Community Relations
ALA Community Challenge Weekend
The Association of Legal Administrators encourages its Chapter members to participate in the Community Challenge Weekend on an annual basis by sponsoring a charitable event to benefit those in need in each local community. The Greater Chicago Chapter has consistently taken up the challenge. Those projects have included volunteering at a local food bank, serving meals at a homeless shelter, donating clothing and volunteering at a used professional clothing shop for women, and collecting school supplies for children.
In 2007 and 2008, the Chapter partnered with Coats For Kids, Inc., the Chicago Bar Association, The Horton Group and the Chicago Sun-Times Judge Marovitz Lawyers Lend-A-Hand , to collect coats, hats, mittens and gloves, and monetary donations which were used to purchase coats and to outfit some of Chicago's neediest children for the winter.
In 2009, the Chapter held one of its most successful Community Challenge events: a Charity Casino Night. Proceeds of approximately $10,000 benefited “Friends of Megan/The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University,” honoring Megan Ann Gaffin, who lost her short battle to cervical cancer at the age of 25.
2010 Community Challenge - 2nd Annual Charity Casino Night
This year, the event will assist two organizations: Aspire of Illinois and The Cabrini Green Tutoring Program. (Details about each organization appear below.)
When: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Time: 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Place: Hotel Allegro
171 West Randolph Street
The Walnut Ballroom
Chicago, IL 60601
Please click here to download the registration form to attend this great event! The Chapter is also looking to connect with your law firms and other orgnizations who also wish to participate as sponors! Please click here for a Sponsorship Form.
Aspire of Illinois serves people of all ages with disabilities across their lifetimes. This organization started in 1960 when ten families of children with developmental disabilities gathered in the basement of St. Domitilla church in Hillside, discussing their experiences and shared challenges. These families knew that their children had untapped potential and could flourish if only given proper support. These ten families founded what is now Aspire. Aspire of Illinois offers a comprehensive array of support for individuals with developmental disabilities. They assist more than 1,000 children and adults each year with services focused on achieving potential and independence. They have a dedicated team of 400 staff who provide personalized services at 21 locations in the western suburbs. Aspire of Illinois’ Mission: provide quality lifetime support to people with developmental disabilities so they can achieve their individual highest potential where they live, work or play.
Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program has been providing after-school tutoring service for the last 43 years for more than 200 students in grades one through six annually. Most students live in or around the Cabrini Green housing project or come from economically disadvantaged families. Tutoring session are held Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and each student is paired with his/her own volunteer tutor. The program provides a safe, stable learning environment and individualized attention for the children. Cabrini-Green Tutoring Program’s Mission: dedicated to defining and responding to children’s needs and to creating quality, innovative instructional programs that are not only educational but boost self-esteem.
