Despite Cancelled Festival, Northbrook Days Raffle Raises $38,000

Press release from Northbrook Civic Foundation:

Oct. 2, 2020

Once it was clear the pandemic made it impossible to host the annual Northbrook Days Festival in August, Northbrook Civic Foundation volunteers didn’t want their charitable partners to pay the price. They poured their efforts into one aspect of the festival that could still go forward – the Grand Prize Raffle.

The Foundation announced today that it raised $38,000 to fund college scholarships for graduating high school students and grants for local organizations that serve the community. While the 2020 total is less than half what the festival typically nets in a good year, the Foundation is proud to have raised so much while working at such a disadvantage.

“Thank you to all the members of the community who supported the Northbrook Civic Foundation by volunteering or just buying a ticket. It was heartwarming to see all the support for our efforts this year,” Foundation President Ellen Westel said.

Waterway Carwash in Northbrook was once again was the largest sponsor of the festival, with each $10 ticket sold doubling as a certificate for a free car wash. The Foundation would also like to thank the Northbrook Farmer’s Market, Ace Hardware, Dairy Queen and the North Suburban YMCA for allowing foundation volunteers to sell tickets at their locations.

The Foundation’s Northbrook Days Committee is already hard at work planning the 96th annual festival for August 2021. The location for the 2021 festival has yet to be determined.

Planned and staffed by volunteers, Northbrook Days is a summer tradition that brings our community together, while being a testament to local generosity. Each year the festival features a wide variety of local food and beverage options, exciting carnival games and rides, big ticket raffle prizes, great live music. Northbrook Days is the only annual fundraiser for the Northbrook Civic Foundation, which has been supporting the local community for more than 100 years.

Over the years, the Northbrook Civic Foundation has provided grants to many Northbrook non-profit and social service agencies, including: Northbrook Park District, Northbrook Public Library, Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook, Village of Northbrook, International Center on Deafness & the Arts, Northbrook Community Nursery School, Northbrook Historical Society, Northfield Township Food Pantry, North Suburban YMCA, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, Glenbrook North Grad Night, The Josselyn Center, Northbrook Community Garden, Northbrook Centennial Plaza, Northbrook Symphony, Special Gifts Theatre, Northern Suburban Special Recreation Association (NSSRA), Northbrook Baseball, Care Packages to Military Northbrook residents overseas, and Northbrook Citizens for Drug and Alcohol Awareness (NCDAA).

This press release was produced by Northbrook Civic Foundation. The views expressed here are the author's own.