Benefit for Pierotti Memorial Scholarship Fund to be Held October 9

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 3, 2007

Contact: Mike Sitrick, Manager of Development

(630) 665-5556 or msitrick@dcfdn.org

WHEATON, IL—A benefit reception will be held on behalf of The Paul D. Pierotti Memorial Scholarship Fund of The DuPage Community Foundation on Tuesday, October 9, 2007, from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., at Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook. The event is being sponsored by Forest Preserve District of DuPage County President D. “Dewey” Pierotti Jr. and his wife Leslie to honor the legacy of their late son Paul, and to celebrate the accomplishments of the Fund’s first scholarship recipient, Justin Kania of Naperville.

“My wife and I are very pleased to be hosting this benefit,” said President Pierotti. “Since the Fund’s establishment in June 2006, we’ve been overwhelmed by the support we’ve received for it from family, friends, colleagues and many others throughout the area. With their support, Paul’s fund will continue to grow and provide young, promising, at-need youth with college scholarships to pursue careers in natural resources.”

The evening will include a reception with hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, excerpts from The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe, performed by members of First Folio Shakespeare Festival, and a brief program. Tickets to the event are $100 per person with sponsorship recognition available for contributions of $500 and up.

For more information regarding this event, please contact Julie Carlsen, Foundation associate grants coordinator, at (630) 665-5556.

Individuals unable to attend the event but who wish to contribute to the Fund may do so by sending their donations to The DuPage Community Foundation, Paul D. Pierotti Memorial Scholarship Fund, 2100 Manchester Rd., Bldg. A, Ste. 303, Wheaton, IL 60187-4584, or donate on-line at www.dcfdn.org.

Paul Pierotti was killed in March 1998 as a result of a two-car crash that occurred in West Chicago. A graduate of York High School in Elmhurst and West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, West Virginia, Pierotti had been an assistant manager of the Elmhurst-Chicago Stone Co. plant in Elgin. He was 30 years old and engaged to be married.

Established in 1986, The DuPage Community Foundation is a publicly-supported 501 (c)(3) organization to which contributions are tax deductible. It was created to benefit the people of DuPage County and receives contributions and bequests into a permanent endowment from individuals, corporations, organizations, and foundations wishing to make lasting contributions to the people of DuPage. The earnings on these funds are then used, in accordance with donor wishes, for the Foundation’s grantmaking and community leadership activities.

The DuPage Community Foundation seeks to raise the quality of life throughout DuPage County by developing and channeling philanthropy to meet the needs of its residents. Based on the American virtues of volunteerism and philanthropy, the Foundation fosters a legacy of support for the people of DuPage County by making grants to not-for-profit organizations working in the arts and culture, education, environmental affairs, health, and human services. Since its inception the Foundation has awarded nearly $6 million in grants to approximately 400 not-for-profit agencies serving the residents of DuPage County and beyond.

For further information about the Foundation or to arrange future media opportunities, please contact Michael Sitrick, manager of development, at (630) 665-5556 or msitrick@dcfdn.org.

# # #