Dupage Policy Journal

The village board of Carol Stream celebrated the continuation of a charitable legacy.

"He told me the reason was that he was tired of burying young people. And it's just the epidemic was so bad at the time that he felt he had to do something because so many towns dropped their deer program as things got bad," Mayor Frank Saverino said. "And I said, he's going to send a check. And I said, No, I want you to come in and I want you to take the podium and I want you to tell people why you're doing this. If it doesn't get out, it's never going to get better. And he started that whole your dad actually started that whole thing against the opioids and against fentanyl and against everything. And then everybody kind of like came in. The problem is COVID. We kind of dropped the ball in the last three years. Hopefully, maybe this presentation that you're making, what you're going to do tonight will be something. Maybe we can get started again.” 

Saverino introduced George from Solerno’s funeral homes, who was brought to the board meeting to continue a legacy his father started. His father, in the midst of the drug epidemic, started making annual contributions to the DARE project and supporting the program and the idea because he was tired of having to do services and burials for such young kids. 

His son George is now continuing that legacy, presenting before the board their donation to the DARE program. The mayor was a longtime friend of George’s father and recalls when almost all of the municipalities and organizations dropped the DARE program. The village of Carol Stream is one of very few left in the county of DuPage that still runs the program. 

The family has been very dedicated to the program, with all of the grandkids going through it and presenting on their education. George promised the board that they were getting back into it diligently after the pandemic and wanted to bring it back as vibrant as it once was to help the community at large and would continue their friendship with the village and mayor.