Twenty-seven miles. A 35-minute drive, with no traffic. That is the difference between living in the safest city in America and living in the most violent zip code in Chicago. Naperville to Garfield Park. The difference between growing up in an environment where children learn, laugh, and live safely and freely to growing up in an environment that is more dangerous than what a U.S. soldier faces in Afghanistan or Iraq.

As we turn the calendar from 2022 to 2023, I thought this would be an opportune time to look back on what “Just One Dash” has been able to do since we received our 501(c)(3) status and offer a glimpse of what we are hoping to do going forward into the new year.

What does “Just One Dash” do with over $1,100 worth of Target purchases? We give it away. We drive to the West Side of Chicago and we give some to a Single Mom who has one baby boy and two young daughters. We give some to a Single Mom with a 3-year-old daughter.

You are born on the West Side of Chicago in 1952. You grow up with two working parents, an older sister and three younger brothers. You have fond memories of growing up on the West Side. Your house is filled with love. Your house is filled with prayer and, like it or not, you attend mass every Sunday. When you walk outside, everyone knows everyone. Everyone is connected. It takes a village.