Giving Back

Photo: Christy Belue, second from left, on Friday June 5th, at the plaza at NBC-5 Chicago,

with other volunteers promoting Chicago Cares' upcoming Serve-A-Thon.

Around the Pfaff & Gill office, we call her the goddess of scheduling. But when legal assistant, Christy Belue, isn’t busy working her magic on behalf of the firm, or busy raising her three sons, or giving blood, or donating a kidney, she takes pride and pleasure in giving back to the Chicago community. Through Chicago Cares, the city’s premier volunteer organization, Christy found SOS Children’s Villages Illinois. At the urban village, located on Chicago’s Southside, SOS provides a viable alternative to traditional foster care. Children that are orphaned, abandoned, neglected, or abused, live together with their siblings in private homes.

“At SOS, they attempt to keep large families of foster children together,” says Christy. “I volunteer twice a month (at the Village). I spend an evening reading to 3-6 year old children. During the first half hour of this program volunteers read with children and the second half hour the volunteers work on a related craft with the children. I believe I get more out of it than the children. It’s so they can have some one-on-one attention for an hour; for one hour they are the center of one adult’s attention.”

Chicago Cares is the city's premier volunteer organization. The organization provides opportunities for individuals and businesses to improve the Chicago community through participation in creative, structured group volunteer programs that address Chicago's most pressing needs. This coming Saturday, June 13, 2009, is Chicago Cares’ 16th Annual Serve-A-Thon. To learn more about how you can take part in this citywide day of service, click here.

“My son, Jamal and I are going to be roadies Saturday morning, since we can’t commit to the entire day. We are going to welcome and check-in volunteers, hand out lunches, usher, distribute goody bags, help with buses and direct traffic. I’m sure it’s going to be fun! And this way I get to spend some time with my middle boy.”

Visit us at http://www.pfaffgill.com/ to find out more about some of the other charities and community service organizations we support.