YWCA Metropolitan Chicago is the oldest and largest women’s organization in the region, with a mission to eliminate racism and empower women. For more than 140 years, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago has been committed to serving the evolving needs of women and families. Today, we help more than 200,000 individuals annually through programs focused around Safety & Wellness, Education & Training, and Economic Sustainability. We are the largest provider of sexual assault support services in the state of Illinois, offering crisis intervention, counseling, prevention education and medical and legal advocacy services. We administer the state’s largest Child Care Resource and Referral program offering services to families seeking child care and a variety of support resources for child care providers. We also offer career, financial management, digital literacy and business services to help youth and adult members achieve financial stability and obtain training to enter high-growth fields.

Many families do not know the extent of what FLMSA does for the students at Fox Lane Middle School. We organize and assist with popular events like Almost Anything Goes, the Fox Factor, and the Eight Grade activities. Through an application process, we provide “mini-grants” to teachers for projects that enhance our students’ classroom learning. We have a robust school-wide enrichment program (including visiting authors, speakers, and field trips) that boosts every single student’s school experience. FLMSA spends almost $50 per student per year, and we cannot do these wonderful things without your help!

TEACH (Together Educating All Children in Hospitals) is a volunteer run international not-for-profit organization that brings exciting, hands-on, educational programming to children in hospitals. Our mission is to create an outlet for children of all ages to passionately engage with the sciences through the medium of fun, interactive experiments. TEACH currently operates in 30+ hospitals worldwide, with the goal of expanding to another 4 hospitals over the next year. TEACH has impacted over 2400 children to date, with more being impacted each and every day. Please help us make this goal a reality and together we can bring smiles to hundreds more children! Don't take our word for it though, here is feedback we received from a parent: " I had the experience of having a child that was hospitalized with the stress, anxiety, and pain that follows. Learning to appreciate what we have and show appreciation, I'd like to compliment the incredible program which you have and for sending your volunteer. She was pure joy from the moment she walked in. So patient, kind, and loving. The time spent with her, my child felt like a kid with a friend for the first time in a while. We are thankfully out of the hospital but still speak of her and her exciting science projects. Thank you for the impact you had on my child and for the difference you are making for so many others. A program's success is credit to their directors for a vision made into a reality." Thank you. F.R. Parent

Open to me the gates of repentance, O Giver of Life, for my spirit rises early to pray towards Thy holy temple, bearing the temple of my body all defiled; but in Thy compassion, purify me by the loving kindness of Thy mercy. Come, let us worship the Lord together in Spirit and Truth! "The Saint Nicholas Factor" Holy Father, Bishop Nicholas, continue to intercede with Christ our God to save our souls.

Holiday Heroes partners with hospitals, businesses, celebrities and others to give children who are hospitalized due to a critical or chronic illness, a well-needed and deserved dose of fun. With a wide variety of themed parties and celebrations, we get kids smiling again. We give kids, their families, and caregivers some time to forget about the illnesses and medical procedures, by creating an experience that transports them to a joyous and hopeful place. We create events that are always welcomed, appreciated, needed and deserved. Every dollar raised by Holiday Heroes is converted into a smile at these parties. Your support makes an immediate impact at every event that we host. What we do is important! No one wants to be in the hospital, especially kids. It’s stressful, scary, and isolating for them, their families and their caregivers. For hospitalized children, a little fun makes a big impact! Parties and play take a child’s mind away from the pain, anxiety and stresses of being hospitalized; encouraging healthy social development and better recovery from illness. All of the emotions children and their families experience when in the hospital are accentuated when that child is being treated for a critical or chronic illness. The usual everyday activities are often replaced with unfamiliar, overwhelming, daunting and, in many cases, painful tasks. Happiness can be hard to find when you’re being poked and prodded every day. Pediatricians and Psychiatrists have long recognized that many psychosocial problems facing children with long-term physical disorders can lead to social disabilities far more serious to an individual than the direct effects of his or her physical ailment(s). It is also reported that the institutions that provide comprehensive care to a chronically ill child want to promote realistic and normal child-rearing attitudes during this crucial developmental stage. This allows the child to develop a healthy self-image and become a socially capable and productive citizen. Holiday Heroes uses its experience, creativity, resources and passion to inspire long-lasting joy and happy memories for these children and their families, making a lasting impact in their lives.

In High School District 214, we believe it is our responsibility to inspire every student to discover their passion and reach their potential. It is the Foundation’s mission to fund student success, innovation and lifelong learning across our District beyond the limitations of conventional funding for public education. At a time when one in four of our students lives in poverty, it is our obligation to create and enhance partnerships and funding opportunities to make sure every learner who passes through our doors is prepared for the future. We invite you to be a part of our story. Please join us in funding the future and building the legacy of success across the Northwest suburbs.

The impact of the recent hurricanes in the Caribbean has left our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico in desperate need of aid. Shop online through this campaign and up to 40% of your purchase will contribute to Project HOPE and their efforts in Puerto Rico. Project HOPE delivers essential medicines and supplies, health expertise and medical training to respond to disaster, prevent disease, promote wellness and save lives around the globe. In addition to shopping to donate, direct donations are also being accepted by Project HOPE. Each direct donation is tax deductible, and contributors will receive a receipt detailing their donation. Thank you for your support! Project HOPE holds a five star rating through Charity Navigator. EIN: 53-0242962

In 1899, Rose Fay Thomas, wife of Chicago Symphony Orchestra founder Theodore Thomas, established The Anti-Cruelty Society and forever changed the landscape of animal welfare throughout the Chicago region. For nearly 120 years, the Society has endured as Chicago's oldest and largest open admission animal welfare organization, one that provides a wide breadth of programs that save the lives of thousands of animals each year. A certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with an IRS determination year of 1937, The Anti-Cruelty Society’s mission is to build a community of caring by helping pets and educating people. The Anti-Cruelty Society has evolved since our inception and we continue to expand the programs that we provide to the community. However, one constant objective has remained ingrained in our organizational identity throughout our entire history—a commitment to saving the lives of those who lack the ability to save themselves. Throughout our existence, the Society has helped an incalculable number of abandoned and mistreated animals through an ever-expanding array of services. Some of our current programs include: adoption placement, a public sterilization clinic and charity vet clinic, humane investigation, and humane education.