American Sniper Charity Event Raises $500,000

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity

Chris Kyle would have been proud. His wife, Taya Kyle, defeated the reigning NRA champion Bruce Piatt at the “American Sniper Shootout” charity event that was named for him. Together, they raised $500,000 for her deceased husband’s charity and she ended the competition with a perfect score.

For the competition, the shooters used rifles which were developed with input from Kyle’s husband. This includes the “RapidLok Target Acqusition’ technology that tracks targets while the trigger is being pulled. Kyle used the computer-equipped M600 and M800 rifles to achieve her perfect 100% of her shots.

The company that makes the rifles was so sure that Kyle would defeat Piatt (who competed with the M4A1, M110 and M2010) that they offered to pay him $1 million if he won the contest!

As Taya said about the equipment, “Our first responders and military members regularly face situations most of us cannot imagine. They need every advantage for precision and efficiency to protect and serve while minimizing collateral damage and risk to themselves. [The technology] would have saved lives of friends we have lost and will save life and/or limb of those who put it all on the line for the 99% of us they choose to give their life for.”

Children’s Ball for the Children’s Research Fund

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By JohnPosted In: Charity ActivityTagged: , , , ,

Each year the Children’s Ball fundraiser takes place to benefit the Children’s Research Fund. Established in 1951, the Fund’s purpose is to raise money to advance medical research. In 1991, they began their affiliation with the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and they are now the principal benefactor of the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute.

Each year, the Children’s Research Fund hosts the Children’s Ball. This year’s ball, on December 5th, 2015, was the 57th Annual Children’s Ball. It was called “Imagine! – Brining Possibilities to Life” and was made possible by the generous contributions of people and organizations who purchased tables. These include: Beazley Group, Conifer Health Solutions, Baker Tilly, Jamie and Marc Pasquale, Tracey and Chaka Patterson and many others.

The celebratory event is the culmination of their campaign which raised more than $2.5 million in support of pediatric medical research. Co-chairs were Brent and Katie Gledhill and Eric and Kim Smith. The evening included cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and a science fair to begin. There was entertainment provided by Ken Arlen Orchestra. Then there was the evening program, dinner, a special presentation and entertainment. Certainly, with the help of so many like Marc Pasquale, the evening was a great success.

Taylor Swift Helps Kids Sing

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity

Taylor Swift is known to be incredibly generous with her money, and her most recent actions prove this, once again, to be true. Swift committed to giving the proceeds from her hit single “Welcome to New York” to NY public schools when she first released it in October of 2014.

She is putting the money into the already existing program called SING, which enables high school kids to put on annual musical productions in a competition between schools. Her $50,000 donation will allow ten more schools to join in the program in 2016, bringing the number of schools to 20.

As city Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said, “This is a wonderful program for developing passions in the arts and for building school and community spirit. The SING students are going to gain skills … that they can use in college and throughout their lives.”