Push for the Path off to good fundraising start in Yorkville

Push for the Path off to good fundraising start in Yorkville

By Steve Lord slord@stmedianetwork.com May 24, 2012 3:14PM

YORKVILLE – The news has been good so far for Push for the Path, the citizen’s organization trying to raise money for the city’s local match for the Kennedy Road Bike Trail project.

As of this week, the organization had raised almost $40,000 through a series of fundraisers throughout the community.

“That’s the first and second years of commitment to the city covered, and about half-way to the third,” said Lynn Dubajic, director of the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation and a Push for the Path board member.

Dubajic presented the council with a spread sheet showing the organization has raised $39,932 so far. The money came from restaurants and stores holding fundraisers in which they donated percentages of their sales, waterjugs for donations placed throughout different stores, sale of T-shirts and raffles.

The most successful fundraising has been through a grassroots effort called Power of One. Neighborhoods and subdivisions have formed 67 different Power of One teams, and each is fundraising in its own way.

For instance, Power of One team 11, in the Heartland subdivision, raised more than $300 at a bake sale last weekend. And Power of One team 29 is in the midst of holding an online auction through the Push for the Path website for Cubs, White Sox and Bears tickets, as well as many services. The online auction ends Friday.

Dubajic said Push for the Path still is hoping to get as many as 100 Power of One teams. So far, the 67 teams have raised $32,239, Dubajic said.

The spreadsheet this week is truly just a snapshot, because there already are other fundraising efforts under way.

For instance, Nanette’s, a boutique at 101 E. Center St., is donating 10 percent of purchases for the entire month of May.

And the organization could see a sizable donation of thousands of dollars from Nicor for its community day. Last Saturday, more than 100 Nicor volunteers helped clean up in Riverfront Park and along the riverfront by the whitewater kayaking facility downtown, and Nicor will make a donation for each of those volunteers.

The organization is trying to raise about $350,000 during the next six years to pay the local match needed to build an estimated $1.7 million, 2.7-mile bike path along Kennedy Road, from Route 47 to Mill Road.

The City Council has accepted a state grant of about $1.4 million for the project.