This Week in Aurora

Downtown development
More new condos are being rehabed in a historic building downtown and will be complete with a Potbelly, my favorite sandwich shop, and a wine shop.

Riveredge Park
This project is somewhat controversial here, but the economic impact and beautification of the riverfront has huge potential. It's something many of us are following, as it will mean more people downtown and new ways to connect with people. It'll be a great "third space." Now the city is looking for some grant money to help make the dream more of a reality.

See the sketches here.

Fermilab
Though in Batavia, it sits on the border of Aurora. Fermilab, a Department of Energy particle accelerator with lots of smart physicists, lost funding recently and has been in danger of forced layoffs and cutbacks. The good news is that those jobs were just saved by a supplemental appropriations bill last week.

Crime in Aurora
For years Aurora has had a bad stereotype for being unsafe and crime-filled. Aurora police recently announced some good news that crime is again down, and no murders were committed in the 1st half of 2008.

This Week in Aurora

Downtown Alive
This week one of my favorite things in Aurora started up for the summer: Downtown Alive. It's a great community gathering every Friday night, with live music, lots of food, and running into alot of people. I'm always excited to go a few times, and take new people with me.

Free Citywide Wifi
For the last couple years, Aurora has been working to add free wifi throughout the city, but has run into big problems with the installation and the company that was providing it. Unfortunately this week they finally pulled the plug on the project.

Waubonsee Community College
If you've been to downtown Aurora, you'll notice a huge crater on an entire city block. Over the next couple years, the local community college is going to be building a new downtown campus, which was just approved by the city board this week.

Operation Helping Hands
Yesterday, a local church, Ginger Creek Community Church, organized the annual Operation Helping Hands. Several local churches got together for a day of service. Over 400 volunteers landscaped, painted, and did other projects for the people of Aurora.

This Week in Aurora

Regularly we will try to update you on some of the things (stories, events, development, etc) happening around Aurora in the previous couple weeks.

Here's the first installment:

• The 4th public high school in Aurora will being construction in the next few months, but we're not sure where yet. There's some controversy over the location and it's going to mediation and maybe court.
  
  
• Aurora's annual Cinco de Mayo festival is being held downtown this weekend.
  
  
• Mayor Tom Weisner gave his State of the City address this week, focusing more on progress made with crime and downtown development than any announcements of any new projects.
  
  
• The Beacon News featured a story on Hesed House (the homeless shelter and food pantry that Infuse donated food to this week)
  
  
• A local church, Warehouse Church, held their 8th annual Motorcycle Sunday, which brought out hundreds of bikers to Phillips Park.
  
  
• Last weekend was another large anti-abortion protest at the new Planned Parenthood on the city's far east side.
  

Food Drive Announcement

Over this next week Infuse is coordinating a food drive for the Hesed House Food Pantry, a ministry in downtown Aurora that provides for 300 to 400 households every week. We are gathering food by going door-to-door in our neighborhoods, by collecting food from friends, and by encouraging others to spread the word, too. Next Wednesday, the Lees are having a neighborhood "Cookout for a Cause" to also gather food for this project.

This is a great way for us to help and serve our community in a practical way, while also doing more to meet our neighbors.

With the economy hurting, and gas prices and food costs rising to record levels, it's a hard time for alot of people right now. In Kane County, family income is declining amidst these rising costs. That also means that food pantries are seeing shrinking donations, but growing needs. For more about Kane County statistics and the Hesed House Food Pantry, read a recent Beacon News article, Report: Earnings fall in Kane, DuPage counties.

If you're interested in donating food to this project, that would be great! Hesed House takes all non-perishables, but items in extra need include: cereal, canned fruit, macaroni and cheese, and baking mixes. They have a complete wish list here. We will be delivering food next week, so we'll need all donations by Wednesday, April 30. To contact us about donating: infusechurch@gmail.com.

Orlando Tuesday Morning

I got up at 2:45 this morning after going to bed around 11:30, but I made it to Orlando and even got some sleep on the plane. I'm really excited for how God will use these few days in my life and the life of Infuse. I've already connected with some people, and I'm especially excited about one in particular (the last one below).

1. Jeff Nichols: A friend from seminary and fellow church planter who lives in Denver. We bumped into each other in the registration line and got to catch up a little bit.
2. Hugh Halter and Matt Smay: The leaders of the MCAP training I'm doing are here for the conference and to promote their new book, The Tangible Kingdom.
3. Scott Whiting: I was next in line for the registration and was making small talk with one of the volunteers. He asked me where I was from, so I told him I was from Aurora. The guy behind me in line said, "No way, me too! Where in Aurora?" So after we both got our bag of advertising flyers we talked for a few minutes. He used to be a pastor at Calvary Church in Naperville, but five years ago he left to plant a church. They are now in the process of morphing into a network of groups, something similar to Infuse. I'm pumped to get to know him better over the next few days and to have found another kindred spirit in Aurora!

Praise God that some great things are happening before the conference even starts.