Reason to Give

Holidays Are Here and We Need Your Help! : October 26, 2011

Reason to Give is once again giving it our all to help families in need! We want you to join us and spread some holiday cheer this season. Afterall, isn't that what the holidays are all about?  +more

Live and Learn Workshop Series is Back in Full Swing! : October 26, 2011

Reason to Give has started it's Live and Learn workshop series for the fall of 2011. October was Job Readiness month and included two workshops on resume writing and interviewing skills presented by experts in the field. We have had a great turnout thus far, and hope to continue our success through the spring! November is Financial Security month, so participants will be learning how to budget their household, plan for the future, and start their own small home-based business. Due to the large turnout of children for childcare, we are also incorporating youth computer based workshops at the same time. Participants of the Reason to Give program who graduate from the Live and Learn series will receive a computer for their families. +more

Reason to Give and Feltpad Host Chicago Code : August 02, 2011

It's that time again: Back to School!  This year we are offering a two-day computer programming workshop at i.c.stars for teens. The workshop will be beneficial for any youth interested in learning more about computer programming - a highly competative field with lots of career opportunities. +more

Reason to Give adopts our next non-profit: Rumble Arts Center! : June 14, 2011

Rumble Arts came to Reason to Give because they need help offering scholarships to youth who want to participate in their Summer Arts Camp but cannot afford the fee, despite the organization’s attempts to keep costs as low as possible. The Camp, in its first year, was a direct response to the community’s call for more day time activities for youth when school is not in session. +more

Reason to Give is Striding for Strings : March 10, 2011

Reason to Give is Striding for Strings to help our adopted school, Lafayette Elementary, save their music program. 

Join us on Saturday April 30th, 8am for a 5k walk at the Humboldt Park Field House. Reason to Give staff, participants, volunteers, and friends will be walking that day. If you cannot make the walk, please help us by raising funds. Pledges can be made by cash, check (made payable to Firebelly Foundation), and at ReasontoGive.com via Paypal.

If you plan to walk and/or raise funds, please contact Shannon@firebellyfoundation.org ASAP. All pledge sheets with money must be turned in by Thursday April 28, 2011 to Shannon at 2701 W Thomas St, 2nd Floor, Chicago.

Sponsor Reason to Give in Striding for Strings by donating now and help us reach our goal of $5000 raised by April 30th! 

MLK Service Day : February 23, 2011

For the past year and a half, Reason to Give has been working to put together a comprehensive resource guide for residents of Humboldt Park, giving them easy access to hundreds of local services and important phone numbers. The resource guide is in English and Spanish and is a comprehensive guide to all the community has to offer, including descriptions, contact information, and bus routes. Thanks to funding from the Chi West Resource Net, Reason to Give was able to print over 1000 copies for distribution. +more

Centiv Adopts Reason to Give family for the Holidays : February 08, 2011

Centiv, a local business in Chicago came to Reason to Give in December 2010 and asked if they could adopt a family for the holiday season. Donations from Centiv met all the needs of Angel and Leticia's family and even spread some holiday joy for the whole family with toys and gift cards.

On December 21, 2010, Reason to Give delivered a car load of wrapped presents for Angel, Leticia, and their four children. The children were over joyed by all the gifts and began thanking "Santa" before we could even get through the door! They all sat in a row on the couch and opened their gifts one at a time with priceless smiles and thank you's to the camera after each one. 

The family received coats, clothing, hats, gloves, shoes, toys, and gift cards! The experience was wonderful for all involved. Thank you Centiv for making the holidays so special for this family!

Check out the video!

Reason to Give 2010 Annual Holiday Party Greatest Success yet! : February 08, 2011

On December 18th, 2010, Reason to Give hosted its 3rd Annual Holiday Celebration for all past, present, and even some future program participants. Lafayette Elementary School generously donated their auditorium for the day. We had over 200 participants in attendance.

Everyone received tickets to shop the free stores. Families went home that day with winter coats, hats and gloves, clothing, shoes and boots, home goods, and every kid got a great toy! Participants also had their family portraits taken and were able to call anywhere in the world to wish their loved ones happy holidays. In an effort to launch our new Adult Education Workshop Series, we raffled off gift cards throghout the day. Families brought food to share and everyone had a great time.

Watch the video of the event here!

Reason to Give Thanks! : February 08, 2011

Our first Thanksgiving food drive, hosted by Barista Coffee house, provided five families with complete Thanksgiving dinners. An additional five families also received side dishes for their Thanksgiving meals. 

Reason to Give would like to thank Barista Coffee House for hosting the drive, G.P.A. (Greatest Post Alive) Livingston for holding a canned food drive at his November show, and Arami for generously donating all the turkeys. 

The Thanksgiving drive was a great success and a big help to our families. We hope to do it again next year and be able to provide for even more of Humboldt Park's families.

Check out the video!

New Life for Old Classics A Success! Artwork still on sale! : November 11, 2010

Thanks to the amazing artists that donated their talents to Reason to Give this fall and all of you who came in support, Reason to Give's first gallery opening, New Life for Old Classics was a huge success. Check out the video below! +more

Join us for a special event celebrating the VISITORS Project : November 10, 2010

On Friday November 19th at the Logan Square Auditorium IShootRockStars will be hosting an event to celebrate the VISTIORS Project.  This project was completed by Kyle Lamere.  The project depicts pictures of everyone that visited Kyle's house over the past year.  The event is being held to raise money to publish the 319 VISITOR coffee table book.  The VISITOR coffee table book will be published in December.  Additional proceeds will also be contributed to Reason to Give.  Admission is $10.  The event begins at 8pm. +more

New Life for Old Classics: RTG Gallery Show Nov 5th : October 19, 2010

Join us Friday November 5th, 7-10pm at Barista for the gallery opening! +more

It Takes A Village School Supply Drive A Success! : October 19, 2010

On August 28, Reason to Give families, past and present, came together to celebrate the start of the new school year.  We had a full house of 58 children in attendance!  Thanks to great contributions from Barista Coffee House, the G-Team, and all our generous donors the first annual It Takes a Village school supply drive was a tremendous success. Watch the video and see for yourself. +more

Reason to Give teams up with Groupon and The Point! : August 12, 2010

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"It Takes a Village" School Supply Drive : July 19, 2010

Reason to Give and Barista Coffee House at 852 North Damen in Chicago are teaming up this summer to host a school supply drive for Reason to Give families. +more

T-Shirt Mania at Camp Firebelly : July 19, 2010

At the 3rd annual Camp Firebelly, 10 passionate and energetic young designers teamed up with Mike Fretto and Rosa Loves to raise money for three Reason to Give families. Campers were given the opportunity to meet with each of the families, hear their stories, and ask questions to better understand the Humboldt Park community. +more

Lafayette Elementary Students watch themselves on the big screen! : May 26, 2010

Reason to Giive recently adopted the Lafayette Elementary school Orchestra as one of our reasons to give! We spent an entire afternoon with the young musicians listening to them practice and interviewing them about the impact the Merit Music program has had on their lives. The students were so enthused to participate in our program and share their talents with us that we thought it only right that they get the first screening of the video.Principal Shrode and Mr. Weible gathered all the students into the auditorium after school for a special viewing of themselves on the big screen! The students' reactions were priceless! We just had to share them with all of you. +more

Dawn speaks at a TEDxWindyCity Event! : March 15, 2010

Firebelly Founder Dawn Hancock spoke at the TEDxWindyCity event "Creative Convergence" on February 10, 2010. “Creative Convergence” explored the many ways that designers, artists, engineers and inventors marry creativity and technology and thereby revolutionize our world. +more

Reason to watch the Bulls: A Success! : March 03, 2010

Reason to Give's intern Kevin hosted his 23rd Birthday Party at the Chicago Bulls game last Saturday as a fundraiser for Reason to Give participant Steven to go on an educational trip to Europe with his high school. Thanks to Kevin and 24 of his closest friends, operation "Reason to watch the Bulls" was a success. Rosabel and her son Steven were delighted to hear about the success of the event and send their appreciation to everyone that participated.  Read more about Rosabel and Steven's cause. +more

Reason to Give gets a spot on Oprah Radio : February 24, 2010

Founder of Firebelly Foundation, Dawn Hancock was interviewed by Derrick Ashong in a fifteen minute spot on Oprah Radio February 6. The focus of the show was about artists that use their work to inspire change in the world around them. Dawn talks about using her own for profit business, Firebelly Design, to make a difference in the Humbodt Park community where the firm is based. +more

Bulls Fundraiser February 26th! : February 09, 2010

Come out to see Derrick Rose and the Bulls take on the Portland Trailblazers at the United Center on Friday February 26th at 7:00pm. Tickets are $46 and half of the ticket price goes to help Rosabell Castillo send her son Steven on an educational class trip to Europe. This will be a fun night for a good cause. To reserve tickets email Kevin at kgsmith2@gmail.com. +more

Participants Enjoy a Chicago Wolves Game : January 25, 2010

Thank you to the Chicago Wolves for their generous donation of 15 tickets to Reason to Give. The tickets were raffled off at our annual holiday party. Three families received four tickets each: the DeJesus family, the Brown family, and the Martinez family. The game was great, a triple overtime win for the Wolves! Thanks again to the Chicago Wolves for brightening the holiday season for these three families. +more

Holiday Party 2009! : January 19, 2010

On December 12, 2009, Reason to Give held a holiday party for families that are currently in program as well as families that were involved with the program within years past. EP Theater generously donated their facility for the event. Photographers Kyle LaMere and Brendan Shanley volunteered their services to take family portraits. Everyone received free coats complements of Cafe Barista. Special thanks to Mary Morelli for her generous contribution to the free store. +more

ABC 7 Features Reason to Give : December 18, 2009

What a beautiful day it was when we had our local ABC 7 television crew run around with us for hours. We are so thankful to them and those who made an immediate donation in response to their 2 minute segment. If you missed it or just want to see it again and again, here's the link. +more

Reason to Golf is a great success! : October 21, 2009

The 1st Annual Reason to Golf Benefit was a huge success! On Saturday August 22, 2009 at the Western Acres Golf Coarse in Lombard, Reason to Give threw its first official benefit. With 56 golfers and over 85 in attendance at the 10th Hole Party, along with all of our wonderful sponsors, Reason to Give was able to raise over $8000. +more

"Donate with Kate" is a big hit! : February 04, 2009

Julie Lowenbaum and her daughter Katie contacted Reason To Give in early January with a great idea to celebrate Katie’s 10th birthday and help the families of Humboldt Park at the same time. Rather than the traditional party, Katie and 20 of her girlfriends and chaperons went on a scavenger hunt through Northbrook Court Mall and collected basic items for Reason To Give participants. +more

Day of Beauty for RTG Families : January 19, 2009

Just 3 days before Christmas, when everyone needed to be finishing their last minute shopping, the wonderful folks at Art + Science Salon in Wicker Park, Elizabeth Neish (a fabulous makeup artist for MAC), Chris Kirzeder (a dear friend and amazing photographer) and a handful of RTG volunteers (Ana, Amy, James and Shannon), came together to give all the RTG families a special experience they will never forget. The entire day was devoted to giving the families a day of beauty, including hair cuts + colors, makeup and photographs. It was truly a special day for all of us. And of course it wouldn't have been complete without a delicious lunch from our friends at the Latin American Restaurant and Coco (two fantastic restaurants in Humboldt Park I can't reccommend enough). +more

Holiday Generosity : December 30, 2008

After a generous outpowering of support this season, Reason To Give was able to issue gift cards to each participating family. Watch the beautiful video of everyone receiving their gifts and share in some of the photos.  +more

Listen for us on WGN 720AM : December 06, 2008

Listen to the MP3 now! ----- We're incredibly excited and grateful that WGN Radio believes in our program so much, they have offered to donate a PSA spot beginning the week of Dec 8th. Listen for the amazing Richard Steele of Chicago Public Radio's Eight Forty-Eight, as he explains why Reason to Give is such a wonderful program. ----- Listen to the MP3 now! +more

A+S Had a Reason to Give : October 08, 2008

We are grateful to Art + Science Salon in Wicker Park for opening their hearts to us. Portrait of a Culture in Exile: a photographic journal by David Raccuglia was not only a stunning gallery opening, but our first ever fundraiser. David amazed us with his immense generosity -- proceeds from his photograph's sales benefit Reason to Give! +more