Results tagged “giveback”

Still looking for ways to give back this holiday season? The Resurrection Homebound Elderly Program – a program that supports Chicago’s “low-income, socially isolated and chronically ill” homebound elderly – makes it possible to provide a little holiday happiness for these seniors in our community. Calling (847) 568-8531 will get you the name and information of a program participant who will need a gift this year, or a contribution of $25 will be enough to purchase a hot holiday meal and gift box delivered directly to their door. You can also always make a tax-deductible donation to the program, which services patients regardless of their ability to pay. For those who have a little extra time to volunteer, help is needed to drive and distribute gifts to each home and with helping to write the program’s handwritten holiday cards.

The holidays have arrived, and though we always encourage our readers to Give Back, please consider doing what you can this season to spread a little extra holiday cheer.

We gave a shout out earlier this year to Minds Matter – a great non-profit college-prep program for inner-city high school kids. Their big fall fundraiser [PDF] is taking place tomorrow night and Minds Matter is hosting a three-hour all you can drink shindig at Sully’s House Tap Room & Grill, with proceeds going directly back to the organization.

Now in its third year, the annual Mustaches for Kids fundraising event in Chicago combines an in (on?) your face concept with a commitment to raise money for Chicago public schools. M4K growers compete to sprout the sweetest ‘stash in four week’s time while soliciting the most pledges and donations to the campaign.

Emanuel Kuntzelman, founder of the Greenheart Initiative, will be at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts tonight to host a free "lively” discussion called Our Singular Moment, a look at how the present time has the potential to change the world. Kuntzelman’s theory is based on the idea that while society creates its own realities, it can transcend cultural conditioning to evolve a healthier personal and social awareness. The discussion has a foundation in Kuntzelman’s research and experience from his travels, using quantum physics, systems and chaos theory to support his model of social evolution.

213 W. Institute Place, October 26, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

This Thursday, Harold Washington Library will participate in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, an event aiming to break a world record for the largest shared reading experience by encouraging children across the country to read the same book with an adult on the same day. The official campaign book is children’s classic Corduroy, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

We were just informed of another local connection to National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: the Chili’s at 2 E Ontario St. is participating in the restaurant chain’s fifth annual Create-A-Pepper campaign, running now through the end of September. Chili’s has pledged to raise $50 million over a 10-year period for St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital. The campaign will culminate with an all-day event on Monday, September 29, when Chili’s will donate 100% of the profits from the day’s restaurant sales to St. Jude’s. Last year’s Create-A-Pepper campaign raised more than $5.2 million for the hospital.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and there are a few local events coming up in support of pediatric cancer awareness. If you can't attend any of the below events, but still want to help with the fight against leukemia -- the most common cancer among children and teens -- consider making a bone marrow donation or registering to become a donor at the National Bone Marrow Registry.

Apparently finding a summer job is not as easy as it used to be. Kids looking for part-time employment are facing a shrinking job market, and it's already difficult to land a job without experience or job history. And on July 1, the state will increase its minimum wage from $7.50 to $7.75, possibly increasing the squeeze on the number of available jobs.

There have been recent depressing reports of food banks like the Greater Chicago Food Depository suffering from some negative effects of rising gas prices. But the month of June holds some fun and alternative ways to support this particular organization and help to fight hunger in Chicago:

Operating under the belief that a future can start today, Minds Matter is a non-for-profit mentoring program that helps to jump-start the academic aspirations of inner city high school students. Since its 1991 inception in New York City, Minds Matter has branched out to chapters in Boston, Denver, and Portland, and now Minds Matter of Chicago is celebrating its second year with due fanfare, having achieved some major objectives for 2007 – sending all student mentees to summer college programs and exceeding fundraising goals.