

Jewel-Osco is now delivering groceries to your door, joining other major grocers competing in the growing online grocery shopping market.

Shoppers can go to instacart.com/jewel-osco and type in their Zip code to see where the option of ordering groceries online for delivery is available. Naperville and Bolingbrook are two such areas.

Eleven Jewel-Osco locations have been designated “pick stores.” Of the 11 locations, six will also offer in-store pickup.

Delivery prices range from 95 cents to $9.95 on a minimum $49 order depending on the time of day and window of time selected. First-time customers will receive free delivery, and prices will be no different whether a customer shops in-store or online, according to the company.

Jewel-Osco purchased 60 new trucks, which will be used specifically for e-commerce and are equipped to accommodate fresh food delivery. Additionally, nearly 100 people were hired for the e-commerce department to fulfill orders.

NAPERVILLE

Moms uniting for second community walk

Naperville mothers will take it to the street again for a second annual Community Unity Walk. The first walk was held after President Donald Trump’s election last fall.

The half-mile walk and community-building program, set for 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10, in downtown Naperville, is now being planned with the help of groups including the League of Women Voters Naperville, We Are One Naperville, Naper Gals, Naperville Women’s March Action, the Alive Center and the Naperville Interfaith Leaders Association. Participants are asked to register for the free event at https://www.eventcombo.com/e/Community-Unity-Walk-2017-29557.

Organizers expect between 300 and 500 people to walk together from Fredenhagen Park to Naperville Central High School in a show of acceptance and respect for those who are different.

The second annual Community Unity Walk will be at least the third in a series of unity-focused events hosted by Moms Building Bridges this year. Others have included a unity dinner in the spring and forming a circle of peace around the Islamic Center of Naperville in February, which resulted in some participants entering a mosque for the first time.

Local man named top retirement adviser

Joe Connell, a partner in the retirement plan services practice at Sikich LLP, was named to the Financial Times’ 2017 list of top retirement advisers in the U.S. Connell, who has more than 15 years of retirement program experience, has been included on the FT 401 list since its creation three years ago.

Sikich’s retirement plan services practice offers companies education and training, retirement plan fiduciary assessments, an open-architecture trading platform, professionally managed portfolios, discretionary trustee services and more.

Connell, a Naperville resident, is an accredited investment fiduciary analyst, one of only 400 advisers in the country with this accreditation. He is actively involved in Plan Sponsor Council of America and was selected to participate in the Retirement Advisor Council, which advocates for successful retirement plan outcomes. In 2014, Connell was named retirement plan adviser of the year by PlanAdviser, a retirement plan industry magazine.

The FT 401 list is compiled by the Financial Times and Ignite Research, the research branch of the publication. The list recognizes the top professionals specializing in advising U.S. employers’ defined contribution plans.

Fine-dining restaurant opens; offers jazz

A new restaurant featuring fine dining with a side of live jazz music has opened in Naperville. Pete Miller’s Steak and Seafood, 3032 English Rows, Naperville, had a Nov. 7 opening date.

The menu is described as modern-classic American cuisine. The new restaurant replaces Tommy Nevin’s.

Pete Miller’s Naperville, which has been renovated and seats about 250, will also debut a new menu upon the restaurant’s opening. The menu is the product of Executive Chef Marcus Mooney and will feature appetizers, soups and salads, entrees with special additions and enhancements, including aged steaks, chicken, chops, and fresh seafood, shareable sides and dessert. Pete Miller’s Naperville will also offer a children’s menu and event course options.

GLEN ELLYN

Photo exhibit celebrates COD, Easter Seals collaboration

For 18 years, College of DuPage photography students from the Visual Storytelling class have captured the daily lives of Easter Seals DuPage and Fox Valley region clients in photo essays and videos as a semester final project. The juried still images are then displayed in Easter Seals’ lobby for one year. A reception celebrating the collaboration was recently held.

For more information about the photography program, visit cod.edu/programs/photography. To see more images and videos from the 18th annual Photo Exhibit, visit cod.edu/photo and click on the Visual Storytelling link. 

DOWNERS GROVE

Humane society to establish emergency medical fund

The establishment of an emergency medical fund to ensure cats and dogs will be able to receive life-saving veterinary care is the new goal of West Suburban Humane Society (WSHS). The fund, named the Mowgli Fund for an abandoned cat with medical issues who was saved by the humane society’s efforts, will be started with an endowment from a longtime donor. Other funding will be collected from individual donors and grants throughout the year. An initial outreach appeal for the fund will begin on #GivingTuesday, Nov. 28.

Emergency medical care for a single animal can cost thousands of dollars, and these expenditures account for more than 40 percent of WSHS’s overall budget. Since 1972, WSHS has made its mission to help those animals most in need, and regularly takes on cases that require extensive medical treatment. However, on a yearly basis, the financial need for care regularly exceeds the organization’s means. The Mowgli Fund will allow WSHS to continue its mission by providing funding for, among other necessities:

  • Emergency surgeries and ER visits for at-risk animals,
  • Extensive testing and specialist consultations, and
  • Ongoing medical care and treatments, including physical therapy, medicines and supplements.

–DuPage County News Briefs–