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Community Corner

Voting For Charity Equals Big Wins

Online voting has recently helped area charities win large sums of money!

There’s a sense of happiness in the air and it’s not only from the unusually warm weather. Recently two very prominent charities from our area were granted large sums of money to support their causes.  

The Lauri S. Bauer Foundation for Sudden Loss will receive $20,000 that will be granted to them by Encore, a traveling ensemble of our own amazing Buffalo Grove Singers. DDR Corporation and Deer Park Town Center sponsored the SING! competition. After several months and many rounds of online voting, .

Scott Bauer, whose wife Lauri died suddenly last January, was a huge crusader in helping to get people voting. Reminders to vote daily were everywhere; Facebook, emails, tweets, advertisements at the orthodontist, the nail salon, on CBS Channel 2 news and so many more avenues. The community outreach went nationwide and truly formed its own army of voters. Now, with this incredible win for Encore, each person that voted, even if only once, can feel partly responsible for the future success of The Lauri S. Bauer Foundation.

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Bauer says, “I have never been so truly humbled. Encore has not only done an amazing thing for our foundation, but they have touched the hearts of literally thousands of people and really brought together an entire community for this undertaking.” As far as where Scott believes the funding will go, he says, “We will use the money to expand our School Outreach Programs and to hire more therapists if necessary at the new Lauri Bauer/Barr-Harris Grief Center in Deerfield.”

Linda Rosen, conductor of the Encore singing group sent a beautiful letter of thanks to as many voters as she could reach. Here’s a snippet of her heartfelt sentiments.

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“While last spring we toyed with the idea of entering (the competition), it wasn’t until we realized that we had a civic and community duty to try to assist a local foundation that was in its infancy with regards to seed money. Always considering the Buffalo Grove Singers as ‘the chorus who cares’ we decided that with our voices, we could make a difference. This has been the most gratifying experience I have ever had in my career. Taking a group of singers and giving them a national spotlight to highlight a cause cannot be expressed in mere words. The Bauer Foundation’s incredible driving force; Scott, his 3 sons, the Foundation Board and all of its members have been an integral part of each step of the planning and final win. Encore is indebted to all involved and we are thrilled to have been able to bring the Foundation’s mission to the Chicago land area, as well as on a national level."

We should’ve realized off the bat that our community would pull together for the greater good. The foundation CURED, started by Buffalo Grove resident Ellyn Kodroff, recently won $100,000 in a contest run by Vivint Security Systems. A Michigan supporter of CURED nominated them into a Facebook contest.

Ellyn says, “1300 charities were nominated and then 100 charities qualified to go on to the next step. People were encouraged to go on Facebook every day for 3 months and vote for CURED.” They were one of five charities to be awarded the $100,000 prize money. “We were flown to Utah to receive the check in a ceremony with the five other charities. What an amazing company that believes in being selfless and giving back.”

Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine received $50,000 and $50,000 went to Cincinnati Children's Medical Center, both of which have leading researchers in Eosinophilic Disease. 

As always, email me with any news, topics or ideas that you want to read about. Remember, I’d like to be the first to know! I can be reached at laurenbgpatch@aol.com.

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