Buffalo Grove Relief Effort Raises More Than $8,600 for Tornado Victims

Buffalo Grove community volunteers made their way downstate Tuesday armed with more than $8,600 in gift cards and a truckload of donated items to benefit victims of the tornado in the Washington, Ill., area.

The effort, which was coordinated by the Buffalo Grove police and fire departments, netted donations from public safety employees as well as community members. 

The gift card total includes more than $1,000 donated by members of the Gurnee Police Department and its community and more than $1,600 from the Vernon Hills Police Department, according to the Helping First Responders - IL Tornado Assistance Facebook page.

It also includes $10.75 in cash and coins that a child emptied from his piggy bank to benefit the victims.

Other donors dropped off items such as toiletries and baby supplies over the weekend. 

The donations, which were collected for first responders, were transported downstate with the help of Dan Golden, a School District 214 driver who volunteered his time and borrowed a school district truck to haul donations collected at the police department, said Erin Brooks, District 214’s assistant director of community engagement and outreach. He was escorted by Buffalo Grove police and firefighters, she said.

Golden also helped transport 400 hygiene kits and other donations collected by cheerleaders from Buffalo Grove, Hersey, Stevenson, Fremd, and Palatine high schools. The students also collected $170 in gift cards for the tornado victims, and Buffalo Grove cheerleaders donated 18 sets of orange and white poms to the Washington High School cheerleaders, Brooks said.