We Present to YOU, the 2011 Cabrini Connections' Golf Benefit

I would like to start off by saying that, WE SURVIVED!!! With temperatures reaching, if not peaking, 100 degrees yesterday, we successfully hosted our 2011 Cabrini Connections' Golf Benefit at the Highland Park Country Club. This is an annual event hosted by the organization to not only raise funds for the organization, but to also provide an opportunity for participants to network, advocate for the program, celebrate program highlights, and to HAVE FUN!
After the early morning registration, the participants headed inside to cool down and to have some lunch before the shotgun start at 1pm. Around that time we had nearly 70 golfers in the carts and ready for fun in the sun on the greens. The participants enjoyed a fun filled day out on the course, all while trying to stay hydrated and out of the sun as much as possible. But even with the heat, I'd say that all that took part in the event had a GREAT day!

As the sun began to die down and the golfers completed their rounds, the Cabrini Connections' staff, students, and volunteers headed inside to set up for the evening events of food, drinks, and the silent auction. I think EVERYBODY enjoyed this part of the evening, especially with the air conditioning included! This is the part of the evening when everybody had an opportunity to not only cool off, but to network, hear from the Cabrini Connections' Board Members, students, and myself, as the new Executive Director of the organization. And with being in this role less than a full week of hosting the biggest fundraiser of the year, I'd say it was a success.

Thanks to all of those that contributed by being sponsors, volunteering to help with the behind the scenes work the day of and the preparation leading up to the event, the GREAT staff at the Highland Park Country Club, and a VERY VERY SPECIAL THANKS to staff member Toni Pullen, the 2011 Cabrini Connections' Golf Benefit was a lot of fun. Although we did not hit the financial numbers that we had hoped for on the day of the event, we feel the actual event can and will lead to further financial support in the near and distant future. The Annual Golf Benefit, like many of the other FUNdraising events that take place in the organization looks to hit great numbers the day of, but we hope that what takes place as a result of the actual event is what will lead to future support. Hopefully everybody that was present at the event enjoyed their experience and will find ways to not only continue supporting the organization, but will share their experiences and the program to those in their network, so they too will consider being a supporter of the organization.

If YOU would like to know more about the Cabrini Connections' program please visit the website and hopefully you too will become a FAN of the Award Winning...CABRINI CONNECTIONS' PROGRAM!

NFL Star, Barry Cofield, Calls for Support for the Annual Golf Benefit

Northwestern University alumni and starting Defensive lineman of the New York Giants, Barry Cofield, will serve as the official Spokesman of the 2011 Cabrini Connections' Golf Benefit. After completing a very successful 2011 Year End Dinner, we are on to the next major event in the organization, the Annual Golf Benefit. The 2011 Cabrini Connections' Golf Benefit will be held Thursday, July 21, at Highland Park Country Club. This is one of the most important fund raisers of each year and we are looking for this year's event to be THE BEST one ever, and Barry and the Cabrini Connections' TEAM could use your help?

Mr. Cofield is a huge fan of youth and GIVING BACK to the community, and he has been a fan and supporter of the Cabrini Connections' program for several years now. In 2008 the Superbowl Champion Barry Cofield supported the Annual Golf Benefit by donating an autographed jersey to the silent action. And since that date, Barry has continued to follow highlights of the program and has continued to support the program in a variety of ways. After a recent visit to the program's facility in April, Mr. Cofield has since joined the Advisory Board and accepted a request to be the 2011 Golf Benefit Spokesman. Barry said, "I'm passionate about working with today's youth in order to make the future brighter, Cabrini Connections' is dedicated to the same goal and they are the best at what they do!"

Don't forget to visit the golf website and join the New York Giants', Barry Cofield and the Cabrini Connections' staff, by seeing how YOU can support the 2011 Golf Benefit and the Cabrini Connections' program. Barry Cofield recently stated that he will be in attendance at the golf benefit and is looking forward to assisting with the success of the event and with obtaining the necessary resources for the Cabrini Connections' program to be successful.

Barry Cofield at a Charity Basketball Game in Sandusky, OH.

"I Present to You...the 2011 Cabrini Connections' Year End Dinner"

Last evening the Cabrini Connections' program capped off the 2010-2011 tutoring/mentoring year with our Annual Year End Dinner. This was truly a remarkable event filled with speeches, performances, awards, great food, nearly 250 attendees, and a special tribute to our 2011 Cabrini Connections’ graduating class! This graduating class is truly unique in the fact that:

* 4 out of 5 seniors have been in the Cabrini Connections’ program for six years!

* Those same 4 seniors were also members of the Cabrini Green Tutoring Program and upon graduating from that program in the 6th grade they continued on with our program.

* 1 of the mentor/mentee pairs have been working together since the start of the student’s 7th grade year. Meaning they have been a mentor/mentee pair for six years!

*Lastly, ALL 5 seniors will be enrolled in a college or university in the Fall of 2011!!!
-Kanah Bradley (Southern Illinois University)
-Cierria Tharpe (Illinois Institute of Art)
-Victoria Rivera (Western Illinois University)
-Whitney Hemphill (Chicago State University or Robert Morris University)
-Imann Mitchell (Robert Morris University)

Check out this video of the seniors receiving their Graduation Dollars and yearbooks!

Class of 2011 from Cabrini Connections on Vimeo.

We are not only very proud of our 2011 graduating class, but we are proud of our entire Cabrini Connections program! The Cabrini Connections' staff would like to thank everybody that came out to help us celebrate another chapter to the "Cabrini Connections' Story" and we definitely would like to thank all of the students, volunteers, parents, and donors that all played a part in putting this event together. We are thankful and appreciative for your support of the Cabrini Connections' program.

The room was electric last night and hopefully everybody still has that feel good feeling right now! Hopefully EVERYBODY will take those positive feelings one step further and share with those in your network the impact that this program has on the lives of so many people. Tell them all about the RECORD BREAKING, AWARD WINNING, the ONE and ONLY Cabrini Connections' program!!! We are hopeful that they too will want to support the program as volunteers advocates, and/or a donors!!!

NU Gives Back...To Cabrini Connections

On Saturday May 21st the Cabrini Connections' program hosted a group of 14 Northwestern University students as part of the NU Gives Back: Service Day. Hundreds of Northwestern University students spent their day in various non-profit organizations, schools, and communities throughout the Chicagoland area as way of "giving back" with a day of service.

We had a GREAT group of fellow Wildcats that selected Cabrini Connections as their service site. We started the day with introductions which was great because as staff we wanted to get to know the students better, but it was also a good idea because not all of the students knew each other before the introductions. The Cabrini Connections' staff then provided the group with more information about the history of the organization and information on the present Cabrini Connections and the Cabrini Green community so that the students could have a stronger connection to the program as they completed their responsibilities for the day.

And before it was time to get to work, we provided a preview of a "Challenge" that we were going to close the day with. We asked all of the students to write down the names of five people that they consider to be their mentors and to keep those names in mind as they complete their service projects for the day. And then they were off to work!!!

The 14 students broke up into teams and completed a variety of tasks for the day. Some cleaned and organized the storage room, some students completed a mural on the wall of the front office, while others cleaned and provided maintenance work on the desks and chairs, organized the library, cleaned the desktops on all of the computers in the computer lab, and a variety of other projects that needed attention in the center. We had the music going, there was a lot of laughter, a lot of teamwork, and more and more relationship building as we all got to know each other throughout the day.

The day started around 11am and ended around 2pm, but at 1:30pm we got back together as a group to present this "Challenge." At the start of the day we discussed the pieces to the puzzle that make programs like Cabrini Connections' work. The NU students said you need students, volunteers, a safe environment, staff, and donors. We then expanded that last piece to the puzzle that was mentioned, the donors that provide financial support. As we got back together as a group a couple of students talked about their experience that day and shared that with the group. We then asked all of the student to take out their notecard with those five names on there and posed this "Challenge:" the students have to contact their five mentors and thank them for all that they have and continue to do in their lives, share their day of service experience with them, and encourage their five mentors to support their day of service efforts by making a donation to Cabrini Connections. The student that brings in the most donations by our Annual Year End Dinner will be awarded a special invite to our Annual Golf Benefit.

I know I am biased but I feel that Cabrini Connections' is a GREAT program, but we are only GREAT because of all of those that come together to make this work. The students, volunteers, parents, staff, Board Members, community partners, and the donors! When you have all of these pieces working together, supporting each other, and working towards a common goal, success HAS to be the result. So I encourage you to become one of those pieces to the puzzle and help Cabrini Connections continue to be GREAT!

Kanah Bradley Makes Her Selection!!!

As we get closer and closer to the end of the school year, we also get closer to saying good bye to our 2011 graduating class. Just recently one of our seniors made her decision on where she will be heading to continue her education. Von Stueben High School senior, Kanah Bradley, who has been in the Cabrini Connections' program since March of 2009 has made the decision to attend Southern Illinois University this fall! Kanah was researching several colleges and universities, and has decided that Southern Illinois University would be the perfect fit for her to pursue her dreams of a career in medicine.

Kanah and her mentor Autumn Sharp have been working together for nearly two years here in the program, and they also spend time outside of the program as well. Autumn said this about her student's recent decision to attend SIU, "I am excited to see Kanah graduate and move on to SIU. I think she will do extremely well and we'll see her accomplishing her goal of being a doctor."

We are not only proud of Kanah and excited about this next step in her life, we are thankful of both Kanah and Autumn sharing their time, experiences, and commitment to the Cabrini Connections' program. We are looking to create more and more life changing stories and experiences like this one, and we are going to need more and more support from others to help us create these stories. If we can get consistent financial support and resources, we will then be able to keep the center open, filled with a strong leadership of staff and coordinators, that will lead dedicated and committed students and volunteers grow in the program...and THAT will lead to more and more SUCCESS stories like that of Kanah Bradley!

YOUR 2011 Cabrini Connections' Year End Dinner

Cabrini Connections' 2011 Year-End Dinner will be held on Thursday, June 16th, 6-8pm, at Cornerstone Academy, 1111 N. Wells St. (same as in past years). We are looking to make this the BEST Year End Dinner ever, and your support by attending and/or donating to the event will help us reach this goal! This event is often hailed as the best of the year, which makes it a great time to support the program with a donation.

Individuals or businesses are encouraged to donate at one of the following levels:

Homework Helper - $50
Extra Credit - $100
Student & Volunteer Achievement - $200
Honor Roll - $500
Senior Sponsor - $1,000
Future CEO/Leader - $2,500

Checks made out to Cabrini Connections can be mailed to 800 W Huron, Chicago, IL 60642.

You may also donate online via PayPal.

We are hoping that YOU will make an effort to attend this event and assist us with not only wrapping up this year on a positive note and successfully sending our seniors off to the next phase of their life, but we want you to assist us with keeping the momentum going for the upcoming year! Please complete the RSVP form if you plan on attending this year's event! RSVP for the dinner now! http://tinyurl.com/2011yed

2011 Cabrini Madness Season Recap

A Look Back on the 2011 Cabrini Madness Season!!!

After a very successful 2010 Cabrini Madness debut season, the Cabrini Connections’ program was back at it and geared up to have an even better 2011 season. And a successful season it was!!! With many new and familiar faces, with some new creative ideas and concepts, and that returning competitive edge…the 2011 Cabrini Madness season served to be a great source of program advocacy and financial support for the same GREAT cause…CABRINI CONNECTIONS!!! So take some time and let look back at what was the 2011 Cabrini Madness FUNdraising Tournament

Cabrini Madness Season: February 7th-April 4th, 2011

Number of Team: 13

Number of Participants on Roster: 126

Students (39) Volunteers (46) Staff, Coordinators, Board Members (19) Outside of the Program Members (22)

Cabrini Madness FUNdraising Events:

-Team 5D’s

Game Day Event

-Boom Goes The Dynamite Teen Party/Dance at Cabrini Connections Bowling Night at Timber Lanes

-Cabrini Loyalty Bake Sale & Guessing Contest Happy Hour Event eLoyalty Donation Bin Idea Chicago Office Jean’s Day

-The Dream Team

Birthday Causes on Facebook

-The Free Agents

Happy Hour Event

-The Golden Stars Candy Sales Campaign

-The Green Team

The Wing Thing Happy Hour Basketball Viewing Event & Concert

-Team High5ive

Snack Sales Campaign

Cabrini Madness Promotional Videos: 8 total (possibly 9)

Training Days The Decision

Maybe

Lost In The Woods

Wednesday Night Lights

Cabrini Phoneathon

Bracketology with Tim Doyle

Encouragement Promo

Teams that Advanced to the Elite 8 (+ Play in Team): -Team High 5ive, Change Makers, The Green Team, Boom Goes the Dynamite, The Golden Stars, Cabrini Loyalty, The Dream Team, Cabrini AllStars, and The Kids Are All Bright

Teams that Advanced to the Final 4: -Cabrini Loyalty, Cabrini AllStars, The Dream Team, and The Kids Are All Bright

Championship Round Teams: -The Kids Are All Bright and Cabrini AllStars

2011 Cabrini Madness FUNdraising Tournament Champion: Cabrini AllStars

"The Kids Are All Bright provided some great fireworks down the stretch to make the Cabrini Madness tournament interesting, but it was Tim Minton and the Cabrini AllStars that prevailed in the end. Tim Minton called a timeout, gathered his team together, and provided what would be the game winning speech. He and the Cabrini AllStars rallied to pull out the $6,652 to $4308 victory!!!"

Approximate Number of 2011 Cabrini Madness Donors: Over 600!!!!

Total Amount Raised in the 2011 Cabrini Madness Season: $27,500(+) -more donations from Cabrini Madness has been coming in…

2011 Cabrini Madness Awards: We ended the 2011 Cabrini Madness season with our Annual Award’s ceremony to recognize all that made the 2011 season successful and to honor those that went above and beyond by presenting individuals and teams with some hardware. The names of the awards come from those that won the awards the previous year.

The Minton Rookie of the Year Award: Jason Tennenbaum Rising new star to the Cabrini Madness season

The TEMS Most Improved Team Award: The Kids Are All Bright

Team that started off low in the ranks and made continuous progress throughout the season

The Culliard 6th Man/Woman of the Year: Cabrini Loyalty (Team)

Person (or Team) that was not officially in the Cabrini Connections’ program, but contributed GREATLY to team’s success

The Martin Captain of the Year: Diana Restrepo Captain that led team to great success all season long

The Awesomes’ Most Valuable Event: Boom Goes The Dynamite (Bowling Night) Team’s event that brought in the most financial support

The Grunst Most Valuable Player: Tim Minton Person that brought in the most money that contributed to their team’s overall success

We had an amazing 2011 season of Cabrini Madness, but the support for the GREAT cause of Cabrini Connections' doesn't stop as that season ended. The Cabrini Connections' program is year around, and support for overall program needs to happen all year long as well. So if you missed out on supporting during the Cabrini Madness season and would still like to support the students, volunteers, and staff that make this program what it is...please submit your support here.

The 2011 Cabrini Madness Season is Underway!!!

The 2011 Pre-Season of Cabrini Madness ended last Thursday and the regular season has gotten off to a pretty nice start. We have a total of 13 teams (same as last year) that have entered the season and all are looking forward to an opportunity to be the 2011 Cabrini Madness Champions come April 4th!!!

Returning champions, The Dream Team (formally known as Guaranteed Victory) entered the season as the fan favorites and held the 1st place ranking nearly the entire pre-season before the returning Changemakers took the 1st place position and moving The Dream Team into 2nd place. Team Captain, Shannyn Nellett (Writing Club Coordinator) is confident that her squad can make a run for the title this season.

Here is a complete list of the 2011 Cabrini Madness Team:

1. $970 ... Change Makers
2. $683 ... The Dream Team
3. $140 ... Team High5ive
Tie 4. $50 ....... Cabrini Allstars and The Green Team
6. $45 ..... The Blue Chips
7. $35 ..... Boom Goes the Dynamite
Tie 8. $30 ..... Running for Cabrini and Cabrini Loyalty
10. $10 ..... The Kids Are All Bright
11. $0 ....... Team 5Dragons
12. $0 ....... The Free Agents
13. $0 ....... The Golden Stars

Here is where you can view the official 2011 Cabrini Madness Bracket and follow your team as they navigate themselves through the tournament and to keep up with all of the latest Cabrini Madness news and updates check our our version of espn.com here

If you are not on a Cabrini Madness team, but would like to support the program you can either select one of the current teams and become a "Fan" of their team or you can donate to the overall program here. We sincerely thank all for their effort, advocacy, and support.

~GOOD LUCK~

Cabrini Madness 2011...IS HERE!!!!

Last year Assistant Program Coordinator, Bradley Troast, and Administrative Coordinator, EL Da' Sheon Nix, came up with a FUNdraising Tourney based off of the NCAA March Madness tournament.

Students, volunteers, staff, board members, and friends of the program separated into different teams, put together a simple or very detailed fundraising page on Giveforward (to collect donations) and after those two things were done...THE GAMES BEGAN!!!

The mem

bers of the teams just found creative

ways to advocate for the pro

gram as a way of bringing in donations. There were pizza and snack sales, pool parties, birthday party fundraisers, social events for volunteers, grants were completed, just a lot of fun and creative ways to help their team win the tourney...all while bringing in the funds needed for the program. Here is where you can get tourney information from last year.

Bradley and I made the tourney fun by coming up with all of this fun and creative videos that we used as a play off of college basketball, NBA, SportsCenter etc. Here is the first of 9 videos that we put together.

The 2011 season is just about ready to start and we are excited to see what this season will bring and who will be crowned the 2011 Cabrini Madness Champion!!! This opportunity is open to ANYBODY that is interested in joining in our efforts to raise awareness and funds for the Cabrini Connections' program. Please contact EL Da' Sheon Nix or Bradley Troast for more details.

DON'T MISS ANOTHER GREAT SEASON!!!

Volunteers Step Up To Organize FUNdraisers

We have had several volunteers AND students answer the call of doing what they can to get the resources needed to keep the doors of the program open. Here are a few of many ideas and efforts that are currently in place. Please make an effort to support these events and share with those in your network

Santa's Naughty or Nice Charity Pub Crawl

HO HO HO - What better way to feel the joy of the season than to fill yourself with HOLIDAY SPIRITS and give a little something back to the community? For a donation of $10 (or more), you will get the company of some very fine individuals and a big red Santa hat (first 45 attendees). http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=167904526575285

-Elena Lugo and Melanie Munsey

Beard For Kids

This holiday season I’m participating in the Beards For Kids 2010 Challenge. I’ll be growing a beard from now until the end of the holidays and have a goal of raising $10 per day for Cabrini Connections. Please help me reach my goal by donating here today: http://beardsforkids.org/

-Gabriel Chapman

Matt Golden's Fundraising Page

I have asked family and friends to help me raise $2,000 for Cabrini Connections in the month of December. I have set up a website on FirstGiving and have already raised $270! Hopefully, our contributions can help Charles Hill and other students continue to succeed at Cabrini Connections. http://www.firstgiving.com/mattgolden

-Matt Golden

Beards For Kids! Support Cabrini Connections!

Fellow Tutor/Mentors,

Along with a few friends, I created BeardsForKids.org this week to raise money for Cabrini Connections. Check out the site: http://beardsforkids.org/ (Also, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beards-For-Kids/107547929317605

I'm wondering if any of the male tutors would be interested in participating...AND if any of the female tutors might be able to get any of their male friends to participate, as well!

The idea is to try to raise $10 per day per person up until New Years. I think this is a very modest goal and that together we can build a critical mass to really make this a success!

I've included a short email below to make it easy. Please let me know if you're in by sending me a note and a picture of you sans beard!

Thank you!

Gabriel
312.804.0228
______________________________________________________________
Here’s an email you can send to friends and family:

Dear Friends,

This holiday season I’m participating in the Beards For Kids 2010 Challenge. I’ll be growing a beard from now until the end of the holidays and have a goal of raising $10 per day for Cabrini Connections http://cabriniconnections.net , a program in Chicago that helps underserved kids finish high school with the goal of moving on to complete college and have successful careers.

The program has helped countless students during its almost 20 years of existence, and I want to make sure they’re able to continue doing the good work that they do!

Please help me reach my goal by donating here today: http://www.firstgiving.com/beardsforkids

Thank you and happy holidays!

--Gabriel Chapman

'Tis The Season & Cabrini Connections' Is The Reason

Over the past couple of weeks the Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection staff have been encouraging all in the program to make an effort to share the "Cabrini Connections' Story" and their personal experience with those in their network. We have also been taking part in our annual Holiday mailer. The packages of information will be going out to many past, current, and hopefully future Cabrini Connections' supporters. Our aim is to share a little more about what all we do here at Cabrini Connections with the youth and volunteers who participate in our program, and by sharing this information we hope more and more people will be willing to support our program in various ways.

Beyond just the mailers that we are sending out to the large group, the entire staff, and hopefully students and volunteers, will personalize letters for personal use. Individually, we all have been taking some time to think of people in our own personal network that we feel would not only like to hear more about what we do, but could further support our program. Whether the support comes from just spreading the word about Cabrini Connections to people in their network, donating a dollar or two, sharing other valuable resources, or all of the above...we will be appreciative of any support that is provided.

Over the weekend I will continue putting my list together continue making an effort to reach out to people who not only have been supporting me and my career, but the people I selected to add to my list are also people who care about improving the lives of youth.

In order for this to continue we need your help in finding holiday donors. Please send this form to people you know, telling of your involvement and asking for their help. If you reach out by email, point people to our blogs, or videos, to show the work we do. Or pick up some holiday fund brochures, with art created by our teens, and mail them to friends, family, co-workers. We have these at the Cabrini Connections center at 800 W. Huron, Chicago, Il. 60642 .

In today's tough economic environment people all over are cutting back on their giving, but if everybody can just give a little, that adds up! And there are still many people in the world who have benefited greatly from having tutors, mentors, and just a variety of support networks, that have the ability give more than others. And as a result of that success, these individuals have the opportunity to GIVE BACK in a huge way, especially during the holiday season!

~Happy Holidays~

The Status of Cabrini Connections...

Last week during the tutoring/mentoring sessions we cut our regularly scheduled announcements and shared some pretty upsetting news. The staff, Volunteer Coordinators, member of the Youth Leadership Council, and Mike Hayes (veteran tutor/mentor and Board Member) took the time out to inform all that was present that the financial situation in the organization is at one of the worst places since the program started. This news was something that the staff and Board members have known and have been working towards fixing for months now, but following our November Staff Meeting, we decided that this was news that all in the program should be made aware of in hopes that everybody would be willing to rally together in an effort to obtain the necessary resources to keep the doors of Cabrini Connections' open.

In a small volunteer based non-profit program like Cabrini Connections, it is safe to say that we need everybody being willing to take ownership of the program and being willing to be advocates. With having 4 full time staff and 2 part time staff we can only do so much to get the word out, but with having nearly 80 current students and nearly 100 volunteers in the program that has the potential to reach thousands and thousands of people that may be interested in not only hearing the "Cabrini Connections' Story" but they may be willing to contribute to this story having more and more chapters.

Although we are going through some very tough times financially, I not only felt good leaving the center at the end of the sessions; as one of the leaders of the program...I felt proud of the positive response from both volunteers and students. We had a number of students and volunteers share ideas about ways in which to get the word out and we even had two Thursday night students kick off the FUNdraising Campaign by donating some cash themselves!!! There were tons of ideas thrown out and here are a few:
*Holiday Banquet

*Use the Cash for Gold service

*Phone raiser (donating used electronic devices)

*More people participating in writing grants

*Matching program from various companies

*Selling candy bars and other candy

*Various tournaments (ex. Flippy Cup)

*5K run/walk in Lincoln Park

*Talent show and Penny Jar

*Utilize various websites (Donors' Choose and Charity Navigator)

and MANY MANY more!!!

One of the basic ways in which everybody in the program can assist with getting the word out during the holidays is by using the annual Holiday Appeal letter that is located on the homepage of the website. We have made over 100 hard copies along with the request form, but we are encouraging all students, volunteers, and anybody else that is looking to assist with getting the word out, to personalize the letter by talking about your own personal experience in the program. And one of the easiest ways in which people can contribute is to donate online using this link.

Again, it is unfortunate that we had to share this news about the financial status of the program, but unless we get more and more people out being willing to share the "Cabrini Connections' Story" with those in their network in hopes that they will support...we will not be able to continue running this program that over 500 youth and over 800 volunteers have been a part of since 1993.

As the holiday season quickly approaches us there are many things to be thankful for and we believe there are many that can share stories about being thankful for being a part of the Cabrini Connections' program. Make an effort to share those stories. And many believe that "Tis the Season for Giving..." so hopefully you and others in your network will consider giving to a program that has meant so much to so many.

~Happy Holidays~

Cabrini Connections' Students Are a Hit!!!

This past Tuesday 3 Cabrini Connections' students were standouts at the Red Shoe Review Silenct Auction at UIC. Victoria Rivera, Dominique Curtis, and Marquita Fisher shared their time and talents by performing some select poetry and spoken word at this event. All three of the students did an amazing job!!!

The event took place in a small intimate type of setting, but the energy from the students, the guests, and the hosts of the event was great. Jessica Grant and Namrata Shah not only did a great job with putting this silent auction together, the entire Cabrini Connections' program is thankful for these young ladies selecting Cabrini Connections as the organization where the proceeds from the event will go. There was food, beverages, art, entertainment, and an overall positive event.

The total amount that was brought in from the event has not yet been determined, but should be tallied up very soon. Whether the amount brought in is $100, $1,000, or $10,000...the entire Cabrini Connections' program is thankful and appreciative of the gesture from this group of students from UIC. Hopefully the presence and performances of the Cabrini Connections' students at this event will lead to the guests of the event becoming even more interested in the the program and will lead to further support in the future.

Benefit Event for Cabrini Connections.

The Red Shoes Review, UIC's Undergraduate literary journal, invites you to attend its first-ever silent auction. The event will showcase local works of art both students and artists in the larger community. The night will also feature musical and spoken-word performances. All proceeds from the night will benefit Cabrini Connections, a local mentoring organization that promotes higher education and creativity to inner-city youth. Students from Cabrini Connections will attend as special guests of the night. This is a great opportunity to meet and network with other. So we hope you join us for a night of great artwork, performances, and free snacks!

This event is being presented by Namrata Shah and Jessica Grant. These young ladies visited the program last year and helped students, volunteers, and staff in various ways. They have put this event together and decided to "give back" to the program from the positive experience they had while being here at Cabrini Connections. And everyone knows that "Once in Cabrini Connections...Always in Cabrini Connections!" For more information, or to make a donation of artwork for the silent auction, contact us at uic.redshoes@gmail.com

This event will take place on Tuesday November 16th from 4-8pm on the UIC campus. Official building location will be in Room 121 of the Burnham Hall building located on the East Campus of UIC (near the Morgan and Taylor St intersection).

Prospective students that will be showcasing their talent at this event will be Cabrini Connections' senior Victoria Rivera (Lincoln Park High School), junior Marquita Fisher, and new sophomore student, Dominique "Di Di" Curtis. Both student attend the Global Citizenship Experience. Hopefully you will make an effort to attend and show your support...and bring a friend or two!!!