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.

Our mission is to protect LGBTQ youths from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently. Our organization's namesake, Ali Forney, was a gender-nonconforming teen who fled his home at 13. He entered the foster care system where he was bounced around to several homes, and was beaten and abused. Ali ended up living on the streets at the age of 15. Ali was dedicated to helping other young people and publicly advocated for the safety of homeless LGBT youth. Tragically, in December of 1997, Ali was murdered in Harlem—shot in the head and left for dead. Committed to saving the lives of LGBTQ young people, in 2002 Carl Siciliano founded the Ali Forney Center (AFC) in memory of Ali. Since AFC's launch with just six beds in a church basement, the organization has grown to become the largest agency dedicated to LGBTQ homeless youths in the country—assisting nearly 1,400 youths per year through a 24-hour Drop-In Center which provides over 70,000 meals annually, medical and mental health services through an on-site clinic, and a scattered site housing program. Our mission is to provide LGBTQ young people housing and a continuum of supportive services to help them thrive and prepare them for independent living. AFC has been heralded for our full continuum of care approach to services for LGBTQ homeless youth. AFC's founder, Carl Siciliano, was named a White House Champion of Change by President Obama citing the wide recognition AFC's programs have received for their quality and innovation.

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

The DBHS Choir Program is committed to the success of it's students. We have ambitious plans as our program continues to grow! In order to give your students a program to create champions, we need to raise funds for choreography, accompanists, music, transportation, festivals, guest musicians, props and other equipment.

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.

The Leukemia Research Foundation is dedicated to conquering all blood cancers by funding research into their causes and cures, and enriching the quality of life of those touched by these diseases.