Chicago non-profit

Growing up with Tony brought with it a ritual for Friday nights at his house. Whenever possible, I was spending the night over there for pizza and staying up as late as possible to play Nintendo. Of course, the sleep cycle was often broken for a quick raid of the kitchen or a few toilet paper parties from time to time.

Often times Tony’s aunts, uncles and cousins would stop by for a visit on these nights. It seemed that an atmosphere of love and family was always present. This was the environment that followed the family wherever they were together – to ballgames, parks, and the hospital where Tony & Leah stayed with Libby while she fought for her life.

Up until this point in our lives, there was no experience that Tony or I were not able to share together. Dating, driving, graduations and weddings – all of these experiences are things Tony and I have shared together and could compare notes as we checked off yet another rite of passage. This list is virtually endless and I’ve been blessed with a consistent friend through them all. However, the experience of holding onto your child while she fights for her life is something that I cannot share with Tony. I felt helpless as I could only sit and watch as Tony and Leah seemed to wade out into dark and uncertain waters on a starless night. I could only pray that when they returned – if they returned – I would still be able to recognize my friend.

Though they were confined to the hospital for a time, the influence and support Tony and Leah gained was tremendous as we rallied around Libby. What was so impressive to witness was the growth of their spirit throughout this period. At a time when you would think people would retreat – their spirit of giving and love enveloped those who became aware of the situation. Tony and Leah not only identified needs for families who were also spending long hours at the hospital – they took action. There was an apparent lack of comforts such as movies to watch or games to play so Tony and Leah raised money to purchase these items and donate them to the hospital (this continues to this day through a nonprofit they recently founded). One way they did this was dovetailing off the popularity of the yellow “Livestrong” bracelets by designing a white bracelet with the word “Libstrong” in yellow. In addition, Leah took to blogging through the hospital’s CarePages site to keep everyone informed of Libby’s progress. The spirit and attitude Tony and Leah displayed throughout this ordeal was truly amazing.

Eventually, Tony and Leah did emerge from those waters together. And after almost 3 years of treatment, countless prayers, and the loss of friends whose children did not survive their battles, Libby defied all odds and is alive and cancer-free today.

Friday night pizzas are still celebrated at my second home. While Tony and I don’t often find time to stay up and play Nintendo, we do manage to reminisce and laugh about the times we have had together. Watching our own children grow and sharing in their rites of passage reminds us how blessed we were to have had an environment that fostered love and provided laughter. It is this environment that sustained Libby’s life.

This environment is what I believe we as human beings are meant to experience. We have a fundamental desire to love and to laugh – to be able to share joy and sorrow openly. When this is not present, there are those of us who, like Tony and his family, take action to create that environment for others no matter what they personally may be experiencing. Truly, the perseverance they display is what makes this family so incredible.

This story is not over, however. Two things remain consistent in this family – love and a fighting for life. As I stated in my previous post, the genetics in Tony’s family have an affinity for attacking vision. This attack threatened the life of Tony and then his daughter – but theirs are not the only lives for which this family has fought.

The genetics in Tony’s family have an affinity for attacking vision. In 2005, Tony and his beautiful wife Leah gave birth to Elizabeth (Libby). Because of Tony’s history the doctors screened and discovered that Libby, too had her dad’s form of cancer. The doctors were very confident, however, that they would be able to treat and eliminate the cancer without sacrificing Libby’s sight. A treatment plan was put in place and Libby started her battle with cancer at less than 3 months of age. Her genetics may have brought on her cancer, but they also brought on a strength and will to beating cancer. Just like her dad, Libby was going to win this fight.

Heading into their first Christmas season together as a family that year, Libby was just over 8 months old. Leah had begun a blog to update all of us as to Libby’s progress and we all rejoiced as the tumors seemed to be shrinking with the treatment. If you were to ask a Magic 8 Ball the question, “Will Libby’s cancer soon be gone?” it would have responded, “All signs point to yes.” A new family, a new child, and great hope that she would beat this cancer gave the whole family plenty of reasons to celebrate that Christmas.

Then came a silver BMW.

This is not the conclusion you might have jumped to – there was no car accident. This car was driven by the doctor that came to visit Tony and Leah at home. Just a few days prior, Libby had a new scan of her brain to check the size of the tumor behind her eye. Another routine scan to confirm that the tumor was shrinking. Tony and Leah were feeling confident that everything was going according to plan – the cancer was going away, Libby would soon be healthy. Life would soon go on without the trips to the hospital.

This time what the scan revealed, however, warranted a home visit.

Leah spotted the silver BMW as it approach their house. The car was a bit out-of-place in the modest middle-class neighborhood of Grandville, so it tended to stick out. When the man emerged Leah recognized the doctor. Her heart dropped into her stomach. This can’t be good.

As he entered their home, Leah and Tony held each other, waiting for the news. “We found a new tumor in Libby’s brain” said the doctor as soft yet as clear as possible. The news was delivered in the way that you knew he was trying to be as honest yet as compassionate as possible. This new discovery meant Libby had tri-lateral retinal blastoma, a diagnoses that is found in an average of only 6 children in the U.S. each year. Out of those 6, fewer than 1 survive. Libby was given about a 2% chance to be that 1.

Tony and Leah, their family (which, by now, included an extensive network of friends and supporters), were sent reeling with the news. We all had been experiencing a growing relief as Libby seemed to be responding well to the regiment of treatment thus far. This news had erased all of that. Instead of the game being nearly over, the opposing team just gained all of the momentum – and it wasn’t even halftime.

Instead of looking ahead, that Christmas was about celebrating the life we all had at present, for however much longer it would be. We all prayed it would not be our last with Libby.

As the context of the moment settled in, I began to recognize and experience true gratitude. Trips to ball games, dinner with family, laughter with people who love. This was the environment that I grew up in with Tony’s family. This landscape was now a field of battle upon which Libby’s cancer encroached. We were all anxious to fight.

As we all tend to do with age – most especially when we begin our own families – I spend a great deal of time reflecting on what has shaped my life and what values I want to pass on to my daughter. Being in the nonprofit industry, I often meet people who have aligned their passion with their profession. The drive these people have, the desire that inspires them to work tirelessly to eradicate the world of a problem or to lift a cause to a higher level of consciousness is as inspiring as it is selfless. These two traits define the industry – and they also define what I want to pass on to my daughter the most.

I do not have to look far to find examples of this in my own life. I grew up watching these two traits in action, most prominently through the family of my oldest and most beloved friend. The experience of this is something I’ve only begun to appreciate, however. This is the story of a family full of fighters, lovers, and survivors. Theirs is a family that inspires others to join the fight for a better way of life while celebrating this life every step of the way.

I hesitate to share this because of the depth of the love I have for this story – for this family. It has been my experience with them that has very much shaped my own life and is one of the contributors toward my passion for nonprofits. It is with their permission that I am sharing this story with you – the reader who choses to spend their time reading about and (hopefully) being inspired by the spirit within the human soul.

Tony is my oldest friend – by that I mean I’ve known him literally as long as I can remember. I spent almost as much time at his house as I did mine for the first 15 years of my life and lovingly refer to his mom (Carolyn) simply as “Mom 2.” An elementary teacher by day, her grace and patience transcended from the classroom to the home she provided for her own family. She always had a hug to give and made the best birthday cakes a kid could ask for. Point out any design you wanted and it would appear on your birthday.

Tony’s dad (Carson) is my all-time favorite coach and was the biggest inspiration behind my own passion for the game of baseball. He was a salesman by trade, but his spare time was spent teaching, coaching and umping the game. The only thing as infectious as his love for the game is his laugh. Carson is always armed with a joke and stands ready to laugh at a moment’s notice. He’s the guy you hear laughing across the room and are drawn to discover what is so funny.

Growing up, this was my second family. Countless pizzas, sleepovers, and endless love and laughter was shared at their home – something that I’ve come to appreciate more than I will ever be able to express.

Looking back, what strikes me most is how close this all came to never happening for me. Tony was born with tumors behind his left eye – a cancer known as retinal blastoma. Today, this can often be treated by radiation and surgery, often saving both the eye and vision. In 1978, however, this was a much more life-threatening prognoses which, for Tony and his family, meant removal of the eye to get rid of the tumor and regular monitoring thereafter to confirm that the cancer was gone.

My only acknowledgment that this was even an issue, however, were the regular trips that I often took with Tony and Mom2 to Detroit to get his eye checked and the fact that Tony has a glass eye (which I actually thought was kinda cool – I actually practiced not just crossing my eyes but also holding one eye steady while moving the other so I could emulate Tony’s).

Tony’s mom almost always combined the trip with a ball game or a visit to the zoo. For two young friends this was not an anxious doctor’s appointment but rather and 3 1/2 hour ride to see a Tiger’s game. Being a child I had no concept of the anxiety and subsequent relief that Tony’s parents must have felt. Today, Tony remains cancer-free – though his family’s level of uncertainty persists.

I welcome you to join me over the next few weeks as I unfold the story of a family that has overcome odds and continues to step into a path of uncertainty marked by trials and triumph. This is the story that is lived by those who choose hope over fear; faith over abandonment; love over loss.

What happens when you try to get a couple of adoptive parents together to write a story for National Adoption Awareness

Month in November? The story gets finished in December. As any parent, adoptive or otherwise, knows: kids keep you busy. However, when it’s discovered your child has autism, if you’re like my friend Arnie Quast, you get busy. And by this I mean Arnie’s amazing work in helping to create the Northern Illinois Center for Autism (NICA).

Nine years ago, Arnie and his wife adopted their son Thomas from Korea when he was five months old. When the foster mother placed Thomas in his wife’s arms for the first time, Arnie says, “This is where reality hit me as I realized that I had just officially become a parent. It was an exciting feeling!”

When you adopt a child, just like birthing a child, it’s forever. There’s no going back. And of course this means you must be willing to accept and parent this kid no matter what obstacles get put in front of you. For Arnie and his wife the above-normal parenting challenges began when Thomas was around two. As Arnie describes it:

Between his second and third birthdays, we started realizing that Thomas was not talking or socializing as much as other children his age. He also developed some unusual mannerisms that concerned us. We had a developmental physician evaluate Thomas to shed more light on his condition and the doctor advised us Thomas was physically healthy, but some of the things we were seeing could be indicative of a condition called autism.

Our life soon took a rapid change.

We enrolled Thomas in our school district’s early childhood program and ramped up occupational and speech therapies. About a year later, Thomas was officially diagnosed with autism and we became involved with a parent support group near us called the McHenry County Autism Group. This group of parents helped provide support and information to each other and we learned we were not alone, that approximately 1 in 150 children born are diagnosed with autism.

After several months our support network started to grow, and as it did we achieved status as a 501 3c non profit. We formed a board and started to grow our network of parents. People from areas outside of McHenry County started to network with us, and about three years ago we decided to change the name of our group to Northern Illinois Center for Autism.

Annette Gallagher, the current President and CEO of NICA, says, “It’s kinda funny how fate takes a hand sometimes. All of us parents didn’t choose to have children with autism…for whatever reason, it chose us. But what we do with the autism…that’s where our choices lie.”

Annette started out working a variety of night jobs to help pay for the medical expenses involved with her two sons and their autism, while spending countless hours during the day attending therapy with them, and learning everything she possibly could to help them overcome their many challenges. After a few years of very little sleep, she decided to open an in-home day care to help create some social interaction for her sons, while earning an income to pay for their therapies and medical expenses. And it had the added benefit of allowing her to get some much needed extra sleep!

Annette describes how her role as a parent of two autistic children transformed into her current position at NICA.

While running my daycare, I happened to take on some children of employees that worked at the local special needs non-profits in our area. These “Moms” were frustrated in their work, as there was no support agency available to refer families living with autism. As a result, they started to refer them to me. I have always been happy to help a fellow family, and truly believe in the power of parent networking and education, but I became wayyyy outnumbered by parents in need. It was my hope that with the development of our organization, we could help many more families in a much more efficient way, which is exactly what we have done!

These families are soooo worth our efforts. The parents are becoming educated, and many of their loved ones with autism are making great gains as a result. People with autism have incredible potential, as long as they receive the assistance that they require. Providing that assistance is our first priority. It’s what allows NICA to achieve their mission of “integrating community and loved ones.”

“As funding became available,” Arnie says, “our group decided to take a bold move. We leased a building in Lake in the Hills where we could provide further networking and build a platform to provide services to families with autism.”

Gallagher, who took a leadership role in creating the center, says, “Providing the specialized assistance that people with autism require, costs money…and our families living with autism are running out. The expenses involved in raising a loved one with autism are extreme. NICA is making a gallant effort to make this assistance available, in the most cost effective way possible, so that all children with autism can have the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential and live a full and productive life. As an organization, which is currently run 100% via volunteers, we are limited as to the

amount of assistance we can provide. Our organization has grown to the extent that we must raise funds to develop and sustain the operating income required to assist these families full-time. It is with this goal in mind that we ask the community to get involved in helping our many families in need, by helping us raise the funds we require to operate full time.”

You can make a much appreciated donation to NICA here.

In this difficult economy, it’s tough enough to find a job. Now imagine if you have “ex-convict” on your resume. Five years ago, the non-profit North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) founded Sweet Beginnings, a wholly owned (for profit) subsidiary designed to create jobs for formerly incarcerated individual and others with significant barriers to employment. Today, Sweet Beginnings, makers of Beeline products, employs seven to ten transitional employees and two semi-permanent Team Leaders at any given time.

This is no ordinary jobs program. You see, Sweet Beginnings runs apiaries. That’s right, beehives. And raising bees is not the only unusual thing about them. These beehives are located at the airport, the only airport apiaries in the country. So, does this make O’Hare the world’s Buzziest airport, too? (sorry) I hereby officially declare, Yes, it does.

Holly Blackwell, General Manager of Sweet Beginnings, says they have three apiary sites in Chicago. Their first was in North Lawndale. A second, for education and honey purposes, was built at Wright College. The apiary at O’Hare came about, she says, when they were approached by several parties from the Chicago Department of Aviation, who had an interest in “urban” beekeeping, sustainability and in NLEN’s social mission to create jobs. “We found the intersection of environmental consciousness, a way to expand our beekeeping capacities, strong partnerships with a world-class organization, and the potential for more jobs creation to be exceptionally compelling,” Blackwell says, adding that although O’Hare is the first US airport to host an apiary, Germany has led the way in the practice, using the bee colonies onsite to test for air quality.

At Sweet Beginnings, employees learn to take care of the bees and harvest the honey, which is then either sold as is, or used in its all-natural line of skincare products called Beeline. The Beeline products include body creams, lotions and balms and body washes. They’re all made at their North Lawndale location on the city’s west side and then packaged and shipped or delivered throughout Chicagoland and around the country. They’ve even placed orders as far away as Australia! (Could Beeline Honey eventually replace vegemite!?! Having tried vegemite, I personally think it should.)

Every potential Sweet Beginnings employees must first participate in the NLEN’s U-Turn Permitted program , where they learn and sharpen skills they’ll need to find, keep and perhaps even use to successfully leave a job. The U-Turn Permitted participants take a one-month workforce readiness class and prospective employees of Sweet Beginnings are taken from this pool for interviews.

One Sweet Beginnings employee said of the program, “I gained a lot of different experiences and gained knowledge of something I thought I would never be doing, but I know I will be able to take this experience and use (it) in other jobs and life. It’s a great start for me to get back on my feet and begin working again and take a positive step forward towards my future. My family is very proud of me for getting this job, so thank you.”

You can find Beeline products in fine shops, at the Peninsula Hotel, Whole Foods and, of course, at O’Hare airport. There’s some buzz (sorry) that Beeline is looking to possibly open another apiary at Midway Airport. I would even go so far as to suggest Northerly Island, so at least something would be flying at the site that was formerly Meigs Field.

The incidents of reoffending for ex-convicts is 65% nationally and 55% in Illinois, yet the rate of recidivism for employees of Sweet Beginnings is less than four percent. And as far as statistics for success go, that’s sweet.

The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame (CLHOF) is set to induct its second class of writers on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at Harold Washington Library’s Cindy Pritzker Auditorium. This year’s inductees include Cyrus Colter, Theodore Dreiser, Harriet Monroe, Mike Royko, Carl Sandburg and Ida B. Wells. The first class was inducted last November and included Nelson Algren, Saul Bellow, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lorraine Hansberry, Studs Terkel and Richard Wright.

Family members of the deceased writers will come to Chicago from Virginia, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina and other states from around the nation to accept the honorary awards and share in this great accomplishment . The event is free and open to the public.

In order to raise funds for the ceremony, as well as other CLHOF initiatives, like the creation of busts for each inductee, CLHOF is hosting a silent auction at the Cliff Dwellers Club on October 12, 2011. Attendees will enjoy appetizers and drinks (free for the first hour), as well as the opportunity to bid on a wide range of items, including sports and literary memorabilia, theater and dining experiences, private performances, and much more. Janet Davies, of ABC-TV, will be the emcee.

The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame’s mission is to promote and celebrate Chicago’s rich and proud literature tradition by honoring the authors whose words have best captured the essence of our wonderful city. The Chicago Literary Hall of Fame is a project of the Chicago Writers Association, a tax-exempt non profit organization that connects both published and unpublished writers. Donald Evans, Executive Editor of the CLHOF is expecting more than 100 people to attend and is very excited about the work of the project and is positive that the fundraiser will be a great success.

To learn more about the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, visit http://chicagowrites.org/. You can purchase your ticket to the Silent Auction Fundraiser at http://clhofauction.eventbrite.com/.

When you look at Magnum, the 150-pound bulldog mix pictured here, it’s hard to imagine anyone raising a hand against him; actually, it’s hard for me to imagine anyone abusing any dog, much less being dim enough to pick on one that’s their own size. Unfortunately, Magnum was regularly “beaten to a pulp” during the first year of his life, when he was a puppy, according to Alicia Boemi, Executive Director of Found.

Fortunately for Magnum, he did find Found, a no-kill animal shelter located on Chicago’s northwest side. Found started as an unintentional offshoot of Stay, the dog hotel co-located at the northwest side location, when people would sometimes abandon their dogs outside of Stay, and its proprietor, Michael Heltzer, began to take them in, letting them swim in Stay’s pool and socialize with the other dogs. Found became an official non-profit organization two-years ago. What makes Found so different from other shelters is not only its no-kill policy, but its animal rehabilitation program, or “re-homing” as they like to call it.

Found takes animals from Chicago’s Animal Care and Control almost exclusively. They choose the animals they take in based on Found’s available space, funding, and the amount of dogs with certain behavioral issues they already have on the property. Each dog brought in is given a thorough evaluation, fifteen pages worth of steps, at the end of which, the handler really knows the dog and they’ve begun to establish a foundation and develop a relationship.

Before he was rescued, Magnum was severely and repeatedly beaten. A kind soul, a man named Cody, took him in, but couldn’t keep him due to financial restraints (Just imagine how much a 150-pound bulldog mix eats!) and other issues, which is when he was turned over to Found.

A fundraiser for Magnum is in the works and you can donate to Magnum’s cause, or any of the other worthy animals currently sheltered there, at www.FoundChicago.org The organization can always use volunteers (you must be at least 18 years of age, fill out a volunteer application, sign a waiver and take a training course). Learn all about how to volunteer at Found, here!

You can also help by coming to Day of the Dog (because every dog should have its day!) on October 16th. A fall festival for dogs, cats and their families, Day of the Dog raises money for Found Chicago. The fest will be held at Found, 4100 N. Rockwell, 11 a.m – 4 p.m. $5 suggested donation to enter.

Boemi says Magnum is not available for adoption and it’s unknown when he will be. He likes to run on the treadmill (Really!) and his trainers are working with him to build his confidence, introducing him to other dogs to socialize him. They’re also trying to expose him to as many things he may never have been exposed to (fireplugs?!) before. Boemi says the “re-homing” process can take anywhere from a month, to a year, to five years. She says for Magnum, it’s all about getting him over all the fear his early abuse induced. We’ll try to keep you posted on his progress.

Whether you volunteer, attend Day of the Dog or simply make a donation, know your kind action(s?!) will go a long way toward helping Magnum, and all the other animals at Found, experience something they may never have been exposed to before: happiness.

 

 

 

Thursday, July 21 marked the 3rd social event in just under a year that BUILD’s Associate Board has put together since it’s inception in August of 2010 according to their associate board president, Scott Lieber. “We’re pretty happy with the turnout, though I think it would’ve been a better showing had we been closer to the loop” he chagrined. “Regardless,” Scott noted, “we have helped raise close to $10,000 in the past year.” This after-work social fundraiser was held at West End- located at 1326 W. Madison in Chicago.

Since beginning the associate board last year with only 4 other people, BUILD has grown their associate board to over 20 members, each committing to a minimum give/get of $250 annually. “Our board members are fantastic, and they’re reaching $250 each easily.” Scott admits. “It been great to see the growth of our board and their commitment to raising money and awareness of this organization – they’ve just been outstanding.”

Lieber noted that he’s also been getting great support from BUILD’s executive board. “They [BUILD's Executive Board] have been really supportive of our initiatives,” noted Scott. “I think all of <the associate board members> really value the access we have to the mentoring of senior board members, both personally and professionally.”

One thing that is done well is the ability to link to BUILD’s Associate Board directly from the front page of the home website of BUILD – making it easy to centralize and direct traffic while maintaining brand integrity. One thing that both Scott and a couple of the BUILD staff members who were on hand for the event wish to improve upon, however, is their use of social media. Chicago Non-Profit hopes to help address that problem beginning August 24th at their first Social Media for Nonprofits workshop series.

For more information about BUILD, click on any of the links provided in this post. For more information on Chicago Non-Profit’s Social Media workshops, follow us on Twitter (@ChicagoNP), Facebook, or sign up for our e-newsletter on our Home Page (lower right-hand column).

Many nonprofits inquire about starting Junior Boards (AKA Executive Boards, Associate Boards, Leadership Boards, etc.). No matter what you call them, boards consisting of young professionals designed to generate fresh ideas and attract the next generation of donors and volunteers are a vastly untapped resource for many nonprofits.

However, junior board members can be pretty tricky to find and retain. In looking at younger nonprofits who have active board members under the age of 35 or well established nonprofits who have an active Junior Board the following 5 things are what I’ve seen them to have in common:

1) They have a strong social media presence. Not just the nonprofit itself, but the junior board members specifically. This means they use Facebook, Twitter and/or Linked In to communicate with one another and the nonprofit. Both for personal messaging and for promoting their cause and/or events.

2) Nonprofits recruit junior board members though networking events designed to attract young professionals. Some are at volunteer fairs like the one Chicago Non-Profit puts together, others go to social networking events put on by young professional organizations or chambers. Young Professionals of Chicago, the Metropolitan Club and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce all put together open networking events targeting young professionals, so attending one of those events will at least help increase the awareness of your organization and give you an opportunity to collect business cards.

3) Organizations who successfully recruit young professionals are tenacious at following-up. When you do come across someone and talk to them about your organization, get their contact information and follow-up in a timely manner. Nonprofits looking to recruit volunteers/junior board members should send an e-mail the next day thanking them for the opportunity to meet, talk to them and ask them to come out again and suggest that they join their Facebook page or follow their nonprofit on Twitter. It’s a bonus if the organization has an upcoming social event – but they should at least invite the potential volunteer to meet at the office or have a cup of coffee if nothing else. Follow-up with an opportunity to engage or at least a note of thanks to make you and your organization more memorable.

4) Have defined roles for junior board members. Not just a role of President, VP, and secretary – but roles such as an events chair or a social media chair – spots designed to provide structure both for the board and for the planning of events to help raise money and awareness of your nonprofit. Let the young people design events that they would be interested in attending and support them through the network established by the nonprofit to supplement the unique network that the young professionals are bringing.

5) Have a well-defined level of expectation. Give/gets are often avoided by nonprofits for junior boards, but this is a mistake. I’ve often sat on junior boards with no defined or enforced level of expectation, and what you get are a lot of ideas and little action. Nonprofits tend to shy away from asking board members directly for money – but the ones that do are not only more efficient in not wasting time talking about what to do but much more successful in having good attendance to the events and retention of junior board members. If you take the approach of “we’ll establish a give/get later – we just want junior board members now” is only delaying the time at which you’ll find some great value (read: raise money) out of your junior board. Asking for as little as a $250 annual commitment can go a long way in cutting out the do-nothings from a junior board. If your junior board members can’t commit to giving or raising a little over $20/month for a year, don’t waste your time. That’s a fraction of many young professionals’ Starbucks habit.

You can also learn to be more social-media savvy at our upcoming Social Media Workshops for Nonprofits that we’ll be beginning at the end of August. Look for more information on that within the next 2 weeks either on our Blog, Facebook page, Twitter feed (@ChicagoNP), Linked IN group and e-newsletters (AKA all of our social media outlets). We’re also looking to put together some panels of nonprofits with well-engaged Junior boards to share their insights on what makes them successful, so be on the lookout for those as well this fall. You can also always contact us or post on our Facebook page or blog if you’d like further information.

Last night’s event recognized the fifty years worth of inspirational and influential people who have made Better Boys Foundation (BBF) what it is today. Carnivale, as always, supplied excellent food and drinks and there were quite a few unique packages in the silent auction (I didn’t win the 2 tickets to the Emmy’s, but how cool would that have been?!).

Ryan Chiaverini and Valerie Warner from ABC’s Windy City Live were there to interview the guests and VIP’s as they arrived on the red carpet. Spotted were Chicago Bear’s legends Gale Sayers and Richard Dent, current star Israel Idonije (who presented an award to the Payton family), and Taj Gibson from the Chicago Bulls.

Proceeds from the 50th Anniversary Celebration go to support BBF’s ongoing work in the North Lawndale community. BBF was founded by Joseph Kellman in 1961 to provide the community’s children with a safe alternative to the streets. The agency has developed over the last 50 years into a multi-faceted youth development organization that serves hundreds of children, youth and families each year. Check out more in the video below:

Chicago’s Better Boys Foundation Celebrates 50 Years of Success: MyFoxCHICAGO.com