When a house fire or other disaster occurs, emergency vehicles rush to the scene with sirens blaring and lights flashing. People rush around frantically. Some might be shouting, others crying. In a heartbeat, an entire home can be lost.
During these moments of vulnerability and despair, the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago steps in, providing assistance for immediate needs, such as food, shelter and clothing. The organization also gives comfort to the youngest of those affected by disasters—providing teddy bears to children who experience trauma. Although giving a teddy bear cannot reverse the disasters that occur, it can help make difficult times a bit more bearable, especially for children.
This April’s Women Helping Women event, an after-hours networking group that integrates business development with philanthropy, will support Chicago-area children who are affected by disaster and served by the American Red Cross Teddy Bear Program.
WHW Mix-and-Mingles are biannual wine and hors d’oeuvres gatherings hosted by the women attorneys of Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. Mix-and-Mingles offer women entrepreneurs, decision makers and potential strategic partners the opportunity to streamline their schedules by networking, developing business and serving the community, all at the same event.
Service projects that benefit women and their children are a hallmark of WHW, and a different non-profit organization is highlighted at each event. Attendees of the April 26 event are asked to donate new teddy bears to the American Red Cross.
Lindsey Markus, a Chuhak & Tecson principal who will give opening remarks at the event, is thrilled that WHW is partnering with the Red Cross.
“When I first learned of the Red Cross Teddy Bear Program, I simply smiled,” Markus said. “The Teddy Bear Program provides an opportunity for us to bring comfort and hopefully a smile to children who have lost their homes due to natural disasters.”
Fran Edwardson, CEO of the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, said the organization relies on partners such as Women Helping Women to help fund its teddy bear needs for Chicago-area children.
“Nearly half of the people we help in our community are children,” Edwardson said. “You should see their eyes light up when one of our volunteers hands a young disaster victim a soft stuffed animal to hug. It really brings them comfort.”
Markus believes that as more women enter into leadership roles in the workplace, they are even more empowered to make an impact with organizations like the Teddy Bear Program.
“Attendees leave our Women Helping Women events feeling tremendous satisfaction in knowing they have helped make a difference,” Markus said. “What I’m most looking forward to with this event is seeing a sea of warm, caring, intelligent women with an army of teddy bears ready to bring smiles to kids throughout our community.”
The Mix-and-Mingle will be held April 26 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Lloyd’s Chicago, located at 1 S. Wacker Dr. If you would like to receive an invitation, please contact Katie Walsh at (312) 201-3447 or kwalsh@chuhak.com.
Chuhak & Tecson is going to war. Penny war, that is.
As part of its “25 Ways to Give Back” program, Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. is holding a penny war from March 19 to March 31 to raise money for Elim Christian School, an educational program that provides services to students with developmental and physical disabilities.
Chuhak & Tecson employees will be divided into two teams for the penny war. To build on the friendly competition generated from the firm’s afternoon volunteering at Greater Chicago Food Depository, Teams Sausage and Pasta will go head-to-head in the penny war. Each team will have a change collection jar in which team members can contribute loose coins of all denominations, while members from the other team can contribute paper money. All of the coins in each jar “count” for that team, and all paper money counts against that team. At the end of the contest, the team with the most net change will win the war.
Money collected during the penny war will be used to provide Elim Christian School with assistive technology. Chuhak & Tecson’s goal is to donate $1,000 to the school.
The penny war serves as the sixth activity in Chuhak & Tecson’s yearlong community service initiative. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, firm employees are participating in 25 service projects assisting those in need. Projects include everything from serving meals to the homeless, to sponsoring clothing drives, to providing backpacks filled with school supplies to children in need. Visit 25 Ways We’re Giving Back for ongoing updates.
Elim Christian School is located in Palos Heights, Ill. The school provides its students, who range in age from three to 22, with individualized plans that focus on educating and preparing students to work, live and socialize within the community. The school is part of Elim Christian Services, a charitable organization that provides educational, vocational and therapeutic services to disabled adults and children. Learn more about Elim Christian School.
March has arrived and prom season is fast approaching for high school students across Chicago. As part of its “25 Ways to Give Back” program, Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. is partnering with The Glass Slipper Project, a charitable organization that provides prom dresses and accessories to local high school juniors and seniors.
From March 3 through March 17, Chuhak & Tecson will collect new and gently used formal dresses, shoes, jewelry and handbags. Employees who do not have formal wear to donate are asked to bring in dry cleaning bags or shopping bags that can be reused by The Glass Slipper Project.
The Glass Slipper Project serves as the fourth activity in Chuhak & Tecson’s yearlong community service initiative. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, firm employees are participating in 25 service projects assisting those in need. Projects include everything from serving meals to the homeless, to sponsoring clothing drives, to providing backpacks filled with school supplies to children in need. Visit 25 Ways We’re Giving Back for ongoing updates.
To date, The Glass Slipper Project has helped make prom dreams a reality for more than 16,000 teen girls throughout Chicagoland. Discover how you can help make a difference by donating to The Glass Slipper Project.
About 75 Chuhak & Tecson employees volunteered at the Greater Chicago Food Depository on February 22. The project served as one of the firm’s "25 Ways to Give Back" during its Silver Anniversary year.
Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. continued its “25 Ways to Give Back” celebration in February with two community service projects.
Event Partner: Soles4Souls
To kick off February’s community service initiatives, Chuhak & Tecson partnered with Soles4Souls, a not-for-profit organization that distributes shoes to people in need around the world. Collectively, Chuhak & Tecson employees donated 312 pairs of new and gently used shoes, with one individual bringing in 70 pairs he had collected himself.
Property manager Tishman Speyer placed a collection box in Leather Care Shoe Repair on the lower level of 30 S. Wacker Drive, where Chuhak & Tecson is located. Mercury Shipping, one of the firm’s vendors, generously donated the cost of mailing the shoes to Soles4Souls. This ripple effect supports Chuhak & Tecson’s 25th anniversary mission to inspire others to make 2012 a year of service.
To date, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 16 million pairs of shoes to people worldwide. Discover how you can help make a difference at Soles4Souls.org.
Event Partner: Greater Chicago Food Depository
Chuhak & Tecson had a soft close of its office the afternoon of Wednesday, February 22 so firm employees could volunteer at the Greater Chicago Food Depository. About 75 employees boarded buses and spent the day packing food at the Food Depository’s facility located on the South Side of Chicago.
Upon arrival at the Food Depository, Chuhak & Tecson employees were divided into two groups. One group sorted and boxed 13,500 pounds of summer sausage into 540 cases, and the other group sorted 5,775 pounds of pasta into 3,210 individual bags. The food will be distributed to food pantries across Chicago.
Volunteers comprise 90 percent of the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s workforce. The organization distributes food to 678,000 people in Chicagoland every year through a network of 650 food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens. In addition to feeding the hungry, the Food Depository conducts training programs aimed at helping individuals and families break their cycles of poverty. Learn more about the Greater Chicago Food Depository at ChicagosFoodBank.org.
In celebration of its silver anniversary, Chuhak & Tecson employees are participating in 25 service projects assisting those in need. Projects include everything from serving meals to the homeless to making blankets for soldiers stationed overseas. Visit 25 Ways We’re Giving Back for ongoing updates.
Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. is dishing up another volunteer project as part of its “25 Way to Give Back” program by partnering with the Jewish United Fund Uptown Café, Chicago’s first kosher anti-hunger program for the needy.
On March 8, about a dozen Chuhak & Tecson employees will volunteer at the Uptown Café, located on the North Side of Chicago. Uptown Café offers guests a restaurant-style atmosphere where volunteers serve patrons a hot meal and provide friendly conversation.
Chuhak & Tecson Principal Mitchell Feinberg, who has been involved with JUF for many years, thought the Uptown Café fit perfectly with the firm’s “25 Ways to Give Back” silver anniversary program.
“I brought my wife and two kids to my first volunteer experience at the Uptown Café,” Feinberg said. “My kids were too young to serve food, so instead they ran back and forth getting milk and water for people. They enjoyed themselves, and it was great for them to be involved in a program that offers such a unique and dignified atmosphere.”
The JUF Uptown Café serves as the fifth activity in Chuhak & Tecson’s yearlong community service initiative. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, firm employees are participating in 25 service projects assisting those in need. Projects include everything from sponsoring shoe and clothing drives to making blankets for soldiers stationed overseas. Visit 25 Ways We’re Giving Back for ongoing updates.
More than 8,500 volunteers have served 140,000 meals since the JUF Uptown Café opened its doors in 1998. The Uptown Café is open three days a week for dinner and on Sundays for brunch. Learn more about JUF Uptown Café.
The employees of Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. are gearing up to help feed some of the 678,000 Cook County residents served by Greater Chicago Food Depository every year.
Chuhak & Tecson will do a soft close of its office the afternoon of Wednesday, February 22 so firm employees can volunteer at the Food Depository. About 75 employees will spend the afternoon packing food at the Food Depository’s facility on the southwest side of Chicago. Half of the employees will remain at the firm to address client needs.
“We’re so thankful that Chuhak and Tecson has chosen to celebrate its anniversary by volunteering at the Greater Chicago Food Depository,” said Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository. “Volunteer support is especially important as we continue to see a high level of need in the community.”
The Food Depository day constitutes the third and largest project in Chuhak & Tecson’s “25 Ways to Give Back” program. In celebration of its silver anniversary, the firm has launched a yearlong community service initiative in which firm employees participate in 25 projects assisting those in need. Chuhak & Tecson is encouraging the greater Chicago community to join its efforts in making 2012 a year of service.
Principal Daniel Fumagalli serves on Chuhak & Tecson’s 25th anniversary committee and feels the Food Depository is a very appropriate partner for the firm’s yearlong community service initiative.
“Chuhak & Tecson is a homegrown firm that has always had a special connection with Chicago,” Fumagalli said. “Our ‘25 Ways to Give Back’ theme very much represents our firm’s can-do spirit, and our day at the Food Depository is a fitting way for us to give back to a city that has been our home for so long.”
Greater Chicago Food Depository distributes food to 678,000 people every year through a network of 650 food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens. In addition to feeding the hungry, the Food Depository conducts training programs aimed at helping individuals and families break their cycles of poverty. Learn more about Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Chuhak & Tecson’s “25 Ways to Give Back” program encompasses a variety of service projects, including serving meals to the homeless, sponsoring clothing drives and making blankets for soldiers stationed overseas. Visit 25 Ways We’re Giving Back for ongoing updates.
Attorneys Mitchell Feinberg and Elizabeth Walder will hold an estate planning and immigration seminar titled Step by Step: The Importance of Maintaining Permanent Residence and Protecting Your Assets from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Arlington Heights. The workshop is sponsored by the law firms of Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. and Immigration Law Associates, P.C. Registration is free.
Focused on issues that pertain to the Japanese immigrant community, seminar topics will include a review of U.S. citizenship, the importance of estate planning for new immigrants and estate planning benefits for U.S. citizens.
Feinberg, a principal in the estate planning and asset protection group at Chuhak & Tecson, represents clients in all aspects of probate, trust and guardianship administration. Walder, president of Immigration Law Associates, represents individuals, employers and organizations in matters arising under U.S. immigration laws.
Seminar materials will be available in both Japanese and English. Please register by Wednesday, February 22 to Aiko Kurita at 847-763-8500 or akurita@immig-chicago.com.
Venue Information
DoubleTree Hotel (Oakwood Room)
75 W. Algonquin Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. kicked off its “25 Ways to Give Back” program in January with a Jeans Day to benefit Chicago Legal Clinic.
On Jeans Days, employees who contribute to a selected not-for-profit organization can wear denim to the office. Collectively, firm employees donated $640 to CLC, which provides legal services to the working poor and disadvantaged. A Chuhak & Tecson principal matched the contributions, resulting in a $1,280 total donation to CLC.
After learning of Chuhak & Tecson’s contribution, Edward Grossman, executive director of CLC, contacted the organization’s board members asking them to consider similar fundraising activities at their own companies. This ripple effect supports Chuhak & Tecson’s 25th anniversary mission to inspire others in making 2012 a year of community service.
In celebration of its silver anniversary, Chuhak & Tecson employees are participating in 25 service projects assisting those in need. Projects include everything from serving meals to the homeless, to sponsoring shoe and clothing drives, to making blankets for soldiers stationed overseas. Visit 25 Ways We’re Giving Back for ongoing updates.
Got sole?
Chuhak & Tecson does! As part of its “25 Ways to Give Back” program, the Chicago-based law firm is partnering with Soles4Souls, a not-for-profit organization that distributes shoes to people in need around the world.
From today through Friday, February 10, Chuhak & Tecson is collecting all types of new and gently used shoes, from sneakers to dress heels to flip flops. Property manager Tishman Speyer has joined in the effort by placing a collection box in Leather Care Shoe Repair, on the lower level of 30 S. Wacker Drive, where Chuhak & Tecson is located.
The Soles4Souls shoe collection serves as the second activity in Chuhak & Tecson’s yearlong community service initiative. In celebration of its 25th anniversary, firm employees are participating in 25 service projects assisting those in need. Projects include everything from serving meals to the homeless, to sponsoring shoe and clothing drives, to volunteering at a special needs school. Visit 25 Ways We’re Giving Back for ongoing updates.
To date, Soles4Souls has distributed over 16 million pairs of shoes to people worldwide. Discover how you can help make a difference at Soles4Souls.org.
Chuhak & Tecson president Andy Tecson has been selected as a 2012 Seeds of Hope Award recipient.
The award recognizes individuals who have dedicated themselves to serving others through health, hope and healing. It is distributed by Wheat Ridge Ministries, a not-for-profit organization that helps fund health and human care initiatives. Tecson, an accomplished jazz musician, will receive the award at a benefit dinner on March 3.
“The Seeds of Hope Award is presented each year to individuals who are models of Christian service,” said Dr. Richard Herman, president of Wheat Ridge Ministries. “Andy has used his gifts and talents in so many ways to God’s glory; using his legal skills to assist people in need and his musical ability to praise and worship God.”
Community service is an integral part of life for Tecson, who concentrates his legal practice in healthcare and corporate work. Tecson plays tenor and soprano sax with the band ChurchJazz, and also composes most of the group’s music. ChurchJazz regularly performs at churches throughout the nation—often as part of a fundraising initiative for various foundations and not-for-profit organizations. Tecson also has served as a member of the board of directors of 10 not-for-profit charitable organizations.
“I am truly honored to have been selected as a Seeds of Hope award recipient,” Tecson said. “The award serves as a reminder of the health, hope and healing we can bring to others by dedicating ourselves to serving in Christ’s name.”
The Seeds of Hope Award has been given to 115 individuals since its creation in 1994. All proceeds from this year’s benefit dinner will go to the Joshua Grant Program, which provides funding to Lutheran-affiliated congregations across Chicagoland. For more information, please visit wheatridge.org.