There are people among us who keep our School of Rock Oak Park safe and clean. You don't see them. They sometimes come in the dark. They clean the windows and clear the snow from the sidewalks and the back lot in the early morning hours. They cut our grass and pick up the trash that people toss out of their car windows. They show up week after week when no one is there to see their work or say thank you.

Over the past few months, there are two families who don't feel safe leaving their homes to work. One family has a child who works and tries to support them while their other child attends college. Another family is in a very similar situation. They aren't asking for help. They want to work to earn a living and they do the work other people don't want to do. They have both, after much insistence, agreed to receive help. When I told two very strong, hard working men (separately) that they are part of our community and they belong here, they both said that it made them cry.

I know that we are all being asked to give right now. I try to reserve asking our School of Rock community for help for the most important and dire situations. You have come through in the past and I hope you will again.

Please give whatever you can. I am collecting the funds myself so that I can distribute them to the two families in need.