Six Flags...Great 'American' Experience

The Cabrini Connections' program rewarded over 20 students with a fun-filled day at Six Flags Great America on July 26, 2008. The students were rewarded for their positive attendance in the program during the final academic quarter of the 2007-2008 school year. We are proud to announce that 34 students were eligible for the trip by attending the program 6 out of 8 times during that quarter. Congratulations and we encourage the students to continue to exhibit a commitment to the program!

The students entered the program early that Saturday morning and were welcomed to a breakfast provided and served by Cabrini Connections' staff and volunteers. After breakfast and final announcements the group boarded the bus and headed off to the amusement park. Once at the park the group decided to eat their lunch early in an effort to have more time inside the park. The student's lunch consisted of Subway sandwiches, variety bags of chips, cookies, juice, and a bottled water to stay hydrated in the heat.

Once inside the park, the volunteers, parents, students, staff, and even the group's bus driver took park in all of the activities and excitement that Six Flags has to offer. For nearly 7 hours the various groups rode rides, played the games, ate food and snacks, and visited Hurricane Harbor to beat the heat.

As the event began to come to an end all met back up around 7:00 pm, with some parts of the group exhausted from the fun-filled day and some parts of the group wanting more time in the park. The group boarded the bus for dinner and departure from Six Flags Great America. From the interactions and discussions throughout the day, I would say that everyone had a positive GREAT 'AMERICAN' EXPERIENCE!!!

Hopefully next summer we will have even more students attend the event, and for this to take place we will need more and more students attending the program on a continuous and consistent basis and will need more and more people to support our program and events such as this one by donating funds to the Cabrini Connections.

Connecting the 2008 Jimmy Biggs Memorial Cabrini Connections Golf Benefit

First and foremost the Cabrini Connections and Tutor Mentor Connection staff would like to thank everyone who showed their support by either attending and/or donating to the 2008 Jimmy Biggs Memorial Cabrini Connections Golf Benefit! We had a very nice turnout and hope that even more people can and will attend the benefit in 2009. The Highland Park Country Club has beautiful facilities, the weather was great, everyone in attendance appeared to have a great experience, and we raised over $40, 000 to assist our organization with continuing to provide necessary services to our youth.

The golf benefit is another example of true meaning of the name 'Cabrini Connections' and the idea of connecting resources to the participants of the program. At the golf benefit there were staff, volunteers, donors, guests, and students all in attendance and having a nice time. The donors who provided financial contributions and/or the golfers who paid the fee to golf were able to interact with several of our students who attended the event. What makes this interaction significant is the fact that these donors had the opportunity to see exactly who their funds benefit and the difference their donations make to the youth in the Cabrini Connections' program. Again, connecting youth to resources and vice versa!

There were other 'connections' that were made as a result of this benefit. Some people, including myself, had the opportunity to enjoy a golf course for the first time, many people met and interacted with someone they had never met before, and many of the people who attended the dinner had the opportunity to hear two of our students Romel Newell and Kevin Stanfield (CC alum) speak about their experiences with the Cabrini Connections program. The 2008 Jimmy Biggs Memorial Cabrini Connections Golf Benefit was not just a fun-filled day of golfing, a dinner, and a silent auction, but another way of fulling our mission of connecting our program and the participant's to necessary resources!

Continued Celebrity Support

The Cabrini Connections' program received even more celebrity support for the 2008 Jimmie Biggs Memorial Cabrini Connections' Golf Benefit. Ken Holland, Executive Vice President/General Manager/Alternative Governor of the Stanley Cup Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, donated an authentic autographed jersey of the future NHL Hall of Famer Chris Chelios this past week. Chris Chelios is one of the true NHL legends who is still adding to his legacy as a current member of the Detroit Red Wings. Mr. Holland is also a legend in his own right, it is stated that he is 'arguably the most successful general manager in all of professional sports over the last 10 years.' This generous donation and support by Mr. Holland and Mr. Chelios continues to shine light on the Cabrini Connections' program and assist us with producing more and more success stories within our program.

We also received further support from the NFL through a personal donation from Miami Dolphins' #68 G/C Ikechuku "Ike" Ndukwe. "Ike" also known by some of his former Northwestern University teammates, as "Bone Crusher" agreed to support Cabrini Connections and the golf benefit without hesitation! Mr. Ndukwe not only agreed to support the program he shared this 'giving back' opportunity with several of his Dolphins' teammates and they agreed to suppport Cabrini Connections as well by providing their autographs to a football to be auctioned off at the golf benefit. "Ike" is not only a personal friend and former teammate of mine, Mr. Ndukwe is genuially a stand up guy who would have supported this program not because I asked him, but I feel that he would support Cabrini Connections or any other program that has the mission of bettering the lives of others!

Here are two more examples of high profile celebrities supporting the Cabrini Connections program and all that this program does to provide the youthful participants the tools and resources they need in today's and tomorrow's society to be successful! And the Cabrini Connections can't thank you all enough for your support!