The Westmont Lions Club will receive $30,000 from DuPage County to fund its winter clothing program, after the county's Finance Committee approved the grant Tuesday, Aug. 11.

The money comes from interest earned on the county's American Rescue Plan Act funds, a pool DuPage has tapped throughout 2026 to support local nonprofits. Committee member Cynthia Cronin Cahill moved to approve the grant; member Lucy Evans seconded. It passed without opposition, according to the committee's meeting minutes. No public comments were offered during the session.

The grant still needs final approval from the full DuPage County Board.

The Lions Club, based at 55 E. Richmond St. in Westmont, has run winter clothing drives for years. In October 2025, the club donated 518 coats, sizes 2T through 4XL, to People's Resource Center's Clothes Closet in Westmont, according to a PRC Instagram post. PRC staff member Barry Kerstein and Westmont Lion Dan Buczkowski were pictured at that donation. By November, PRC volunteers had distributed more than 300 of those coats in just 2.5 hours.

The club has also supplied coats, hats and gloves to Catholic Charities, Diocese of Joliet, in December 2023.

The Westmont Lions Club grant was one of three nonprofit awards from the same ARPA interest pool approved at the Aug. 11 meeting. The Darien Lions Club received $30,000 for a food basket program, and Green Halo Scholars received $30,000 for college access programming. The committee also boosted DuPage Animal Friends' unrestricted grant from $50,000 to $550,000.

All three nonprofit funding requests were first discussed at the full County Board meeting on July 14. The grants now advance to the full board for final approval.