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!!!

Moving beyond the past to the future

Tonight will be the annual year end dinner celebrating the work done at Cabrini Connections in the past year.

I've hosted these dinners every spring since 1975 in my role as leader of the Montgomery Ward-Cabrini Green Tutoring Program, then Executive Director of Cabrini Green Tutoring Program Inc, and since 1993 as President of Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection.

I won't be at tonight's dinner because I won't be officially part of Cabrini Connections after July 15. It's too painful for me to stand in front of you all asking for your help in making Cabrini Connections available to youth and volunteers for a coming year, when that call to action now will need to come from El Da'Sheon Nix and the Board of Directors.

If I were at the dinner I might want to talk about the history of the organization and show photos from the thousands that have been taken in the past 35 years. I might want to talk about what I've learned and why I've built a passion for the second part of Cabrini Connections, the Tutor/Mentor Connection. I would invite you to stay connected to me and to the information and ideas that I'm sharing on my blog and this web site.

I've received numerous awards and recognition over the past 35 years.

None have been more important to me than hearing the success of our teens and seeing the interaction they and volunteers have each year. The Dinner is special because it showcases this in so many ways. I don't want my leaving to take away the attention from what we have been trying to do at Cabrini Connections.

So I will say to all of you, "Keep the vision alive. Keep helping each other. Keep in mind that the only way we'll solve any of the problems we face is if each of us says "If it is to be, it is up to me".

Cabrini Connections is available because of the efforts of many volunteers over many years. Some of them have worked hard to find the money needed to operate the program. Over the past few years finding this money has been more difficult and that has led the Board of Directors to think that separating the Tutor/Mentor Connection from Cabrini Connections will give them a simpler story and more ability to raise the needed money.

Raising the money has always been about telling the story of why we are involved and why what we do is important to people who have the ability to give money. If all of you keep doing that you should be able to find enough donors.

I will continue to try to help from my role as leader of the Tutor/Mentor Connection and as a long-term member and supporter of the tutoring/mentoring that has been taking place in Cabrini-Green since 1965.

Congratulations on another year. Good luck in what you do to help each other in the coming years.

Cabrini Connections to be featured on Groupon!

We are excited to announce that Cabrini Connections is going to be featured on Groupon.com with a G-Team campaign for three days, June 7-9! Launched in November of 2008, Groupon is a website that features unbeatable daily deals - 50 to 90% off - on the best local goods, services and cultural events in more than 500 markets and 46 countries worldwide.

G-Team is a community outreach initiative within Groupon that brings communities together to do good, have fun, and make an impact. G-Team has been working in Chicago to help mission-driven organizations like ours raise money and raise awareness, channeling the collective buying power of Groupon followers and our local supporters.

We need your help to make this a successful campaign...

1. Subscribe to Groupon (http://www.groupon.com/subscriptions/new) in Chicago before the campaign launch
2. Check the daily Groupon e-mail to view our campaign, which will be featured along the right hand side of the main deal and under the list of daily deals
3. Support the campaign with a pledge and spread the word to friends and family, encouraging them to do the same

Thank you for your support! Read and share the full announcement on Bradley's blog here: http://bit.ly/k9UZNu

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

See more videos and photos from Dinner

Visit Bradley Troast's blog and see videos and more photos from the year end dinner.

Visit the Cabrini Fund Raising Blog and our Donor page to find ways that you can help this program get the dollars needed to operate for the next 12 months.

Year End Dinner. A Great Celebration

Here's the first video showing students, volunteers, parents, alumni and leaders who participated in the June 10,2010 Cabrini Connections year end dinner.


Find more videos like this on Tutor/Mentor Connection


Watch for more updates. Please visit http://www.cabriniconnections.net/donate and find a way to help us continue this work.

Who is in your Network?

How many think about how your volunteer involvement in Cabrini Connections has expanded your informal network? How many of the companies that you've worked for value this as an important asset? Here's an article titled Managing the 21st Century Organization, that illustrates the value of informal networks.

If this is good for volunteers, then it's a benefit for our teens, too. If we are helping them expand their own networks, because of the people they meet through Cabrini Connections, that's a good thing.

Now, how many of you are willing to use this network chart to identify people in your own network who night become a donor, business sponsor, or benefactor, to help us operate Cabrini Connections, if you just introduced us to them?

Last Friday at the conference, I hosted a workshop with a volunteer from Dominican University, who is helping me map our networks. You can read about that here.

Her father attended the workshop with her. He wanted to see what we were doing, because she had told him about the work. He's from Nevada. But because he was introduced to us by his daughter, and he's interested, he may become a donor. He may also introduce us to people in his network.

That's how networks can be used to benefit Cabrini Connections, our volunteers, and our youth.

We need more sponsors for the dinner, the golf benefit, the conferences, and the general operations of Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection.

Please use this network diagram to identify one or two people in each category who might help us if you just told them of your involvement.

Can you help?

This week we're sending out about 1500 letters asking friends, family, foundations and others to make donations to the Annual Fund, which is essential for keeping Cabrini Connections in business from year to year.

This also includes an invitation to the year end dinner on June 10.

We've had great fund raising support so far this year from students and volunteers and I hope that during the tutoring sessions this week, everyone will pick up 5 or more brochures and send them to people they know who might provide a donation, or become a benefactor.

We are a non profit, so we're always going to be looking for money, and we will only succeed if our students, alumni and volunteers are telling their own stories about how their lives have been enriched by being part of Cabrini Connections.

Please follow our fund raising activities on this fund raising blog, and on this page on the Cabrini Connections web site.

What about bequests? Yes. Cabrini Connections can be the place where people leave a bequest, and create a legacy. Read more about bequests. Use this page to add Cabrini Connections to an estate plan.

Nearly 20 NFL and NBA Superstars Support Cabrini Connections

With less than 3 days before the organization's BIGGEST fundraiser of the year, the Annual Jimmy Biggs Memorial Golf Benefit, almost 20 NBA and NFL players show their support by providing autographed items to enhance the silent auction at the event.

After a brief conversation with former Northwestern University female basketball standout, Nadia Bibbs, about the work that I do for Cabrini Connections and the upcoming event she agreed to help us out in our efforts. Nadia then shared the information with several of her NFL and NBA friends and after a short time period the Cabrini Connections' program was provided with 3 basketballs and 1 football autographed by some of the biggest names in the National Basketball Association and the National Football League.

With many of the NBA stars using the city of Chicago to train and prepare for the next season, Mr. Antoine Walker discussed the Cabrini Connections' program during workouts and was able to get autographs from; Bobby Simmons, Gilbert Arenas, Devin Harris, Tracy McGrady, Luther Head, Will Bynum, Juwan Howard, and Larry Hughes. And Mr. Walker rounded out the list and added his signature so that we could enter the ball into the silent auction on Thursday.

There is only a couple more weeks before the Chicago Bears start their pre-season workouts and several members of the team are supporting the Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection in a HUGE way. New Chicago Bear and personal friend, Orlando Pace agreed to take the football to the Bear's training facility and several of his teammates signed the football without hesitation. Orlando actually handed the ball off to Garrett Wolfe originally and G. Wolfe not only got all of the signatures for the football, I met up with him to run the ball back to Cabrini Connections. Autographs provided by Adrian Peterson, Jason McKey, Garrett Wolfe, Brad Maynard, Tommy Harris, Devin Hester, Kelin Davis, Danielle Manning, and Israel Idonije. Not only did we receive the football for the golf benefit, linebacker Nick Roach has registered for the dinner, cocktails, and silent auction part of the day. Mr. Orlando Pace is also planning on coming out to swing the clubs in a fun-filled day of golfing.

I, along with the entire Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection staff, students, and volunteers would like to thank the all of the players who provided signatures AND support to the program. I would also like to give a very special "thank you" to Ms. Nadia Bibbs for all of her hard work and commitment to making sure this entire act of support took place. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Charles Hill: Student Reflection

First year student, Charles Hill reflected on year at Cabrini Connections through the our Student and Volunteer History and Tracking System (SVHATS) and I wanted to share this Cabrini Connections' supporters!The Year end dinner was great, I was not expecting to get ""Most Motivated"" award and since this was my first time there,I would love to experience this again next year. I plan on doing more things around Cabrini and to help Cabrini Connections, i'm planning on working more on guitar, maybe next year i'll even play a song. Nice work for Savon Clark a close friend of mine for winning the Jimmy Biggs award. Also Ana Tate who seems great at singing, I think she would be a great help for a singer when I start a band. Also EL Da' Sheon, Chris Warren, Jen King, my tutor Szu Han, you are the ones who have influenced me the most in winning the award for most motivated, without your help in the program I wouldn't be as motivated as I am now. I'd probably be lazy.So I want to say thanks for everything.Anyways, I've had a great experience this first year at Cabrini Connections and I plan on going there for a very long time. Until next we meet, I shall be taking my leave. Good Luck Cabrini Connections staff, mentees, and mentors.

2009 Year End Dinner!!!!

The Cabrini Connections' staff could not have asked for a better ending to the 2008-2009 tutoring/mentoring year! Last Thursday we hosted our annual Year End Dinner, and it was a GREAT event! Not only was the event an overall success, thanks to everyone who came out to support and be a part of the celebration we had a record breaking 200+ in attendance!!!

I want to take the time out right now to thank every student, staff, volunteer, parent/guardian, board member, donor, and guest who made the event possible...and successful! Thank you!

The event started a little different from previous years by starting off with the dinner. As the guests ate and chatted with those around them, we officially kicked off the event with a documentary Cabrini Connections that was a project of the Youth Leadership Council. This documentary not only captured the essence of what Cabrini Connections is all about, but it was a great start to a great event.

Following the documentary, Year End Dinner Coordinator, Courtland Madock and the student emcees led us into the heart of the night. We heard from two of the MANY Cabrini Connections' alumni, Kenneth Chatman and Jonathan Summers. Although both were lost for words at times as they spoke, we appreciate their commitment and dedication to the program and thank them for being willing to share their "Cabrini Connections' story" with us.

Next we had 8th grader, Ashaunti Roby, who came up and shared a very emotional poem that provided the group with a glimpse of her personal feelings and why she is the strong young woman that she is today! The Writing Club Coordinator (Jen King) and students...and even Dan got into the mix and shared a skit with the crowd. They did a great job and they received a very big applause for their work. Lastly, 6th grader, Ana Tate blessed the crowd with a very inspirational song and Yolanda Hyles, Breonca Hyles, Cierria Tharpe, and Shante Sanders ended the performances with a very nice dance performance.

Following the alumni and the student, several parents who expressed their thoughts about the program and how the program has not only affected their children, but the family as a whole. Mr. Clark (father of Savon Clark), Ms. Rhodes (mother of De'Sean Hale), Ms. Wright (mother of Arden Harris), and Asaca Fisher (aunt of Marquita Fisher) all had nothing but kind words to say about the program, the staff, and how the Cabrini Connections' program is a needed and wanted program for students and family members alike.

Following the speeches, the Cabrini Connections' 2009 graduating class received their Senior Graduation Dollars and a very special gift of a 2008-2009 Year Book. The seniors and their mentors received the very first copies of the year book. The Art Club got into the action as well by raffling off some of the many art pieces that the students have been working on the last couple of months. There were students, parents, board members, volunteers, and many other people who had lucky raffle tickets and received some great art work!

We ended the night on a very positive note, several students earned some much deserved awards.

Most Motivated:

Charles Hill and Dominique Dobbs

Most Improved:

Ashanti Anderson and Marquita Fisher

Best Overall Academic Achievement:

Marcus Burks and LaFaye Garth

Jimmy Biggs Citizenship Award:

Savon Clark and Yolanda Hyles

Everybody who made the night and the program possible were recognized and 1st year volunteer Mike Ozmeral was recognized for his fundraising efforts throughout the year. And Mike showed that he truly cares about the program by donating his prize of a gym membership back to the organization as a silent auction item for the annual golf benefit.

We closed with President/CEO and myself not only discussing some of the year's highlights and what it took to make the 2008-2009 a success, but we discussed what it will take to make the next year and the following years be successful as well. We need everybody who is and who could be a part of the Cabrini Connections' family to step up and contribute to the program. From the students, parents, staff, volunteers, donors, board members, to other program supports; we are going to need an even bigger effort from everybody involved to have continued success!

The Upcoming 2009 Year End Dinner

Thursday June 4th, the Cabrini Connections' program will be hosting our annual Year End Dinner event! This is an event that takes place at the end of every tutoring/mentoring year that brings together students, alumni, potential students, mentors, staff and donors together and their guests, for an evening filled with food, entertainment and celebration of another great year at Cabrini Connections. Courtland Madock, who was the Volunteer in the Spotlight during the last week of our official tutoring/mentoring sessions, along with her Year-End Dinner Committee have put together what will we hope will be a truly memorable night and will provide the momentum needed for the summer and a successful 2009-2010 year!

The Year End Dinner is an event for those are, have, or would like to be a part of the program, and is a great opportunity to meet many of the people who make this program what it is. The 2008 Year End Dinner truly great and I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite program events of the year! The event is not only filled with the people who make the program possible, but the event is filled with so much emotion it really lets you know how much this program means to so many people. And as the Administrative Coordinator of the program it reassures me that we are making a difference in the lives of those who are connected to the program.

And this year's event should be as fun and as powerful as the previous ones. There will be students serving as MCs, there will be parents speaking, volunteers speaking, staff speaking, alumni speaking, entertainment from the youth, and much much more that the 2009 Year End dinner!!! Another special treat is our Youth Leadership Council will premiere a short documentary about the history of Cabrini Connections, shot with the assistance of professional videographers Matt Lauterbach and Dinesh Sabu. The theme of this year's dinner and the 2009-2010 tutoring/mentoring year is "Hope, Build, Believe, and Achieve."

If you would like to be a part of what will should be a GREAT night, you can easily RSVP online here, so please join us. The dinner will be taking place at the Cornerstone Academy banquet facility, which is located at 1111 N Wells. Dinner will last from 5:30-8 and those over 21 will continue the night at Spoon, located across the street at 1240 N Wells St. Hope to see you there!

For More information about the Year End Dinner visit the website.

*pictures from the 2008 event*

May Activities at Cabrini Connections

These are activities that we hope Cabrini Connections students and volunteers will take part in during May

Meeting of the Fund Raising Minds
On May 13th and 14th following the announcements during the tutoring/mentoring sessions, several Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection’s Board Members will be hosting a brief (15-20 min) discussion with all of the volunteers and staff about various fund raising ideas. Many volunteers have shared ideas about ways in which we can obtain the necessary resources for the program, and this brief discussion will be a way of bringing Board Members, staff, and volunteers together to expand on those great ideas.

Club Coordinators and Wednesday/Thursday volunteers please make an effort to attend and share your thoughts. Again, will be pretty brief and will take place immediately following the announcements on May 13th and 14th.

Student and Volunteer Appreciation Night!!! May 20 and 21.
This program would definitely not be what it is without our students and volunteers who participate in the Cabrini Connections’ program! We want to show our appreciation to our student and volunteers by hosting a Student Appreciation Night on May 20th and 21st (Last official tutoring/mentoring sessions of 3rd Quarter), and a Volunteer Appreciation Night on June 11th.

So following the announcements on the May 20th and 21st students will have the opportunity to relax and enjoy an Ice Cream Sundae Bar!!!

On June 11th at 6:30pm all volunteers are invited to the Volunteer Appreciation Night here in the center, and we will provide an Ice Cream Sundae Bar. So save the dates and please come out and enjoy some ice cream while we talk about highlights for the year and how we can have even more highlights heading into the 2009-2010 Tutoring/Mentoring Year!!!

“Understanding Our Youth” - Year End Surveys being collected during May
As the Cabrini Connections staff continues to find ways to better serve our youth and the volunteers who work with our students, we have decided to enhance our survey process to get a better understanding on how to better understand and serve the youth who participate in our program. A brief survey for each one of our students to their mentors, parent/guardian, and their homeroom teachers will be provided by the end of this week. Volunteers will receive their surveys during the sessions and both parents and teachers will receive their surveys in the mail. The information that we receive from these surveys will be used to assist with not only understanding our students’ strengths, but we will use this information to work on any and all weaknesses that our students may have.

Participation of all of our students, parents/guardians, volunteers, and school faculty is essential in this process and we hope that all parties will help us help our students, and we hope to get all of the surveys back by May 22, 2009.


Year End Dinner, June 4, from 6 to 8pm.
Learn more about the dinner at http://www.cabriniconnections.net/dinner. This is a celebration of the past year, and a kick-off for summer and 2009-10 activities. We hope to have a great turnout. Invitations and donor appeals will be in the mail next week.

Year End Dinner Voting Process
We are a month away from the 2009 Year End Dinner and are on track to have one of the best events ever! Over the next two weeks students, volunteers, and staff will be voting on this year’s awards. The student awards include:

-Jimmy Biggs Citizenship Award
-Most Motivated
-Best Overall Academic Achievement
-Most Improved Award

Please assist us with ensuring that the 2009 Year End Dinner is a success by donating to this year’s event at http://www.cabriniconnections.net/donate-online


Cabrini Connections 2009 Summer Schedule!!!
Be on the lookout for the 2009 Summer Schedule and all of the great activities that can and will be taking place. Year End Dinner on June 4th, The Edgewood College Experience July 6-8, Annual Golf Benefit on July 16…and MUCH MUCH MORE!!!

Graduation Awards for Cabrini Connections Seniors

One of the many great resources that Cabrini Connections’ provides the students that participate in the program is an ability to earn points and graduation dollars for every student who enters AND completes the program.

The amount a student earns is based on an accumulation of the points that the students earn while participating in the program. Students earn points for attendance, special projects, completed Weekly Reflection sheets, submitting report cards etc…

As seniors, the points students earn are converted to dollars which are awarded at the Annual Year End Dinner. At this time the conversion rate is ten cents per point. That can grow if we can find donors who will sponsor the Point Bank with an endowment.

Currently we have 5 seniors whom we expect to graduate in June. If these seniors can continue to actively participate in the weekly Wednesday or Thursday tutor/mentor sessions during the 3^rd quarter (April through May 2009) they will receive their respective graduation awards at the Year End Dinner on June 4^th.

Students who have been part of Cabrini Connections since 7th grade, have earned quite a few points, so the pay out at graduation can be $500 or more. We're exploring ways to deposit this money directly in a bank account, and to have the bank add additional dollars. We'll have more details on this later.

If you have questions about the Graduation Awards and/or Point Bank, contact El Da'Sheon Nix. If you'd like to make a donation to support Cabrini Connections, use this form.

Charlie Trotter's Excellent Opportunity...

On March 10, 2009, thanks to tutor/mentors Mike Hayes and Mike Jozwik, several Cabrini Connections' students and staff had the opportunity to take part in the Charlie Trotter's Excellence program. For those who don't know Charlie Trotter's Restaurant is considered one of the best restaurants in the world by many (http://www.charlietrotters.com/).

As part of this opportunity the group were provided with a private tour of the world famous Charlie Trotter's restaurant here in Chicago, we had the opportunity to meet and greet many of the chefs and they all provided a brief presentation about what excellence means to then, and lets not forget about the food!!! Our group was provided an amazing 8-course meal!!! This meal ranged from Pickering Pass Oyster with a Celery & Guava as the starter dish to Milk Chocolate Semifreddo with Carrots & Star Anise is the final dish. And I think I speak for the group, all of the dished in the middle were great as well.

But this experience was much more than about the food. The group learned about etiquette, culinary arts, and EXCELLENCE. And what made this opportunity even more special and relevant to Cabrini Connections and the group that took part in this experience is that the theme of excellence was not just tied to Charlie Trotter's and culinary arts. The staff at Charlie Trotter's encouraged our students to be hard working, dedicated, committed, and to strive for excellence in whatever career path they decide to follow! GREAT ADVICE!!!

Cabrini Connections would also like to thank Charlie Trotter's and the entire staff for making our experience one to remember!!!

Please take a moment to look at the pictures of this trip located on the website (http://www.cabriniconnections.net/) in the photo section.

Year End Dinner Celebrates Tutoring/Mentoring for 16th Year

On June 12th Cabrini Connections celebrated the completion of its 16th year, with a dinner and awards ceremony. More than 150 parents, students, volunteers, leaders and odnors participated. Four graduating seniors were recognized and awards were given to recognize outstanding effort.



When I spoke to the group I said "thank you" for all of the work you've done, then I said "help me" keep Cabrini Connections growing for another year. I also talked about the need for tutor/mentor programs like Cabrini Connections in all parts of the Chicago region and asked for your help to make that happen.



We have two interns from Korea with us and they created a flash presentation that shows photos of the dinner.

In addition, Mike Takan created a map that shows where Cabrini Connections is in the city and wrote an article on his blog showing his own understanding of the work Cabrini Connections is doing.



On Mike's blog you can see maps of the entire city, illustrating how tutor/mentor programs need to be in places beyond Cabrini Green.

I encourage you to read these blogs and share them with friends, in your own efforts to mobilize more leadership to support the work we and others are doing to expand the "community" of people helping kids living in high poverty areas.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this year's dinner a success.

Cabrini Connections Year End Dinner, This Thursday, June 12

Cabrini Connections will hold its annual year end dinner and celebration of the 2007-08 school year accomplisments of students and volunteers on June 12 from 6pm to 8pm at the Cornerstone Center, 1111 N. Wells in Chicago.

Parking is tight in the area, so take public transportation if you can. Call 312-492-9614 to RSVP if you or your student are planning to attend, but have not yet added your name to the list.

Year End Dinner Celebration, June 12, 2008

This year's dinner theme is "Coming Together. Growing Together."

We hope our current and former students and volunteers, our leaders, parents and other supporters will join with us on June 12th to celebrate the work students and volunteers have done during this 2007-08 school year, and to help us kick off summer activities, and the 2008-09 school year.

In the Lion King movies, the Circle of Life was a main theme. At Cabrini Connections we have a "cycle of tutoring/mentoring" that starts at the beginning of one school year, and continues through the end of that year, and into the following year.

We have two seniors this spring, who will join more than 520 other students who have attended Cabrini Connections one to seven consecutive years since 1993. While these students are headed for the next stage of their lives, and still need our help so that they successfully negotiate the challenges of college, work, and families, most of our kids are 7th to 11th graders, who will need our support next year, and for the next several years.

Thus, the dinner is a fund raising event, as well as a fun and warm celebration of the relationships that form at Cabrini Connections.

In leading up to the dinner we're hoping that some of our alumni, both students and volunteers, will post message on this blog, or in our Facebook or MySpace communities, to tell us what they are doing now, and to tell us how Cabrini Connections, or the mentors they have met through Cabrini Connections, have had an impact in their lives. We'd also like current volunteers and students to post their own reflections.

Student, volunteer and alumni stories are as important as the stories of what has happened in the past year because they show the real potential of programs like this. They show that we can reduce the isolation of poverty by creating a network of youth and adults that stay connected in many ways, for many years beyond high school.

Thank you to Courtland Madock and Gabriel Rodriguez, who are the co-chairs of this year's dinner. They deserve a lot of credit for it's success, along with a team of volunteers who are helping them.

Here are some links to follow to learn more about the dinner, making a donation, or connecting on-line:

Donor page - http://www.cabriniconnections.net/donate

Facebook page - here

MySpace page - here

Or you can connect with me on LinkedIn or Ning.com

Year End Dinner Theme: "Coming Together, Growing Together"

The winning idea for the June 12, 2008 Dinner Theme was submitted by Nemieka Horton. She will receive a special gift certificate and it is our hope to have this theme carry throughout the entire next school year as a guiding theme for many activities. More than 50 ideas were submitted and they all represented the hope and opportunity that Cabrini Connections seeks to offer.

Lend your talent to the Year End Dinner
Many of our students have great artistic talents. This year the Year-End Dinner Celebration will be showcasing some of our own local talent. We are looking for 2-3 students or groups to perform at the event. During the coming weeks we encourage students and volunteers to team up to create skits, poetry, or songs that can be performed live at the annual year end dinner. Auditions will be held on Saturday April 26th at 11am. We hope all volunteers will encourage their students to get involved. Groups can include volunteers, too!

Help with organizing the dinner.
If you can help with the organizing, reaching out to student and volunteer alumni, or with the fund raising, email Nicole at nicolewhite dot cabrini at gmail dot com.

Are you an alumni?
Tell us your story. You can use the form at the right to tell us when you were involved, what your memories are, and what you're doing now. You can also connect with us on Facebook, or LinkedIn.com.