We certainly do love to partner with everyone – organizations, individuals, and businesses, and others – who help our community! The first quote was not exactly right, however, the Rotary Club matched the HPCF’s grant that was provided to support Operation Warm’s efforts to ensure all children in our community have coats to make it though the winter – a basic need of many Highland Park and Highwood children that would otherwise have been unmet.

The Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield gifted new winter coats to children in need earlier this month, providing 250 of them to students in pre-kindergarten to eighth grade at North Shore School District 112.

The district serves Highwood and Highland Park.

“Our club believes a brand new coat is more than a coat, and offers a child physical and emotional warmth, confidence to socialize and succeed and hope of a brighter future,” said Rich Lalley, secretary/treasurer of the Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield.

Lalley said the Rotary Clubs of Wilmette, Wilmette Harbor, Glencoe and Lake Forest-Lake Bluff supported this outreach with cash contributions.

First Bank of Highland Park has joined the Highland Park Community Foundation’s Corporate Champion Program.

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The Highland Park Community Foundation (HPCF) welcomes First Bank of Highland Park to its Corporate Champion Program. Corporate Champion Program. Launched in 2020, the HPCF’s Corporate Champion Program provides the opportunity for all businesses to become philanthropic partners in helping to address the needs of the Highland Park/Highwood community and expand opportunities for all residents.

First Bank of Highland Park became a Corporate Champion by pledging a 5-year financial commitment to support the Foundation’s work and joins the Foundation in its efforts to enhance the quality of life for all Highland Park and Highwood residents.

The Highland Park Community Foundation (HPCF) welcomes Highland Park Bank & Trust to its Corporate Champion Program.

The HPCF’s Corporate Champion Program is an exceptional opportunity for all businesses to become philanthropic partners in helping to address the needs of the Highland Park/Highwood community and expand opportunities for all residents.

Highland Park Bank &Trust has pledged a 5-year financial commitment to support the Foundation’s work. This newest member of the Corporate Champion program joins the Foundation in its efforts to enhance the quality of life for all Highland Park and Highwood residents.

“We are delighted that Highland Park Bank & Trust has joined us as a Corporate Champion. Their multi-year support will provide us with reliable resources to address unmet needs in our community and enrich the lives of all residents,” said Betsy Brint, Vice Chairman, Highland Park Community Foundation.

Highland Park Community Foundation (HPCF) welcomes Banner Kitchen & Bath, a respected industry leader since 1946, to the HPCF Corporate Champion Program.

The HPCF Corporate Champion Program, launched in 2020, was created to develop relationships with businesses and build long-term partnerships that will help the HPCF address unmet needs of and expand opportunities for all Highland Park and Highwood residents. The HPCF awards grants on an annual basis to nonprofits and agencies that provide a wide range of programs and services for the youngest to the oldest members of our community. Donations to the HPCF through its Corporate Champion Program will help ensure the HPCF has the financial resources it needs to support these programs.

The Highland Park Community Foundation has released an additional $25,000 in emergency funds to help Highland Park and Highwood residents who are still suffering from the impacts of COVID-19.

Since the March 2020 launch of the HPCF’s Emergency Response Appeal, the foundation has provided six rounds of emergency grants. The total disbursement to nonprofits who support residents’ needs has now reached nearly $200,000, distributed through 90 grants.

Highland Park, IL – June 10, 2021: Luxury car dealer Autohaus on Edens has generously pledged a 5-year financial commitment to the Highland Park Community Foundation (HPCF). As the most recent North Shore business to sign on to the HPCF Corporate Champion Program, Autohaus on Eden’s generous contribution will provide financial resources the Foundation needs to support community-based programs and services for Highland Park and Highwood residents.

The Highland Park Community Foundation (HPCF) hosted a socially distanced gathering to distribute its annual grant awards to local agencies and nonprofits on Wednesday, October 6th outside the Highland Park Community House.

This event was held in lieu of the HPCF’s annual Grant Awards Reception, which the Board canceled this year for health and safety reasons.

For 2021, the Foundation distributed an unprecedented 58 annual grants, totaling $613,200, an impressive $100,000 more than last year. These totals mark the largest number of annual grants and dollars awarded in the history of the HPCF.

The distribution includes $300,000 in grant funding the HPCF received from the City of Highland Park pursuant to an agreement through which the HPCF serves as a fiduciary for City funds set aside for distribution to nonprofits.

The Highland Park Community Foundation (HPCF) has appointed David Reich to the position of Chairman.

At the Highland Park Community Foundation’s annual meeting in December, David Reich assumed the Chairmanship of the Foundation. “I am thrilled to turn over the reins to David Reich. He will do an excellent job of advancing our current strategic initiatives as well as bringing new ideas to our Board,” said Nancy Mills, Chairman Emeritus of the Highland Park Community Foundation.

The Highland Park Community Foundation (HPCF) has released an additional round of emergency funds to help Highland Park and Highwood residents with COVID recovery. Since the March 2020 launch of the HPCF’s Emergency Response Appeal, the Foundation has provided 7 rounds of emergency grants. The total COVID disbursement to nonprofits who support residents’needs has now reached nearly $240,000, distributed through 106 grants.

Community members still struggle with urgent COVID-related needs. The most recent grants provided funding for food; shelter for victims of abuse and their minor children; PPE, cleaning, and sanitizing supplies; housing counseling for families facing foreclosure; hygiene kits for children from birth through age 12; supports for community members seeking to successfully re-enter the workforce; cot sheets used at naptime and reusable plates and bowls for children at a local pre-school; personal care products for high school students; mental health programming and therapy for parents; supplies for prenatal moms and newborn babies; and hotspots for reliable internet.

Highland Park, IL – May 9, 2019: The Highland Park Community Foundation is pleased to announce the Golden Apple Award recipient for 2019. This year’s deserving honoree is Patricia Castro, fifth grade dual language teacher at Oak Terrace Elementary School.

Patricia’s principals and observation team applaud her for setting the standard for good teaching. Patricia doesn’t create lessons; she creates experiences. Navigating in one language is tough enough, but Patricia does it in two. To benefit her students, she takes the core curriculum and adapts it to Spanish. Her dedicated methods change the way her students learn by encouraging them to believe in their own potential while fostering an environment where everyone is on an equal playing field. Each student brings his or her own ideas, strengths, desires, background, and knowledge to the group and ultimately becomes a valuable and participating member of the classroom.

“The Highland Park Community Foundation is privileged to honor Patricia Castro as 2019’s Golden Apple Recipient,” said Sara Sher, HPCF Golden Apple Selection committee. “Exceptional teachers such as Patricia are guiding the next generation of Highland Park citizens. Through our recognition of deserving life-enhancing teachers, the Highland Park Community Foundation can celebrate the profoundly positive impact that their exemplary teaching has on the children of our community.”

In 2010, the Highland Park Community Foundation and a local family foundation initiated an annual Golden Apple Award to recognize outstanding teachers in the Highland Park School systems. Nominations are made in a rotating cycle: K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. A selection committee, comprised of exemplary current and retired educators and administrators and former Golden Apple award recipients, evaluate the extensive application and complete a full day of observation. The final recipient of the award is chosen based on instruction, content knowledge, student and staff interaction, and contribution to school and community.

This year, nominations were accepted for full-time teachers in grades K-5 in North Shore School District 112 who have completed at least four full years of teaching. The committee received excellent nominations, and after a rigorous and intensive review process, nominations were narrowed to three spectacular semi-finalists: Patricia Castro, Amy March, and Becky Purse.

The HPCF Golden Apple Selection Committee met this May to determine the 2019 recipient. Patricia Castro receives a $2000 honorarium, a $500 gift card to Apple store, and a “Golden Apple” award.

All three of the semi-finalists will be honored publicly at the May 21 District 112 Board meeting. By honoring exceptional educators, the Foundation hopes to demonstrate the strength and importance of excellent teaching in helping young people reach their full potential.