Football concession stand just one way group raises funds to support clubs, teams
Working the grill at the Oct. 11 Hinsdale Central football game are Rich Tuck and Ned Hoyt. The volunteers cook up hamburgers and hot dogs each week to sell in the concession stand. Football games generate $30,000 in concession sales, part of the $101,000 in annual concession revenue. Working in the Huddle Hut are Beth Bielarz and Mike Jakubek, with Sam LoPresti (from left), Bruce Carlson and Julie Boruff facilitating in the background.
Charity Richardson (from left), Jody Collins and Amia Ahmed sell spirit wear at the game. Between four football games, 24 school sales and online sales, the Boosters generate more than $105,000 from spirit wear.
Upgraded light fixtures in the school auditorium.
A buzzer system for Scholastic Bowl quiz competitions.
A Red Devil mascot costume to boost school spirit.
An underwater speaker for enhanced training for the boys and girls swim and dive teams.
All were paid for by the Hinsdale Central Boosters Club. And those items represent just a fraction of the $300,000 the club has invested in the school over the past five years.
"My favorite grant to give is a grant where it's a newer club, that doesn't have as many kids, that is trying to get started," said Julie Boruff, treasurer of the Boosters board and a five-year board member. "It's exciting to see a group of kids take the initiative to start a new club and get a sponsor. I love that we can help them do that."
Boruff's children are both in college now. She's not alone as a board member with kids already graduated from Central.
"Really the people that I work with in the Boosters are just people that want to give back," she said. "A lot of them do other things in the community as well. Even though we don't have kids there any more, we want to do something."
One such board member is Sam LoPresti. He was at a football game when a friend asked if he would be willing to help out at the Huddle House concession stand. That was 22 years ago.
"That's how it all started," said LoPresti, dad to five Hinsdale Central graduates, the youngest of which was a member of the Class of 2020.
"I love just giving back to the community and giving back to Hinsdale Central for the education my kids have received," he said. "The school is great. The people are great. I love the tradition of Friday night lights."
He and board member Bruce Carlson have headed up concessions for years. Carlson said he made a commitment to support local schools after he watched his alma matter, Arlington High School, close in 1984.
"I said whatever community I move to, I would do my very best to make sure we had the best educational product possible," he said, noting that concessions is a significant fundraiser for the Boosters.
During the 2023-24 school year, the club raised $101,364 from concessions. Spirit wear was the other largest source of revenue, bringing in $105,260. Membership dues totaled $48,975 and fundraisers generated $24,324.
Of those funds, the Boosters paid $23,500 to groups and teams that help work the concession stands. The club gave a total of $64,637 to 11 sports and 15 activities in grants, plus a special grant of almost $12,000 for wall murals. Another $5,000 was presented to 20 students in the form of Red Devil Excellence Awards.
Teams and clubs are invited to apply for grants in the fall and spring. A Boosters committee meets with the activities and athletic directors to review submissions, and 90 percent are approved, Boruff estimated.
"We're so happy to get applicants," she said. "We want groups to know that we're there to support them."
Boruff stressed that the Boosters do not only support athletic teams, which also have their own parent Booster groups.
"That's one of our goals as an organization, is to try to really communicate to parents what the Boosters do," Boruff said. "It gets a little confusing. Some people don't understand that there are these individual Boosters and we are the big Boosters. We cover everybody."
The club was first created in 1949 to support Hinsdale Township High School's football program, she noted.
"It evolved into covering everything many years ago," she said.
Because the Boosters are so active, they always need volunteers - especially people willing to serve on the board.
"We need bodies," Boosters President Rob Tonn said. "We need people to step up and volunteer. We are only as successful as the people who volunteer their time, and we are a working board. As people age out and rotate off, we need new people with energy to get involved.
Boruff agreed.
"We are a very small board that does a lot of work," she said. "We actually have a lot of open positions right now. Our VP position has been open for two years. Ever since COVID, it just feels like we're struggling to get people involved."
Potential board members should contact Tonn or Boruff using the link on the club's website at http://www.theboosters.com. A form for event volunteers is also on the site.
Families also can support the Boosters by purchasing memberships, which range from basic at $75 to director at $300. Membership has hovered at just under 400 for several years.
"We would love to break 400," she said.
Volunteering also has its own rewards.
"Becoming a member of the Boosters or being involved in this would open a lot of doors for people for friendships and relationships and business opportunities that otherwise they normally would not have," Carlson said.
And it's enjoyable, LoPresti said
"It's a Friday night out, you're having fun with your friends, your neighbors," he said. "I love volunteering. We're doing it for the kids. It's all for kids in the school."
