ROCHELLE — With a record crowd of 330 people on hand, the 17th Annual From the Heart Gala was held on Saturday, Feb. 1 at the hangar at Flight Deck Bar & Grill in Rochelle and raised $90,000 for nine area nonprofits, From the Heart Founder and President Dave Eckhardt said. That number tied a record amount raised in 2024.
From the Heart raises money for nine area nonprofits: the Rochelle Area Community Foundation, HOPE of Ogle County, Rochelle Christian Food Pantry, Pegasus Special Riders, Hub City Senior Center, Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center, CASA, Community Action Network (CAN) and FOCUS House. Each of those organizations will receive a check for $10,000.
This year’s event included dinner supplied by Headons Fine Meats and prepared by Flight Deck Bar & Grill, games, prizes and silent and live auction items.
“It was another great night for us,” Eckhardt said. “It’s tremendous how our community keeps stepping up and helping out From the Heart every year. We’ve been doing this for so long and the hope is that it gets better every year and it always does. More and more people are getting involved and wanting to come. Hopefully those people want to come back next year and that seems to be the case. The Flight Deck Bar & Grill does a great job with the food and we have to thank Headons as well for supplying the prime rib.”
The checks to nonprofits will be presented at meetings of the Rochelle Rotary Club in the coming months.
“It’s neat to hand out checks for $10,000 to each nonprofit,” Eckhardt said. “I’ve done this for 18 years now and that never gets old. It’s the most gratifying thing I get to do. It makes all the work worth it.”
The From the Heart Gala is organized and put on by members of its board, Rochelle Rotary Club members and representatives of the nine nonprofits. Eckhardt said the event has become a “well-oiled machine” over the past 17 years.
“When we started this, we didn’t think it would survive for 18 years or that it would have 300 people coming year after year,” Eckhardt said. “It’s amazing. It’s overwhelming to me. The night doesn’t happen without everyone coming together. It takes several people. We get people to take shifts working the games and try to make sure everyone has time to enjoy themselves.”
In its 18 years of existence, From the Heart has raised around $900,000 for area nonprofits. The original goal for its first year was to raise $30,000 to donate to three nonprofits.
“Looking back on all the money we’ve raised over the years is just amazing,” Eckhardt said. “I never would’ve guessed I’d be able to say a number like that. $90,000 in a year is a tremendous feat. Each of our groups appreciate it. The funds are unrestricted and can be used by the groups in any way they want. The grants these groups receive have restricted uses and can’t be used for things like administrative costs. That’s something that’s needed and that’s why we started doing this.”
