ROCHELLE — On Tuesday, March 26 at the weekly meeting of the Rochelle Rotary Club, four area nonprofits each accepted $11,250 checks from proceeds of the recent From the Heart Gala that raised a record $90,000.  

Checks were accepted by representatives from the Rochelle Christian Food Pantry, Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center, CASA and Foundation for Focus House. At the March 19 Rotary meeting, checks were presented to representatives from the Rochelle Area Community Foundation, Pegasus Special Riders, The Hub City Senior Center, and HOPE of Ogle County. From the Heart raises money from its annual gala and cash calendar sales and donates the proceeds equally to the eight nonprofits.

“This is my favorite part of From the Heart,” From the Heart Founder and President Dave Eckhardt said. “We had a record year. We raised $90,000. Each of the groups that we give money to is receiving $11,250. We gave half of the total money away to four of our nonprofits last week. This week we're giving the other half away. Our goal for next year is to take it over the top and reach $100,000. We hope with everyone's help that we'll get there.”

Foundation for Focus House Executive Director Jeni Hardin was the first to accept a check from From the Heart. Focus House is a residential and outpatient facility for youth that are going through the court system. It also has an alternative-to-suspension program where students that have been suspended from middle school and high school go to the facility and meet with counselors and do schoolwork.

“Thank you to everybody,” Hardin said. “It's a lot of work to put this event together. So everyone that pitched in or attended, we really appreciate it. On behalf of the whole foundation, thank you very much.”

The next to accept a check was Shining Star Children's Advocacy Center Executive Director Jessica Cash. Her organization is the child advocacy center that serves Ogle and Lee County and works with children and families that have been affected by child abuse. Shining Star works alongside police, DCFS, the FBI and prosecutors on child abuse cases. It provides forensic interviewing of children, counseling, court advocacy, medical exams, support groups for kids and parents, community abuse prevention programs and more.

“Thank you to everybody that came to From the Heart,” Cash said. “I think my first experience with From the Heart was the second year. It's amazing to see the growth in attendance and just the games and the experience. Thank you to everybody that's been a part of that.”

The next to accept a check was CASA Executive Director Trisha Tayon. CASA is a nonprofit, volunteer organization that advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children within the juvenile court system in Lee, Carroll and Ogle Counties. 

“On behalf of CASA and the board of directors, volunteers and the kids we serve, thank you very much,” Tayon said. “This money is extremely beneficial to our program because it's unrestricted funds. It will help us hire a part-time supervisor in Ogle County. This is extremely important to us. I had one supervisor doing two counties. We're very appreciative of this money.”

The final check was accepted by Kathy Olson of the Rochelle Christian Food Pantry. 

“This is the first year that I've been involved in the From the Heart committee,” Olson said. “It's a well-oiled machine. They know exactly what they're doing. This is very meaningful to the food pantry. This has been our biggest year ever. We had over 6,600 visits, which represented feeding over 21,000 people. We really appreciate this money.”