The LATE Ride is Coming!

How about a party on a bike?  Imagine a 25-mile leisure ride (no hills, just a little bit on the bridges) through the city we love, Chinatown, Greek Town, the north side, grassy parks, and the incredible lakefront paths (never open at night except at our event).  Cap it off with a sunrise over Lake Michigan.

It's Chicago's L.A.T.E. ride (Long After Twilight Ends!)  Make sure to sign up, we usually have 9,000 participants at this fundraiser for Friends of the Parks.  Thanks to CBS2 Chicago for their sponsorship.

Here's the plan.  Come out Saturday night, June 30, to Buckingham Fountain for fun starting before midnight...then technically the ride starts on Sunday, July 1 at 1 a.m.

Forget the bike lanes, you'll be riding right down the middle of Chicago streets for the tour of a lifetime.  Sign up at www.lateride.org.  Your money goes to a great cause and the goody bag is awesome.   See you after dark!

Back2School Supplies Campaign

Back to school can mean peer pressure and stress for kids who don't have school supplies to be able to function within the classroom.  Kudos to the Illinois Currency Exchange Foundation and also many thanks to NBC 5 morning team Daniella Guzman and Stefan Holt for being the honored emcees at the upcoming fundraiser/lunch at Maggiano's on June 19.  This year, ICECF's Back2School program will provide school supplies to nearly 20,000 underserved children in Chicagoland and Illinois.  What a great thing.  Not only does this help families tremendously if they simply cannot afford the supplies, it also helps the teachers who always try to help kids as much as they can by personally buying supplies.  Isn't it amazing what people can achieve working together?  Personally, I'd like to find my 5th grade teacher Bob Sakchewsky...I went to a small private school in NY... maybe 30 kids in my class and I owe my tremendous math and spelling skills to him.  In fact, I wouldn't be in PR today were it not for him as he entered an essay I wrote into a statewide contest (unbeknownst to me) and I won.  And, seriously, that is why I decided to get a journalism degree many years later.  So thanks to teachers who give their all, and people who contribute to kids well-being and school supplies!  Visit www.icecf.org or call 847.268.3550 or email info@icecf.org to reserve tickets to the luncheon ($85 each prior to    June 5).  Or, if you'd simply like to donate a few dollars into a canister, visit any of the 400 local Currency Exchanges after June 1 and you can do that.  THANK YOU!