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Noah Sassono, 9, of Steger, was thrilled to get Milt Pappas' signature during the celebrity ''Meet and Greet'' held recently during Alicia's House seventh annual fundraiser. The food pantry raised approximately $30,000 to help feed the hungry. Noah is the son of Randy and Mary Sassono.
Alicia's House helps in fight against hunger  Share
It was a perfect day for a golf outing Ð sunny skies and no chance of rain. What better day could there be to combine golf with charity? Apparently, many agreed as 86 golfers showed up for Alicia's House seventh annual Celebrity Golf Outing at Lincolnshire Country Club in Crete on Saturday, September 12. Later, approximately 200 people joined the charity at the dinner and silent auction that followed the golf tournament. The event raised approximately $30,000 to help feed the hungry. ''We have a great group of people that help support us and I feel blessed to be a part of it,'' said Juan Hernandez of Beecher, who founded Alicia's House with his wife, Stella.
The 501c3 charity was begun in 2001 by the Hernandez couple as a tribute to the memory of their granddaughter, Alicia Renee Diaz, who died on January 14 of that same year at the age of four. Alicia's House provides food to low income families in Beecher, Crete, Monee, Peotone, South Chicago Heights, Steger and University Park. Located at 17 Paulsen Avenue in South Chicago Heights, Alicia's House is open every Tuesday from 9 to 11 a.m. In 2008, the nonprofit agency distributed 126,130 pounds of food to 3,011 families and served 10,539 individuals. Saying that he'd seen a big increase in the number of families served over the last year, Juan added, ''Hunger knows no boundaries. It doesn't discriminate. It's not just the single parent, divorced person or senior citizen. People come from all walks of life.'' The hardest part of serving the hungry, for Juan, is seeing a child that is hungry. In his mind, there should never be a hungry person in this country Ð especially a child. Drawing from words he heard spoken at a Marty Stuart concert by the popular country artist, Juan says, ''There should not be people without shelter or food in America. We are a prosperous country and we can help.'' Evidently, by the recent response at Alicia's House annual fundraiser, many others feel the same as Juan. From the donated auction items to the golfer, to those who supported the charity through purchases, to the guest appearances by celebrities, all had come together to alleviate hunger. Tables were filled with a wide variety of more than 300 auction items during the silent auction, which ran from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. Auction items included an autographed Hank Aaron bat; a pair of round trip tickets to anywhere from Southwest Airlines and a Bear's helmet signed by Brian Urlacher, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary. Many other items were available signed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mohammed Ali, Gale Sayers, Alan Jackson, Charlie Daniels, Milt Pappas, Ron Santo, John Travolta and many others. A few celebrities were also on hand to meet and greet the public from 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. Celebrities included former Chicago Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas; Hollywood ''bad boy'' Scott Schwartz; ''The Golden Boy'' Paul Christy, former World Wrestler All-Stars tag team champion and International Championship Wrestling U.S. heavyweight champion and his wife, ''Bunny Love,'' who also was a professional wrestler; and Christy's manager. Noah Sassono, 9, of Steger arrived early with a few items to be signed by Milt Pappas. He'd seen Pappas at Alicia's House in South Chicago Heights on June 23 and had several pictures taken with him. He was anxious for the former pitcher to sign his photos. ''I like baseball and I'm a big Cubs fan,'' said Noah. His mother, Mary, added: ''He brought a big bag of items to be signed the last time we saw Milt. Today, he wanted to get the pictures signed we took at that time.'' Pappas is always happy to help the Hernandez couple, who are friends of his. He said he helped to get many of the donations. ''I've been helping with Alicia's House, since it started,'' he said. It's people like Pappas and the other supporters who help make Alicia's House possible, Juan said. A core group of eight to a dozen people volunteer at Alicia's House each week. ''It's 100 percent volunteer,'' he said. ''No one is paid.'' Donations are tax deductible and can be sent to: Alicia's House, P.O. Box 1232, Beecher, IL 60401. For more information, visit: www.aliciashouse.org or call: 708-946-3002. Lynn Dill is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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