Lake County Cares

Rotarian Jim Franson hosted our guest and featured speaker, Nina Lustig, at the Dec 2nd meeting of the Grayslake Rotary Club.  Nina is the Executive Director of Lake County Cares (LCC).  LCC was founded in 1967 as the Volunteer Bureau of Lake Forest/Lake Bluff, to connect resident volunteers with opportunities to serve and help solve community needs. Its name changed to the Volunteer Center of Lake Forest/Lake Bluff to better align with the national network of Volunteer Centers, and in 2009 again changed to Lake County Cares to better represent the communities it serves.

Lake County Cares Executive Director Nina Lustig speaking to the Grayslake Rotary Club

The mission of Lake County Cares is to be the premier volunteer service hub of Lake County. LCC is an active center that strengthens communities by operating essential outreach programs and facilitating daily connections between its volunteer corps and local agencies, municipalities, schools, civic groups, and religious organizations. LCC's vision is to be the primary resource Lake County residents rely on to connect with outreach programs and service opportunities that make a difference in their community and the county at large.

LCC's outreach programs address Hunger, Literacy, Domestic Violence, Senior Well Being Environment, Homelessness Youth Leadership, and Civic Engagement via such programs as: The Giving Tree; Heart 2 Heart; HUGS Food Drive; Big Hands, Little Hearts; Open Doors; Sarah's Dream: Read With Me; Summer of Service; and Veterans Give Back.  Through its agency support programs it provides more than 115 social service agencies with the publicity and resources they need to accomplish their important missions. LCC helps member agencies, non-profits, parks, libraries, schools and religious organizations through ongoing referral of volunteers, volunteer management training and many other services. Lastly, LCC provides a Care Corps, a collective group of volunteer individuals to whom it provides experienced consultation and matches with opportunities appropriate to their interest and/or skills.

Anyone that would like to support the mission of LCC can do so via monetary donations, donations of items to associated agencies, or via donations of time and/or talent.  For more information about Lake County Cares, or to assist in their efforts, see their website at http://www.lakecountycares.org