Families looking for a hands-on way to support pediatric care can pick up a $15 lantern kit from the Glen Ellyn Park District, with every dollar going to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital.
The kits are available now at the Main Street Recreation Center, 501 Hill Ave., during registration office hours through Friday, Sept. 4. Each one includes a paper lantern shade, an LED light and a carrying stick. Buyers decorate their lanterns at home, then bring them to the Glow in the Park Lantern Walk on Friday, Sept. 11, at Lake Ellyn Park, 645 Lenox Road.
The park district announced the kit sale on Tuesday, Aug. 4, urging residents to start planning their lantern designs. The announcement was authored by Courtney O'Kray.
The event
The Sept. 11 walk is free and open to the public, running from 5 to 9 p.m. The Glen Ellyn Park District is partnering with Charlie's Corner Foundation to put on the evening, which opens with live music, face painting and inflatables before the main attraction: an illuminated lantern procession around the lake beginning at 7:20 p.m.
No registration is required. Just show up.
A prior edition of the walk raised $4,406 for the neonatal intensive care unit at Lurie Children's Hospital, according to the park district's Facebook page. Lurie Children's maintains a partnership with Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, giving the fundraiser a direct connection to pediatric services used by western suburbs families.
How to get a kit
- Where: Main Street Recreation Center, 501 Hill Ave., Glen Ellyn
- When: Through Friday, Sept. 4, during office hours (Monday–Thursday 8:30 a.m.–8 p.m.; Friday 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.–noon; closed Sunday)
- Cost: $15 per kit
- Questions: Call (630) 858-2463 or (630) 942-7280
