Midwest Regional Office :: Regional Offices :: About Us :: U.S. Fund for UNICEF

A boy in Thailand | Photo © UNICEF/HQ05-1651/Palani Mohan

500 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1000
Chicago, IL 60611
312.222.8900
312.222.8901 (fax)

STAFF | EVENTS | NEWS | ACCELERATED CHILD SURVIVAL
VOLUNTEER | BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Staff

Casey Marsh, Director
Jessica Dolan, Major Gifts Officer
Laura Geiger, Development Officer
Elisabeth Kasdorf, Development Coordinator

The Midwest Region extends a special thank you to the extraordinary volunteer leaders who serve on our Board of Directors, Board Emeriti and President’s Council.

Upcoming Events

Wine, Women & Shoes — Chicago 2009

The Midwest Regional Office of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF will hold the fourth annual Wine, Women & Shoes event at River East Art Center on Thursday, October 1, 2009 from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm.

Wine, Women and Shoes 2008 - Chicago Last year, nearly 700 guests joined in on the festivities for a night of fun, fashion and fine wine all while raising funds for UNICEF’s Accelerated Child Survival Initiative. The event was sponsored by Nordstrom, Alberto Culver Company, Delta Airlines, Energy BBDO, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, KPMG, Macquarie Real Estate, Morgan Stanley, Navigant and the Weglarz Family. Wine, Women & Shoes 2008 netted over $123,000 for UNICEF’s Accelerated Child Survival Initiative.

Wine,Women and Shoes 2008 Wine, Women & Shoes 2009 co–chairs Judy Fitzgerald of OUR BIG SPLASH LLC and Camille Julmy of U.S. Equities Realty LLC are leading this endeavor to raise funds for the Accelerated Child Survival Initiative (ACS). The goal of ACS is to save the lives of 3.2 million children by 2010 by providing low-cost, country-specific interventions while building and solidifying the country’s healthcare delivery system. The result is a single program that will produce groundbreaking results, fast; 800,000 children’s lives saved in developing countries annually over 3 years. Each day, 25,000 children die of completely preventable causes. UNICEF’s Accelerated Child Survival Initiative is a key component in helping to reduce that number to zero.

Wine, Women and Shoes 2008 This year’s Wine, Women & Shoes promises to be bigger and better than ever. We will feature delicious wines from some of the country’s finest wineries, designer shoes, handbags, jewelry and accessories from boutiques including Angeleigh Anastasio, Gypsy Global Chic and Lisa Mackey Design and local favorites including Aberle, Akira, Lori’s Shoes and Shirise, a raffle, and an exciting silent auction. Don’t forget to purchase raffle tickets from the sexy Sole Men who walk around the event and bring you shoes on silver platters! What more could you ask for?

Stay tuned for further updates on Wine, Women & Shoes – Chicago 2009!

Join Team UNICEF at AIDS Run & Walk Chicago

Get moving to raise funds for UNICEF!
Spend a Saturday raising funds for UNICEF while enjoying a beautiful 5K run or walk along Chicago’s scenic lakefront! Head to Grant Park for the AIDS Run & Walk Chicago 2009. An annual event held by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC), the AIDS Run & Walk raises funds for, and awareness of, HIV/AIDS. As a member of AFC’s CommunityDirect program, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Midwest Region will get back 100% of the funds raised by Team UNICEF and use those funds for the Accelerated Child Survival Initiative, which includes such life-saving interventions as anti-retrovirals for children with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

When: Saturday, October 3, 2009

Location: Grant Park — Columbus & Balbo, Chicago, Illinois

Distance: 5K Run and Walk (3.1 miles)

Start Time: 9:55 am (Run) / 10:00 am (Walk)

Register: Registration costs $25/registrant in advance or $30 the day of the event. To register for Team UNICEF, please follow these steps:

Go to www.aidsrunwalk.org
Click on Register
Determine if you are a past AIDS Run & Walk Chicago participant or are new to the walk and click on the corresponding line
Complete the Participant Information Web Form
Select Join an Existing Team
Type “Team UNICEF” in the search box
Click on Join for Team UNICEF and complete you registration!

Pledges: Participants are highly encouraged to raise a minimum of $50 in pledges! Personalize your fundraising page to get the word out!

Chip–Timed Results: All participants who sign up as a runner will receive a chip on race day to record their times. Chips will be collected immediately following the finish line.

Please contact Elisabeth Kasdorf at ekasdorf@unicefusa.org for further information.

Grab your friends and family and sign up today as members of Team UNICEF!

News and Past Events

Message of Hope 2009

message of hope logo The second annual Message of Hope gala was a success, bringing UNICEF’s message of believing in zero to hundreds. The event raised nearly $470,000 for Accelerated Child Survival, helping in UNICEF’s efforts to bring the number of daily preventable deaths of children from 25,000 to zero.

The beautiful décor by Kehoe Designs inspired guests throughout the evening. From the gorgeous centerpieces featuring photographs of children who benefit from UNICEF’s programs to screens featuring the “Believe in Zero” message on the stage, everyone knew why they were there—to raise funds for Accelerated Child Survival (ACS), an initiative that helps reduce the number of children who die each day of preventable causes from 25,000 to zero.

Guests enjoyed a cocktail hour that featured a silent auction with wonderful travel packages and sports memorabilia as well as a local artist, Erik Sosa, who created paintings before their eyes. Following the cocktail hour, guests were treated to a performance by Dance Xplosion, a youth dance troupe from Bloomingdale, Illinois. Speeches from U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s President & CEO Caryl Stern, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Midwest Regional Director Casey Marsh and UNICEF Ambassador and actress Lucy Liu moved the crowd. Later in the evening, the dance floor was packed and guests danced the night away to the tunes of Entourage.

Guests also enjoyed a live auction featuring five wonderful items: a trip to Puerto Vallarta, a trip to Abaco, Bahamas, a dinner for eight prepared by Chef Art Smith in his home, a trip to Switzerland, and the opportunity to donate to UNICEF’s Accelerated Child Survival Initiative. Message of Hope 2009 raised nearly $470,000 for Accelerated Child Survival, helping in UNICEF’s efforts to bring the number of daily preventable deaths of children from 25,000 to zero.

Thanks to all of our guests and supporters as well as the amazing volunteers who truly made this event possible. We would like to give a special mention to our generous sponsors, including Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Delta Air Lines Inc., InterContinental Hotel Chicago, Amy Robbins, Abbott Laboratories, Energy BBDO, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Weeden & Co., LP, Kirkland & Ellis, LLP, Astrale e Terra Winery and Debra and Paul Johnson, Vince and Suzanne Hemmer, Navigant Consulting, Inc. and Brendan Burke, Kate Neisser and Stephen Burns, The Rise Group and Laura Myntti and Leif Selkregg, Joseph Silich, and the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.

The Accelerated Child Survival Initiative

Accelerated Child Survival (ACS) is an innovative UNICEF initiative that identifies the weak links in impoverished countries’ healthcare cycles that conspire to endanger children’s health. UNICEF works with local and national officials to target the underlying causes of these problems, and swiftly implements integrated strategies at every level, from grassroots to governments, to remove them.

ACS takes the most effective health interventions for children, newborns and pregnant women and bundles them into integrated, cost-effective packages that include childhood immunizations, vitamin A distribution, treatment of malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS, prenatal care and support, and promotion of breastfeeding.

ACS also covers the costs of other vital supplies such as bed nets, equipment for refrigeration of medication, transportation, training and performance incentives for health staff, as well as supporting the development of health systems from the district to the national level.

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s Midwest Regional Office is taking the lead in raising the necessary funds to save these children’s lives. There are 800,000 children in Chicago under the age of 18, the same number of children whose lives will be saved for each of the four years of our campaign. Because every child’s life – whether in Chicago or Africa – is worth saving, the Midwest Region inaugurated our first regional campaign in January 2007 with a goal of raising $6.5 million from individual donors by 2010 to support the Child Survival Initiative’s groundbreaking work. To date, we have raised $4.9 million towards our goal.

Donate now to support the campaign.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering with the Midwest Regional Office of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF is a great way to inform your community about the work UNICEF does—and to get involved in helping save children’s lives around the world. With your help, we can reduce the number of children who die each day of preventable causes from 25,000 to zero.

There are many ways that you can volunteer for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF! If you are interested in volunteering locally in your community, consider conducting a UNICEF volunteer activity from our online volunteer center. The center includes several volunteer activities and resources, such as turn-key tool kits for you to use that provide step-by-step instructions for conducting awareness-building, fundraising or advocacy activities in your community, a calendar of local events and more.

To become involved in the Chicago area, consider volunteering at one of our special events. Opportunities include everything from selling raffle tickets and greeting guests to set-up assistance and auction monitors. Participating in one of our events is the perfect opportunity for you to meet new people, have a great night out with some friends and help raise funds for UNICEF!

If you are interested in volunteering with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Midwest Region please contact Elisabeth Kasdorf at ekasdorf@unicefusa.org.

Internship Opportunities
Interns in the Midwest Regional Office assist with everything from the planning of special events to research projects. Often, interns are given specific projects within a designated area. Internships can be done for college course credit during summer, fall/winter and spring sessions. If interested, please forward a resume and cover letter to Elisabeth Kasdorf at ekasdorf@unicefusa.org.

Advocacy Council
Concerned citizens participate in letter-writing campaigns to their elected representatives on topics of major interest to UNICEF and the U.S. Fund. These campaigns are important for the visibility they bring to vital issues affecting children in the developing world. To participate online, click here.