Women Helping Women’s fall event supplies youngsters with goodies!

On the left, items produced by Concordia Place’s Spouting Out program were for sale at Chuhak & Tecson’s fall 2014 Women Helping Women event. In the middle, donations that eventually numbered over 500 craft and gardening items were collected to help support the programs at Concordia Place. On the right, Kim Boike, principal with Chuhak & Tecson, delivered welcome remarks to over 170 women professionals that gathered to participate in business development and charitable services.

On November 13, the women attorneys of Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. hosted their fall Women Helping Women event—at Lloyd’s Chicago. Despite frigid temperatures, over 170 women were in attendance to support a worthy cause.

Women Helping Women (WHW) is a networking group for women business leaders and entrepreneurs to mingle, build business and support a not-for-profit organization benefiting women or women and their children.

Upon entering the event, guests were greeted with refreshments and decorations that reflected the evening’s event partner, Concordia Place. Chicken tenders, pigs-in-a-blanket and bite-sized peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, along with centerpieces containing markers and Play-Doh, paid homage to Concordia Place’s award-winning childhood, after-school and summer camp programs which helped to serve 750 families and individuals in 2013.

“Concordia Place was overwhelmed by the generosity and energy of all the inspiring women who were part of the event,” said Brenda Swartz, president and CEO of Concordia Place. “Our focus is on the growth and opportunity of all those we serve and it was evident by those in attendance they wanted to help make a difference in those lives.”

The donations collected for Concordia Place included over 500 craft and gardening supplies and over $650, all of which will help support its pre-school, after-school and teen Sprouting Out programs.

In addition to these donations, guests purchased over 75 items from Concordia Place’s Sprouting Out program. The program uses teen-grown herbs and botanicals as ingredients in handcrafted products, including olive oil soaps, soothing shea and lip balms, deodorants and healing salve—all of which were available for purchase at the event.

As a part of the program’s buy-one-give-one initiative, Concordia Place matches each purchase with a gift of the same product to The Night Ministry, an organization which offers housing, healthcare and human connection to members of the Chicago community struggling with poverty or homelessness.

For information on Concordia Place or the Sprouting Out program, visit concordiaplace.org. For information on Chuhak & Tecson’s spring WHW event or to request an invitation, contact Brittany LaMantia at blamantia@chuhak.com.