Buy Your Mercy Home Lux Raffle Tickets Now!
It's that time of year again - time to purchase your Lux Gala raffle tickets and potentially walk away with $25,000! All while supporting a great cause - your participation will make a difference in the lives of the children and families served by Mercy Home.
Purchase Your Raffle Tickets Now
Tickets are $100 and we will only be selling 1,500 tickets, so buy yours while you still can.
Raffle Details
Grand Prize: $25,000
Second Prize: $7,000
Third Prize: $3,000
The raffle winner will be announced at the Lux Gala on Saturday, November 16th. Winner need not be present.
VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Open to legal US residents 21+ who purchase a raffle ticket. Starts 8/5/24, ends 11/16/24. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received; no more than 1500 tickets will be sold. Total prize ARV: $35,000. Sponsor: Mercy Home for Boys and Girls. For official rules, see https://bit.ly/LuxRaffle2024.
Mentor Makes A Lifelong Friend: Mercy Home
Click here for the original article on the Mercy Home website.
Life has an interesting way of pulling us in the direction of serving others, whether that’s helping a family member or friend, holding the door for a stranger, or mentoring a young person.
Julia Brady moved to Chicago nearly three decades ago to attend graduate school at the University of Chicago. She yearned to make a difference in her community, specifically by helping children. But she had no idea that her path would lead her to a lifelong friendship.
“Giving back, it’s always been important to me,” she said. “[So has] mentoring and thinking about how I can help younger kids and be there for them.”
Education was important to Julia, and she wanted to help kids succeed in school. So, she volunteered once a week with the Junior Achievement program in Chicago. Not only was she tutoring kids, but she enjoyed connecting with them.
…I’ve learned that I could love a child who was not my own…I’d like to think I helped her [with her confidence and] finding her place in the world…
Chicago felt more like home each day. She enjoyed helping nurture kids’ intellects and build meaningful relationships.
But Julia saw there were more opportunities to give back to kids in Chicago.
“I started looking at mentoring programs… and there was an activities fair at the church I attended, [where] I first learned about Mercy Home,” Brady recalled.
When she learned about Mercy Home’s Friends First Mentoring program, she was interested because it was flexible with her work schedule, and program staff provided unlimited support throughout the program.
She knew this was the perfect opportunity to make a positive impact on a child’s life.
Before she was paired with a mentee, she attended a training course at Mercy Home. In the training, they asked the future mentors: “Who mentored you?”
Brady reflected on the piano teacher who made an impact on her life.
“I had a piano teacher from the time I was 6 until age 11. That’s the one adult I had at a young age that really knew me in ways that other people didn’t,” she said. “I was creative at the time and would write music that I would never share. But she encouraged [me to continue to write music and share it.]”
Young Carissa on the right and Julia on the left
Carissa on the left and Julia on the right
After completing the Mercy Home mentor training, Brady was paired with a 10-year-old girl named Carissa Moorehead. They both wanted to explore the many fun attractions that Chicago has to offer.
Moorehead lived with her two sisters, and her older brother, at their grandmother’s house. And because the two would be spending a lot of time together, Brady wanted to get to know her family.
“I remember getting to know her family and her grandmother and just spending time at her grandmother’s house,” Brady said. “When I’d often go to pick her up… I’d usually spend a little time connecting with her grandmother [and] getting to know her younger sisters.”
“My grandmother loved her. She delved into our lives, and I was able to experience some of the things she really valued,” Moorhead said.
Their special bond blossomed as they visited museums and parks, watched the Chicago Air and Water Show, rode bikes on the beautiful lakefront path, and baked tasty treats.
“I was always excited to go out with her because [we went on] different adventures that I wasn’t able to have with my grandma,” Moorehead said.
But Brady also wanted to show her mentee the importance of helping those in need.
“[She] valued charity work. We would organize clothes and things to give away to people in the community who needed [them],” Moorhead remembered.
Brady recalled a special moment that occurred after she had dropped Moorhead off at her grandmother’s.
“And I’ll never forget once leaving her grandmother’s house,” Brady said. “I brought Carissa home and her dad was coming in… he [said], ‘thank you for all you do for my daughter’ to me. I felt a part of her extended family and was grateful for his support of my friendship with his daughter.”
Brady reflected on how much she gained from their experiences together.
“I’ve learned that I could love a child who was not my own, that I had no biological connection to… [and], I’d like to think I helped her [with her confidence and] finding her place in the world,” she said
Moorehead recalls how Brady helped her with her confidence at an early age.
“I was a super shy and timid middle schooler. She helped bring me out of my shell.”
Despite their several years-long mentorship ending, their friendship carried on throughout the years to follow. Occasionally, they will email each other, and last February they spent time catching up.
“Julia was my big sister… I attended her wedding [years ago],” Moorhead said. “When my sisters and I talk about our childhood, we talk about the experiences that we had with our Friends First mentors.”
When my sisters and I talk about our childhood, we talk about the experiences that we had with our Friends First mentors.
Moorehead is grown up now. She graduated from Southern Illinois University and was an assistant principal and educator for nine years in elementary and middle schools.
Brady had such a positive impact on Mooreheads’ life that she wants to mentor a child in need.
“I’m interested in pursuing mentorship and having a mentee of my own because of the experience that I was able to have through Mercy Home, and how meaningful it was to me,” Moorehead said.
Brady encourages anyone who wants to make a difference in a child’s life to become a Friends First mentor with Mercy Home.
“Being a Friends First Mentor is a wonderful experience. It’s a great way to connect with Chicago’s young people in need. You’ll be investing in the future of our city and will get so much more in return,” she said.
Save the Date 11/18/23 Mercy Home’s Lux Gala
You won't want to miss the premiere of Mercy Home's brand new fall fundraising gala.
This upscale, black-tie event will feature immersive and electrifying experiences that will thrill your senses as you journey through the exquisitely restored art deco interior of Chicago's Old Post Office.
Enjoy live stage performances, free-roaming entertainment, a dinner program, auctions and raffles, VIP experiences and more.
Want a taste of what you can expect? Take a look at what’s in store!
Mark your calendar today and be there November 18. Give young people in crisis the tools they need to build brighter futures by attending the Lux Gala. Proceeds benefit Mercy Home for Boys & Girls—a solution for kids in crisis since 1887.
November 18, 2023
Old Post Office
433 W Van Buren St, Chicago, IL
For more information click here.
Join us for Have Mercy!
Date: Friday, May 12, 2023
Time: 8 p.m. to midnight
Place: Theater on the Lake, 2401 N. Lake Shore Dr.
We are looking forward to returning to Theater on the Lake again for this year's Have Mercy!
We hope you will join the Associate Board of Mercy Home for Boys & Girls for their 14th annual Have Mercy! fundraising gala on Friday, May 12, 2023.
Have Mercy! brings together leading young professionals for a night of dancing and entertainment. The event features live music, hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and dancing, an exciting auction, and raffle items--all in the beautiful setting of Theater on the Lake.
Tickets are on sale now, and will cost $110 until the first 110 are sold. Then the price will increase to $125 until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Any tickets that may be available for purchase at the door on May 12 will go up to $135 (based on availability).
You don't want to miss out—get your tickets today!
All proceeds raised at Have Mercy! go directly to support the boys and girls of Mercy Home.
Show us your Poker Face!
JOIN US CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF POKER NIGHT!
Join us this January 26 as we gather for our 10th annual Mercy Home Poker Night!
Back at the Bank of America Tower, overlooking the Chicago River, Poker Night will feature Vegas-style excitement and great Gibson’s food. It's the perfect mid-winter night out on the town!
The event features a Texas Hold 'em tournament and charitable gaming, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and dinner buffet.
You can win big too! Top tournament prize is a $10,000 seat at the World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas. We'll award more than $15,000 in additional prizes as well.
As always, the biggest winners are our kids – proceeds from Poker Night support the young people at Mercy Home.
Don't wait to get in on the action. Buy your ticket today. Our $225 Poker Buy-in goes up to $275 after January 13, 2023. Price for the casino ticket is $150.
Friends First Mentoring Matches Create Lifelong Friendships
Click here for the original article on the Mercy Home website.
January is National Mentoring Month, but we celebrate our mentoring matches all year long! Mentoring changes the lives of so many young people by providing them with needed support to grow and thrive. And through our Friends First program, which matches a child with a well-trained volunteer mentor, countless lives have been changed for both mentor and mentee.
Mentor John Reddington and his mentee, Malik, were matched four years ago and are still going strong! John became involved in Friends First when he was looking for a way to be involved in mentoring and a friend suggested Mercy Home’s program. After some research, he knew that it would be a great fit.
The first time John and Malik met, John remembers being very nervous, despite typically being a person who is comfortable stepping into new environments. Malik was nervous, too, but the initial meeting between John, Malik, Malik’s mother, and the Friends First coordinator went really well, John explained. The first outing John and Malik went on was to a DePaul basketball game.
“It was a really cool ice breaker,” John said. “It was something that was new for him that he had never done before.”
When they were driving home from the game, Malik told John that he had a lot of fun with him that day. And from then on, John said that their trust and comfort level has continued to build.
Throughout the years they’ve been together, they’ve done countless of fun activities, but they both enjoy spending time outdoors and being active. John noted that the peacefulness they experience hiking in the woods was such a different environment from the one Malik grew up in.
Their time together has also helped Malik face some of his fears. He used to be uncomfortable with swimming, but now he loves it. And he faced his fear of heights by trying rock climbing and ziplining. John explained that he is constantly trying to find activities that will give Malik new experiences.
“We built a really good trust,” John explained. “And a good rapport. It’s been a special relationship.”
John and Malik also enjoyed doing activities with John’s dog. So when his dog passed away last fall, both were devastated. But it was also an opportunity for Malik to be there for John. For Christmas, he got John a picture of his dog etched into glass. He also let John know that he was there to support him.
“I knew that I played that role in his life, but [this showed] the role he plays in my life and how he shows up,” John said. “I think obviously we’ve been close, but I think hard moments like that, it brought us even closer. We had a chance to talk about life and death and those moments.”
Malik has also opened up to John about many subjects, like family relationships and getting older. John said he’s glad he can be someone to listen in these situations and provide support. John has also gotten to know Malik’s family, and Malik’s brother has even joined on a few outings. They especially love their fall tradition of visiting a haunted house together.
Like everywhere else, the pandemic has provided some challenges, but John and Malik continued to make the best of things and grow their relationship. Though it was hard not being able to spend as much time together in person, John would occasionally drop off one of Malik’s favorites, Do-Rite Donuts, and they would talk outside with masks on and socially distant. They also texted and called each other to stay in touch.
John also said that Mercy Home has provided incredible support to Malik. When Malik was struggling in school, Katie Gunter, the manager of Friends First, was able to find him a tutor to help get him caught up. And because Malik only had an iPad to do his work on, Mercy Home was able to get him a computer so he would have an easier time getting his schoolwork done.
It’s a privilege in the sense that you have the chance to impact someone’s life in a positive way.
“I have so much love, appreciation, and respect for Mercy Home,” John said.
When reflecting on his time as a mentor, John highlighted the importance of the relationship he has built with Malik.
“It’s a privilege in the sense that you have the chance to impact someone’s life in a positive way,” he said.
Malik also shared what makes his relationship with John so special.
“[I like] his personality and we have a lot in common,” he said. “He’s a very good person. [He’s helped me] to become more social and more mature. It’s easier to talk to people and [easier] being around people.”
And although John and Malik come from different backgrounds and have different experiences, they also have a lot of common.
“We both like to explore and do a lot of things,” Malik explained.
“When you first start spending time with people that have different backgrounds, different living experiences, come from different places … you noticed the differences,” John added. “They’re all around you. But the more time you spend together, you realize there are more similarities.”
And when John thinks back to that very first day he met Malik, and how nervous they both were, he’s filled with gratitude that he was willing to try something outside of his comfort zone.
“This is what it means to grow, to put yourself in uncomfortable situations,” he said. “I could have easily just not done this. But when you start these relationships because you’re growing, you’re learning, you’re meeting different people. And I think that’s the beauty of it, how much growth you have.”
Learn more about the Friends First program here.