Illinois Fan Club

With steamy temperatures forecast for this week, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn will announce a $10,000 grant to the Illinois Fan Club, helping to provide cooling relief to senior citizens and others who are especially vulnerable to dangerous summer heat.

"Summer heat can be lethal, especially to the very young, the elderly, and those who have disabilities or chronic illness," said Quinn, who chairs the Governor's Rural Affairs Council. "The Illinois Fan Club is here to make sure that those most vulnerable to heat are not forced to endure life-threatening temperatures because they cannot afford the cost of an electric fan."

The $10,000 grant from the Lt. Governor's office to the Illinois Community Action Association (ICAA) will be matched with another $10,000 from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. ICAA will distribute the funds to its member Community Action Agencies, which will use the funds to buy fans for lower-income individuals who are elderly, disabled, or chronically ill, as well as families with small children."

"I'd like to invite everyone in Illinois to consider making a donation to the Illinois Fan Club," Quinn said. "These fans will help keep our vulnerable friends and neighbors more comfortable, and could even save lives during these sweltering summer days."

In 1995, a recort heat wave contributed to the deaths of more than 700 people in the Chicago area. Many of the victims were senior citizens who had no fans in their homes, and no access to public cooling sites.

The ICAA, which also administers heating assistance programs during the winter months, is a membership organization serving a network of not-for-profit community action agencies statewide.

For more information about the Illinois Fan Club, visit: www.BlackoutSolutions.org. The obtain a fan for yourself, a neighbor, friend or relative, call the Illinois Community Action Association at: 217-789-0125.