Art Gallery Benefit Announced! (Another Partnership with Business Leadership for Mentoring!)

Last week, we announced our 2010 Back to School "Musicians For Mentoring" benefit concert, a show that will feature local cause-minded artists and bands this coming August. This is a co-production between Mapping for Justice and business leader Shore Capital Management LLC.

But that's not all we're doing in 2010 to partner with business leadership, to find new ways to bring the maps to the people who can use them, and to provide new ways for you to join us in the war against poverty though mentoring programs.

In addition to the music benefit, we are also taking up an offer to contribute to an art gallery benefit this year. The gallery will be curated by a prominent member of a leading global risk management and insurance company, currently headquartered in the Loop, and all proceeds will be donated to Tutor/Mentor Connection.

Mapping For Justice will be contributing maps and other resources to the event, which will explore the past, present, and future of one of Chicago's high-poverty and high-crime neighborhoods. The gallery will provide a look into the lives of people who live in the neighborhood, and then examine how Mapping For Justice maps can be utilized by local leaders to build new tutor/mentor programs for students who make choices every day between the streets, and reinvestment in themselves, their community, and our economy.

The Art Gallery and Music Benefit provide two ways you (or someone you know) can join our growing team of sponsors, or provide press, radio, PR, or other promotional support... for the events... but also in support of mentoring as part of the long-term solution to poverty and its associated ills.

Many of you might think this is a "nice thing" - helping those in poverty. But you might also be asking yourself, in these trying economic times, "Isn't this something that they should be handling? Shouldn't their parents be the ones doing something about poverty? How is this really my concern?" Please take a look at this report, which makes a case for "the cost of poverty" as a huge additional (and often under-discussed) economic burden that you and all tax payers are carrying.

If we can work together to put a dent in poverty, we stand to be rewarded with safer communities and a stronger economy for everybody.

Leaders of the business community are understanding this and stepping up for mentoring. Why don't you join us?

(Stay tuned for the announcement of exact dates, event details, and ticket information.)

Meantime, have a little fun, from the comfort of the seat you're sitting in right now! You don't have to even move! Click here to learn about Cabrini Connections "Cabrini Madness 2010" Tournament!

Join community leaders Shore Capital Management LLC, Loyola University, LALA Images, Webster's Winebar, and Mapping For Justice in support of "Team TEMS," the Cabrini Connections Tech Club entry in the tourney by making a small tax-deductible donation - anything you can offer - to these Cabrini Green 7th-9th grade students, who meet weekly with local IT and design professionals, to learn marketable tech skills.

Learn more about the tech club here!