Hinsdale Auxiliary president leads fundraising for needy families

HINSDALE — Six years ago, Deanna Koffron pulled up to what would be her first time volunteering with Hinsdale Auxiliary for its “See Santa” party. It was still more than an hour before the event started, but already, 200 needy families were in line enduring the frigid temperatures just to try to make the holiday special for their children.

“We knew that these were the only gifts those kids were going to get under the tree,” said Koffron, of Hinsdale. “That’s how needy these families are and they were willing to stand outside in the cold that long just to see Santa.”

Koffron became president of Hinsdale Auxiliary four years later. The fundraising organization directly serves the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago, which provides health care to women and children who are underinsured or have no health insurance.

As of 2012, IWS had 13,000 patients, 85 percent of whom live below the poverty line.

“It’s such an interesting place to visit because if you were to walk into the clinic, you would never in a million years think it was a free clinic,” Koffron said. “It looks just like any doctor’s office that any mom in Hinsdale would be happy to bring their kid into. It’s state-of-the-art, clean and the doctors do excellent work.”

Knowing she is helping these families when times are tough is one of the most gratifying aspects of working with IWS.

“I think it’s really important to give back and I think it’s really important for your kids to see you give back,” she said. “We kind of got lucky in life and I think you have to help those who were maybe not quite as lucky.”

As president of Hinsdale Auxiliary, Koffron runs meetings each month in Hinsdale and also attends an all-auxiliary presidents’ meeting once a month at the clinic. While there, she and other area auxiliary presidents share ideas for how to fundraise, get volunteers and help more people in need.

“It’s really about serving the underserved,” Koffron said. “These are families that really work hard and just can’t make ends meet.”

This March will be Hinsdale Auxiliary’s 16th year of doing one of its largest fundraisers, “Tablescapes,” a brunch and fashion show fundraiser based on the theme of color.

“Each group puts together a tablescape, which is basically a table put together top to bottom and it’s centered around a theme,” she said. “All those tables are raffled off at our event so the person that wins that table gets everything on the table.”

Koffron said IWS started a little more than a century ago when the infant mortality rate in Chicago was high because mothers were giving children tainted milk. Auxiliaries started setting up milk stations to give mothers clean milk for their kids.

Earlier this month, IWS celebrated the organization’s milestone anniversary — an appreciation for how far it has come in helping those in need.

“It just really makes you feel like you’re making a difference,” Koffron said. “Any organization that can stay around for 100 years obviously has done a whole lot of good.”

About Deanna Koffron
Age: 44
Residence: Hinsdale
Education: University of Iowa
Hobbies: Tennis
Notable: President of Hinsdale Auxiliary for the past two years

How to help
For more information about the Hinsdale Auxiliary and how to help IWS, visit infantwelfaresociety.org or find Hinsdale Auxiliary on Facebook.