After 136 years of service, Joliet Holly Club going away

A longtime Joliet nonprofit is going away this summer – and so will the $40,000 it gives to the community each year.

The Holly Club of Joliet will host its final fundraiser – The Lawn Party – on Tuesday.

The Holly Club was founded 136 year ago by teen girls in a home on Eastern Avenue to help those in need during the holidays.

Today, the average age of club members is between 60 and 65, said Holly Club President Tammy Paolucci of Shorewood, who is 56.

Holly Club member Debra Strahanoski said the group has lost some “very, very dedicated members” in recent years. Some have moved away for retirement or they have passed away, she said.

The club currently has 16 members, not the 25 to 30 needed for a viable organization, Paolucci said.

In addition, Holly Club has 83 patronesses – former members who support the club’s mission.

“It takes a good amount of members to rally people to attend fundraisers and make donations,” Paolucci said.

The club has tried different approaches to recruit members.

“We’d gain a few, and then we’d lose a few. And we just could not get to that 25-to-30 mark and keep it there,” she said.

Failing fundraisers

The group’s primary fundraiser was always the Holly Club Ball, which is as old as the club itself. But attendance began to wane, so in 2022, the event transitioned into a pre-holiday, less-formal affair called Party with a Purpose.

“Our attendance was starting to drop to the point we couldn’t meet the guaranteed number for activities – and we weren’t making as much as we’d like," Paolucci said.

At the same time, the costs of food, liquor, printing and postage have risen, she said.

“You can only increase your ticket price so much because people will say, ‘I can’t afford to attend,’” Paolucci said.

A recent fundraiser was well-attended and very well-received, Paolucci said, but it failed in terms of a fundraiser.

“It didn’t generate a lot of public interest just to come and support the cause,” she said.

All of the sponsorships came from club members except for one, she said.

“And that was the spouse of one of our members who had passed away recently, and he graciously donated,” Paolucci said. “I thought, ‘We can’t keep expecting our members to produce, to work at these events, to work at fundraisers and be the source – the financial end – of the fundraisers all the time.’”

Changing times

People live busier lives now. which affects membership.

Back in the day, Holly Club members didn’t work full time, Paolucci said.

“They were stay-at-home moms or they worked part time,” she said. “They had free time to create and work on fundraisers. And in today’s society, we all work full time.”

And if women aren’t working, they have retired and often are caring for grandchildren or elderly parents.

“So, that makes it very hard to get and keep members. We also had three members pass away in the last two years,” Paolucci said.

Still, the loss of the Holly Club will be felt in the community.

Paolucci said the club donated to the Greater Joliet Area YMCA, Easterseals Joliet Region, Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness Care, the Boys & Girls Club of Joliet and the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center.

In addition, the Holly Club supported Joliet Public Schools District 86 families through winter coat drives and holiday gift cards. Club members served meals at the Daybreak Center in Joliet.

“And the Will-Grundy Medical Clinic gets a third of our budget. That’s in our bylaws,” Paolucci said. “They’re definitely going to miss us in a big way.”

‘Losing them is huge’

Shawn Marconi, executive director of the Will Grundy Medical Clinic, said the Holly Club has been “an integral component” to the clinic’s ability to serve “the vulnerable in the community.”

“They actually staffed the front desk when we opened,” Marconi said, later adding that “losing them is huge.”

Marconi said people don’t always realize the value nonprofits bring to communities, filling in gaps in services “in access to health care, for social care. The support we provide enables families to work, to pay bills, to buy goods and services, and to thrive.”

The fact the clinic will go on underscores te Holly Club’s value.

“The clinic will stand as a testimony and testament to the will of the women of Joliet – their collective efforts and passion and empathy and will to serve those in need,” Marconi said.

Paolucci said once the final bills are paid and donations dispersed, she hopes sufficient funds remain for the Holly Club to leave an endowment of some sort to one or more organizations.

“And then we create that legacy,” Paolucci said.

If you go

The Lawn Party – a Holly Club tradition – will be from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Jacob Henry Mansion Estate, 15 S. Richards St. in Joliet.

Paolucci said the club will accept reservations through Monday.

For tickets and more information, visit hollyclubjoliet.org.