Counting Down to Our 11th Anniversary: Get Ready for Exciting Updates!

The Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club will host the 11th annual Taste of Evanston on September 21, 2025 from 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. at the Charles Gates Dawes House, 225 Greenwood Street, Evanston, IL.

Taste of Evanston has been hosted by the Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club for the past 11 years. The event offers delicious appetizers, entrees, and desserts from Evanston's most popular restaurants, local breweries and wine shops while raising funds to support two respected organizations: Connections for the Homeless and Reba Place Development Corporation. Funds also support ongoing philanthropic projects of the Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club.

Get ready for another tasty adventure filled with delicious bites, lively entertainment, and great community vibes. Stay tuned for updates—we can’t wait to see you!

Until then, keep sharing the love and flavor!

2025 Principal Beneficiaries

Event proceeds will benefit two local nonprofits whose mission aligns with affordable housing. Funds raised will help Connections for the Homeless, a non profit organization that helps individuals and families that are homeless or threatened with homelessness to achieve stable housing and Reba Place Development Corporation - developing safe, decent, and affordable housing that demonstrates how the diverse racial and cultural groups in Evanston can thrive together. Reba Place also sponsors and supports a range of affordable housing options-including modestly priced rental units, housing coops, and affordable condominiums.

2024 Restaurants, Wine Shops and Breweries

2024 SPONSORS

dan coyne

kathy tate-bradish

Susan Prout

Yves Lassere

kelly fidei

mark werwath

Myra Janus

SBC Global

Townes Bierman Casas

Regina McGraw

Karen Appleby

Carol Mullins

David Harrison

Janet Hoffman

Katie Malone

Chris & Joy Joyce

The Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club meets Tuesdays from 7:15 to 8:30 am at the Rotary International building, 1560 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, Illinois 60201, for breakfast and a speaker. Membership is open to service oriented residents and workers of the area.  Guests are welcome to attend the meetings.  To learn more about the club, its schedule of breakfast programs, and its charitable and service programs, visit www.evlrc.org.

The Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club serves the needs of our local community and our brothers and sisters around the world.  Here’s what we are currently doing:

Community Service Projects

•   Repairing homes of low income elderly, disabled and families with children

•   Providing professional dental care for those in need

•   Supporting healthy breakfast programs for elementary school students

•   Funding job training programs

•   Supporting mental health care for our neighbors in need

•    Funding addiction treatment for young adults

•   Helping to provide legal services and advocacy for disconnected youth

•   Delivering meals for the homebound in Evanston

International Service Projects

•   Supporting ongoing work to eradicate Polio worldwide

•  Partnering on a long-term project to build sustainable access to clean water and sanitation for every household in Haiti

•   Supporting victims of war in Ukraine with medical supplies, generators and emergency shelter

•   Funding safe sex education in rural communities in Kenya

•   Sponsoring in-country surgeon training and advanced cleft repair surgery at no cost to families in need in Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines

•  Funding the rescue and rehabilitation of trafficked children in Ghana

•  Collaborating with a women’s collective in Uganda to purchase farm equipment and provide hospital equipment to improve economic and health outcomes for the women and children.

•   Providing emergency assistance and support for Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania, Syrian refugees in Türkiye, as well as refugees and asylum-seekers at the Mexican border from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala

•   Supporting construction at a school for indigenous students in Guatemala

Please join us!