December was a month filled with gratitude and joy at Children’s Place Association! From heartwarming program celebrations to the success of our Adopt A Family Gift Drive, inspiring fundraisers, and so much more, we are deeply thankful for the incredible community that supports our families year-round.
Read on to see the highlights of our impactful month, and join us as we make 2025 even brighter!
A Year-End Success: Thank You, Child Champions!
We are thrilled to share the incredible success of our year-end campaign, Time to Thrive! Thanks to the generosity and dedication of our amazing Child Champions, we not only reached our goal of $25,000 but exceeded it—raising an impressive $34,100!
Your support makes all the difference in helping underserved children and families build brighter futures. Together, we’ve shown what’s possible when a community comes together with a shared purpose. Thank you for being part of this remarkable achievement!
A Season of Gratitude: Thank You for Making the Holidays Bright!
The generosity shown to CPA throughout December was truly extraordinary. From volunteers giving their time to donors purchasing gifts for our kids, and businesses and organizations hosting fundraisers and collecting essential needs, your support brought joy and hope to the children and families we serve.
Hope Fore the Holidays: WGIRLS hosted an outstanding afternoon of mini golf, delicious food, drinks, prizes, and connection. Thank you for creating such a memorable event!
Community Partners Making a Difference
We’re incredibly grateful to Kendra Scott, Altar’d State, and the amazing businesses of Roscoe Village for stepping up to support CPA in so many ways this season! From toy collections to donating a percentage of sales, their generosity helps bring joy and resources to the children and families we serve. Thank you for making a lasting impact in our community!
Hope in Roscoe Village: Grateful for the participation of shops and generosity of its patrons. We are deeply grateful to Building Blocks Toy Store, Cubbington’s Cabinets, Commonwealth Tavern, Ecodunia, Goldfish Swim School – Roscoe Village, Love Charlie, Little Charlie, Lucy’s Cafe, Moondance, The Denim Lounge, and The Reveler for your impactful contributions. A special thank you to the Lakeview Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce for their tremendous support in making this initiative such a success!
Adopt A Family: Year after year, this program continues to grow thanks to our amazing community of supporters. Your thoughtful gifts and meal cards made the holidays brighter for so many families. Special thanks to over 500 individual donors and 38 volunteers who sorted and bagged thousands of gifts for our team of social workers and staff to deliver.
Kozy’s Bike Shop: Thank you to Michael Grace and Paul Kozy for organizing the ride for toys drive from LaGrange to Kozy’s Cyclery in Avondale in support of CPA families. Your determination and spirit inspires us!
A big thank you to Fate Richey of Kendra Scott (Roscoe Village) and Darsea Hajdarevic of Altar’d State for hosting fundraisers, with Altar’d State joining in the volunteer efforts to help sort gifts. A huge thank you to the Target Addison Street team for choosing CPA as their favorite charity for the third year in a row this holiday season!
Shoutout to these standout supporters! Publicis Sapient’s continued support of our Adopt a Family drive and Early Learning Center (ELC) with a much-needed 6-seat baby stroller and essentials like diapers and wipes. Old St. Pat’s Church parishioners gather again to collect a truckload of diapers, wipes, and baby formula. Movable Ink’s nationwide efforts in collecting diapers, formula, wipes, detergent, and other essentials. Yetter Consulting Services continues to generously support our ELC with much needed supplies for our educators and students this holiday season, and we are so grateful!
Aetna Better Health generously distributed knit hats and scarves to our kids and families at the holiday celebration—what a warm and thoughtful gift! Our partners at Girl Scouts of America also joined us at our family holiday celebration, Thank you!
We are also incredibly thankful to Hooved Animal Humane Society & Cynthia Glengard for hosting two busloads of our families for a day of holiday fun, including letter writing to Santa, holiday crafts, photos with Santa and his sleigh, and the chance to interact with the horses!
Finally, a heartfelt extra thank you to Goldfish Swim School – Roscoe Village, whose support went above and beyond, and to Junior Board Co-Event Chair, Sanjeet Toby, for her instrumental role in supporting Hope in Roscoe, the Kendra Scott event, the Removable Ink drive, and all the incredible work she does on the Junior Board. Thanks to Junior Board members Ariana Aloisio, Brett Mandel, Jackie Perelman, Katie Conroy, Mackenzie Prince, Makenna Mark, Mary Claire Larson, Peyton Altenbaumer, and Robyn Lynn for helping during our gift sorting weekend.
Check below and see what our amazing teams have been up to over the last month.
Month in Review
The Child Thrive team wrapped up the season with exciting activities and meaningful connections! After a successful Fall Break Camp in November, the team continued programming at KIPP through mid-December, closing out the Fall semester on a high note. December also brought the first Family Night, where families came together to enjoy food, music, and holiday-themed activities. To end the year, Child Thrive is hosting a four-day Winter Break Camp filled with art, STEM, and recreation—ensuring our Thrivers finish the season with creativity and fun!
CLICK HERE for more Thrive pictures.
CPA shoutout goes to:
- Child Thrive extends heartfelt thanks to all our Adopt-A-Family donors. Your generosity means the world to our families, and they are truly grateful for your kindness!
Month in Review
December was filled with gratitude and celebration! Thanks to our generous donors, we received Winter Giving bags, diapers, wipes, and household essentials to support our families. We wrapped up the year with our Winter WonderBrunch, where over 50 attendees enjoyed Santa visits, crafts, family karaoke, a vaccine clinic, and a shared meal at the beautiful La Follette Park District.
At our monthly parent meeting, we reflected on Fall progress with the Educational Outcomes Report, discussed winter mental health, and shared safety tips for the season. It was a month of joy, connection, and community support!
CLICK HERE for more pictures.
CPA shoutout goes to:
- Ms. Tanisha on completing her Master’s in Early Education! She’s finished all her coursework and will celebrate by walking the stage in June. We’re so proud of her achievement!
Month-in-Review
December was full of holiday joy! Thanks to our generous donors, home-based families received thoughtful gifts and gathered for a festive winter event filled with crafts and delicious food. Their heartfelt gratitude goes out to everyone who helped bring smiles and joy to their homes this season!
CPA shoutout goes to:
- Ashley Delgado for juggling her daily tasks while delivering donations to families during her first year—way to go, Ashley!
Month in Review
December was a busy and joyful month! We sorted and distributed Adopt-A-Family gifts, celebrated with holiday parties for staff and foster/adoptive families, and managed two case closures while welcoming two new intake cases. It was a month full of activity, connection, and care!
CPA shoutout goes to:
- Foster Care Case Aides Samelia Hearon and Laura Hader for earning the 2024 Unsung Hero Award at the staff holiday party!
- Shoutout to the entire Foster Care team for their incredible work supporting the Adopt-A-Family Program.
- Special thanks to Foster Care Supervisor Patrick Taitt for stepping up to cover court hearings, ACRs, and home visits during December.
Place the Hope
The Children’s Place International team sends a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who has contributed to our Place the Hope campaign! Your generosity has brought us close to our $260,000 goal—helping provide life-saving treatments, nutritious meals, school scholarships, and essential resources for children around the world.
There’s still time to make a gift and be part of this incredible effort—CLICK HERE to support the campaign.
Wishing you joy, connection, and everything that nourishes your spirit in the new year. Thank you for being such a valued part of our community!
Partnerships & Collaborations
Our team consistently explores avenues to engage local corporations in funding and volunteer opportunities with the aim of creating a network of child champions.
Major Company & Foundation Supporters
AbbVie, KPMG, Pledgeling Foundation,Takada, Solid Ground Enterprises, Teknion, The Gallop Family Foundation, Wieland Family Foundation C/O Ann & Melissa Wieland
Major Individual Supporters
Anonymous Donor, James AcAuley, Ivan Adames, Baris Agar, Lamros Alexakis, Kevin Amoo-Mensah, David Augustyn, Richard Bae, Chris Ball, Michael Ballschmiede, Cathy Bedrick, Dean Bell, David Bellville and Ray Cornils, Jenny and Dave Blickenstaff, Nancy Blom Roach, Geoff Bolan, Rebecca Bruckner, Alexandra A. Brzezinski, Molly Cain, Timothy Casper, Katherine Chapman, Terry Clarbour, Brendan Collins, Brian Connell, John Connors, Kristine Coogan, Collins Cotton, Ginna Cowan, Troy Culver, David Czupta, Mike Dahlhauser, Jed Davidson, Tom Dennis, Dan Dever, Brad Dunlap, Brent Dunlap, Tim Fitzgerald, Madison Flores, Tim Fowler, Stephen Frost, Linda Gartz, Cheryl Gelfond, Vicki Hadaway & Virginia Quinonez, Antonia Haines, Karl Hanek, Katherine Hapeman, John & Rachel Heuman, Naomi Hirsch & Greg Philipaitis, Donald G. Hoffman, Marcy Huffaker, Howard Jacob, Betsy Jacobs, Vicki Jacobs, Criag Johnson, Sean Kenny, Adil Khan, Kody Kibe, Susan Klenk-Morgan, Tim & Jenn Koenig, Hide Kojima, Brad Lancy, Karen Ling, Emily Martin, Terrance McAllister, Casey McGushin, Maria Micale & Vinnie Hager, Brian MacKenzie, Brent Maner, Florian Matena, Richard Moser, Mark Nead, Peter Newell, Shawn O’Connor, Rosalyn Pachter, Christine Pawlak, Aden Pereira, Steven Pesce, Steven Pfeiffer, Hannah Pick, Laura Pineo, Thomas Pizzuti, Christopher Reilly, Jason Romanos, Robert Ryan, Marc Schmidt, Rebecca Shereikis, Ariana Shockley, Julian Shockley, Ron Shockley, Erik Skamser, Kristin Spitz, Ari Sprung, Tyler Stockman, Carole Streicher, Ryan Swartz, Randall Swatland, Vanessa Tanaka, James Tansey, Joe Villanova, Tina & Tom Vujovich, Amy & John Ward, Jay Westphal, Dominique Wilson, Joshua Winer, Mary Pat Woodward, Ray Wyse, Donald Zambarano, Andy Zimmerman
In-Kind Donations
Goldfish Swim Club – Roscoe Village: donated hundreds of gifts including toys, games, gift cards, and books
Movable Ink: diapers, formula, baby food
Old St. Pat’s Church: donated 1,000 items (diapers, formula, wipes, detergent, etc.)
Publicis Sapient: diapers and wipes
Volunteer. Donate. Join Our Team.
Join us in supporting Chicago’s most vulnerable kids! We have a variety of volunteer, support, and engagement opportunities available. Your involvement helps us provide essential items like art supplies, diapers, emergency gift cards, and more to families in need. Every contribution makes a big difference—thank you for being a part of our community!
Join Our Team
We have openings in our Child & Family Support Services, Early Learning Center, Home Base Learning, Child Thrive, and Foster Care & Adoption.
Invest in a Child’s Future
We believe EVERY child and family deserves equal access to care, safety, and shelter – regardless of circumstances or zip code. Your support helps us provide critical services to those most affected by serious health issues and extreme poverty.
Come join us socially
An easy way to support CPA’s work is by engaging with us on our social media channels. By liking, commenting, and sharing our work, you help us expand our reach bringing in new volunteers, donors, and awareness.
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