February 24, 2013 - St. Josaphat Parish

8
Sweet Home Chicago
Sweet Home Chicago was the product of over 125 motivated,
smart, creative people working together to create an event to
celebrate our community while raising funds to support it. I
would like to extend my personal thanks to all of the volunteers
below who helped make this happen; it is amazing to me what
we accomplished!
I would like to thank our Committee Chairs, because without
their drive and talent, we would have not been able to pull off this
complex event in our own space.
Thanks to Jessica Janicki for securing our food & beverage
donations and making sure we had an interesting menu for all to
enjoy, Mary Hermanek for the food serving logistics planning for
450 people, Mia Koch & Lisa Steele for designing and executing
a fantastic decorating scheme that is "repeatable," Kristin Domzal
for coordinating our entertainment, and Katie Kozlowski, our
primary source of event advice!
Maggie Snyder and Debbie Dennis managed our 125 volunteers
and 30 others from Kendall College and DePaul. It was a
monumental task that took on a life of its own, and they were able
to meet and manage everyone's needs.
I appreciate Liz Opie, Theresa Eiden and the efficient 8th Grade
for managing our coatroom and Val McKinney for her organized
setup and cleanup.
On the fundraising side, Donna Sims was tireless in managing the
Silent and Online auctions and over 250 donated items. Mary
Gallo and Anina McCarron spearheaded the Live Auction, while
Mary & Mike Donovan and Gina Hortatsos entertained the
crowd and raised over $16,000 in the Live Auction and almost
$20,000 in the Fund-a-Cause. Helaine Renz managed the Wine
Cellar effectively, even standing outside in during the coldest
week of this winter! Carrie LaHood & Kavita Patel organized
the Kids and Adult Sign Up parties, making some calculated
adjustments to maximize attendance.
Maura Feind and Erin Gerothanas took on Games and Raffles
this year, and did a lot of research to ensure our guests had fun
while they were donating to the cause.
Tina Smat and her marvelous attention to detail spearheaded
the kids' Photo Project, coordinating almost 500 quotes and
pictures taken by the talented Ewa Kowalow and Deb Fairfield.
In addition to making several trips to school and religious ed to
complete the photography work, Ewa and Deb created these 500
composites BY THEMSELVES.
Georgia Burke took on the class projects (and had them
finished before Christmas!) even though she had her 4th baby
in September. Beth LeFauve gave superb artistic direction to
the projects, which I have to admit, all looked like they could be
hanging from a gallery wall.
Kelly Smith was responsible for Sponsorships, doubling the
number that we were hoping to achieve.
Jen Adams and Melanie Sheedy were very efficient in organizing
our Post-Auction Pickup, and even worked through some
software and credit card processing issues.
Vera Wiltrout and Ryan Sheedy have our systems humming, and
thankfully Tracy Lux came out of retirement to bail us out on
web-design. Kristie French, who has a mind like a steel trap, is
the guardian of our finances.
Crucial to this year's event was Marketing, headed by Heather
Dunkel. She created and executed a marketing plan that would
be the envy of any event. Thanks also goes to our own supertalented
Maria Tubay, who created all of our graphic art.
We could not have had this event without the support of Fr. Rich
and of Ms. Cannon who were very flexible with our ideas and
how to use the space. Thanks also to the faculty and staff of St.
Josaphat School (especially Ms. Best and First Floor Teachers!).
Willie, Angelo and Marcos even came in on the event weekend
and took a huge load off the volunteers.
A special thank you goes to Julie O'Brien and Kristan Vaughan.
Their help with event logistics and systems was immeasurable.
You've heard "it takes a village?" Well for us, "it takes a parish!"
St. Josaphat Parish