Exchange Club of Naperville’s Ribfest 2014 Raises More Than $550,000

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - March 13, 2015 - PRLog -- Naperville, IL, March 10, 2015—Gathering this past Friday at Naperville’s Meson Sabika for the Exchange Club of Naperville’s Ribfest Allocation Luncheon, club members and nonprofit representatives assembled to share stories and to hear the amount raised from last year’s Ribfest.

With the unveiling of a large check, the Club proudly revealed the total: $558,255. This amount will be donated to numerous local charities to help them continue the fight against child abuse and domestic violence in all forms.

Those nonprofits include those who address daily challenges in our community: hunger, families in crisis, homelessness, sexual assault, advocacy, housing, addiction, respite care for families of special need children, adult daycare, teen pregnancy support, to name just a few. The Edward Care Center, Loaves and Fishes, Families Helping Families, Little Friends, Inc. and Project HELP, a nonprofit organization established by the Club in 1992 that empowers parents within Naperville School Districts 203 and 204 are among those receiving allocations.

Each year, the Ribfest proceeds help between 40 and 50 nonprofits. A special committee reviews the agencies to make sure that they fit the mission of helping families in need.

Ribfest Chair (2014) Dan DeBoo said Ribfest is entering its 28thyear and has raised more than $14 million. “Ribfest is our major fundraiser and drives the economics that support not only these agencies but all of the community service that we do,” he says. “The event has been a partnership with the City of Naperville and the Naperville Park District since the beginning.”

Major support during Ribfest comes from individual volunteers and community groups. Diane Simmons, Manpower Chair and Allocations Co-Chair, wants to add more volunteers this year.
“It takes a lot of volunteers to make Ribfest happen and all of the groups are out there participating each year,’’ she says. “To help with volunteering, either as an individual or a group, please go to our website at www.ribfest.net/volunteer and click on the volunteer spot app to volunteer for things like beverage tents, gates and child ID. We also work with the area schools to get their groups out to help with the trash and recycling efforts.”

To learn more about volunteering, contact Diane Simmons at ribfestmanpower@gmail.com. For more information and to purchase tickets online, go to ribfest.net (http://www.ribfest.net/). Also, to keep up to date on what’s going on at Ribfest, download the Ribfest app on the iTunes store and like us on Facebook.

About Naperville Ribfest:
Ribfest is run by the 140+ members of the Exchange Club of Naperville in cooperation with its partners the City of Naperville and the Naperville Park District. More than 4,000 volunteers and hundreds of sponsors support the event with 100% of the proceeds from Ribfest going to support the elimination of child abuse and domestic violence. The event’s Grand Sponsors are Miller Lite, CBS Radio, ABC 7 Chicago, D&J Amusements, Baird & Warner, One Main Financial, Navistar and Naperville Bank & Trust/Wintrust Community Banks.