Patriotic Service

Since 2004, the Illinois Dames have sponsored USO Dinners at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago.  Dames volunteers help staff the dinners.

USO Dinners are free meals for military personnel and their families. Held at the USO Center at Naval Station Great Lakes, this program serves 200-300 Navy recruits per dinner. Ninety percent of the military customers who utilize the USO Great Lakes Center are Junior Sailors who are stationed temporarily and attending military specialty schools. No Dough also attracts military spouses and their children who have a parent serving overseas, as well as military retirees.

Since 2016 the Illinois Dames have supported of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program.  At the Society’s annual holiday meeting, a Marine accepts a substantial donation of new, unwrapped toys and cash, providing joy for disadvantaged children and their families during the holiday season.

In 2018 the Illinois Dames welcomed another opportunity to serve the military through support of the Chicago Veterans Ruck March. The NSCDA-IL underwrites and serves lunch to Ruck March participants at Centennial Park in Evanston, Illinois.

This presents a unique opportunity to extend our support to veterans’ empowerment as they make their transition from military to civilian life.  The Ruck March serves to honor and remember those whom we have lost on the battlefield and at home. The 20-mile journey from Glencoe to Chicago by veterans and their family and friends serves to raise awareness of PTSD and suicide among our veterans, an epidemic that plagues many who have served in combat. The 20-mile length symbolizes the estimated 20 veterans we lose each day to suicide.