ML - Michigan Avenue

2015 - Issue 3 - May/June

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

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photography courtesy of service club archive Service Club members (from left) Priscilla Armstrong, Kay Cholgraff, Helen Sprague Broomell, Mary Faherty, and Barbara Benedict at an Auditorium Theatre dance performance in November 1940. In 1890, a group of girls in Hyde Park began sewing clothing for immigrant families as part of their church's Sunday school class in what would become the Service Club of Chicago's first initiative. With modest beginnings, the club's young women raised $400 to $800 each year to donate beds and other items to local hospitals, adopting the motto "No one is greater than the ser- vice he or she renders the world." In addition, the group hosted various charity-driven events, from household bazaars in the 1890s to festive revues featuring comedy skits and dance performances in the 1940s. Today, the Service Club's nearly 175 members advance the organization's mission of improving local communities with present-day initiatives like donating computers to Chicago Public Schools and providing freezers for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. "We're not just parties and fashion shows," says current president Myra Reilly, who joined the Service Club 35 years ago. Members visit area organizations like Family Matters and TimeLine Theatre Company to structure grants, with plans to allocate as much as $385,000 in 2015. Throughout the year, the volunteer-based organi- zation also hosts fundraising galas, educational tours, and luncheons like the f loral-themed "An Afternoon in the Garden" luncheon on May 18, with all proceeds continuing to go to charity. "Every job is done by one of us," says member Tina Weller, who cites the organization's impact on all aspects of her life. "There are at least 15 people I can call tomorrow if I needed something, and they are ladies whom I met through the Service Club," she asserts. "And we're all still making a differ- ence." Tickets start at $150 for the Service Club's spring luncheon, "An Afternoon in the Garden," May 18, 11 am, Ritz-Carlton, 160 E. Pearson St. For tickets, call 312-220-9600, or visit serviceclubofchicago.org. MA Women of the World For 125 years, the women oF the service club oF chicago have worked to make the city a better place to live For all. by katina beniaris 6  michiganavemag.com FRONT RUNNER

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