The Arlington Heights Park District’s (AHPD) EnviroGroup recently announced that its Cases for a Cause campaign, which ended in late October, collected more than 500 items.

The campaign surpassed the Park District’s goal of collecting usable backpacks, wheeled suitcases and other items, over its two-month campaign. The final tally: 589 suitcases, duffel bags and back packs.

“We did it! We hit our goal of 500 bags and THEN SOME”, said Sheila Cruz, EnviroGroup spokesperson. She added, “We thank everyone who participated and helped to spread the word throughout the community and patrons, friends and family”.

“These results are very gratifying, because we’ll be able to help even more families that we anticipated,” said Colleen McCarty, Park Planner I and EnviroGroup member.

She also recognized the organizations that benefitted from this effort: 

• Journeys The Road Home
• Children’s Home and Aid
• Lawrence Hall Foundation

The drive gave residents an easy way to donate at Olympic Indoor Swim Center, Forest View Racquet and Fitness Club, the Senior Center, the Administration Center, Camelot, Pioneer, Recreation, and Frontier Community Centers. Customers simply left their donations in large collection bins. 

The following facilities led the way in collecting the most items:

• Frontier Community Center collected the most bags A whopping 26% of the case load carried by the Frontier Park neighborhood and staff.
• Olympic Indoor Swim Center collected 21% of total bags.
• Administration Center & Historical Museum collected 17% of the total.

EnviroGroup members collected, spot cleaned, then sorted all the bags collected to ensure they were in usable condition.  Members of the EnviroGroup delivered by November 1, just in time for “Make A Difference Day” weekend.  

The AHPD EnviroGroup’s mission is to help set a high standard of leadership and competency in the promotion and incorporation of sound environmental practices and lifestyles.  

Mission:  The Arlington Heights Park District enriches the community by providing quality recreation, facilities and fun.       

We do this by:

• Ensuring the efficient and effective use of financial resources and Park District assets.
• Providing innovative recreational opportunities and facilities to meet the diverse programming needs of our community.
• Continuing the District's pursuit of being a community, regional, state and national leader.
• Promoting an environment of cooperation, collaboration and teamwork.
• Providing quality internal and external customer-focused service.
• Providing stewardship of our open spaces and natural resources.