Illinois Valley Sunrise Rotary donates stove, cabinets, laptop to IV PADS homeless shelter

Previous stove in Peru shelter was failing and needed to be replaced

(Left to right) Illinois Valley Sunrise Rotary President Mike Dudek, First Vice President Carrie Lijewski, IV Pads Executive Director Carol Alcorn and rotarians Jason Curran, Stan Wolf and Steve Schweickert pose for a photo following the Rotary's donations to the homeless shelter.

A grant partnership between Illinois Valley Sunrise Rotary and Rotary District 6420 will help the homeless through Illinois Valley Public Action to Deliver Shelter.

An electric stove for the Peru shelter, locking lateral filing cabinets for the Peru and Ottawa shelters and a new laptop computer all are new enhancements thanks to the joint grant funding agreement.

At the Peru shelter, about 340 individuals are served more than 33,000 meals during the program year running from Aug. 15 to May 31. The previous stove was failing and needed to be replaced. At both locations medication for each client must be identified and securely locked. The new locking file cabinets will help IV PADS carry out that function. The laptop computer will help staff record and update client program and medications functions. Clients may be able to update resume information and conduct job searches.

IV Sunrise President Mike Dudek explained all club members, and many people throughout community participate in Rotary fundraising activities. In addition, according to Dudek, Rotarians contribute to the Rotary Foundation. After three years those Foundation contributions can come back to form Rotary District 6420′s matching community grant.

Executive Director of IV PADS Carol Alcorn thanked Illinois Valley Sunrise Rotary for the grant contributions.

“These items are helping us achieve our mission of providing shelter, food, and services to people in need,” Alcorn said.