Chicago Design Alliance + St. Jude Walk/Run 2018 Fundraiser

This is a personal post, but also a post topic that impacts so very many people. Cancer is prevalent in the lives and families of almost everyone I know (everyone you know too). During 2017, our immediate family was hit very hard by the shocking diagnosis of Leukemia in our littlest family member. My 2.5 year old nephew Oliver was very sick and needed to begin treatment for childhood Leukemia right away. It was hard on everyone, but of course, toughest on my brother and sister-in-law.

A Go Fund Me online fundraiser was able to help my brother’s family with medical costs and extended leave from work, but many families do not have the same type of network available to raise thousands of dollars. That is where incredible charities like St. Jude’s come into play!

At St. Jude:

• Families never receive a bill for anything – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
• St. Jude has helped push the overall survival rate for childhood cancer from less than 20% when we first opened our doors to 80% today. St. Jude won’t stop until no child dies from cancer.

I have always known of St. Jude and donated on occasion, but I was thrilled to learn that St. Jude was the first charity the Chicago Design Alliance is supporting. Two colleagues of mine, Devon Grace Interiors and Nicholas Moriarty Interiors are the founding members of the CDA. I want to introduce you to this organization in case you are in the greater Chicago area. If you’re not – you can support St. Jude from anywhere!

What is the Chicago Design Alliance?
The Chicago Design Alliance is a grassroots philanthropic group of individuals within the Chicago design community coming together to create awareness and raise money for charitable organizations.  Chicago is quite special for it’s design collaborative and supportive design community. We want to harness that energy and use it to work together to give back to the community.  We hope that the CDA is a here for the long-term and we anticipate focusing on a different charity each year.  This year, we have set a goal of $100K in fundraising for St Jude’s 5K Run/Walk 2018.

How can YOU get involved?

Designers:
If you’re a designer in Chicago, we would love to have you join the CDA. As mentioned, we hope to focus our energy on one main fundraising event each year moving forward. This year, we’ve chosen the St Jude 5K Run/Walk.  We’re asking that if members want to get involved with the CDA, they donate a minimum of $250 to the CDA team page or form their own fundraising page for the team and kick it off with an initial $250 donation. Becoming a member gets you access to the exclusive afterparty as well as discounted access to several fundraising events leading up to the 5K. We’ll also be highlighting members on our instagram page as well as on our website, to further enhance this tight-knit design community.

Non-Designers:
If you’re not a designer and you want to help us with our goal for the 5K, we would love to have you join the team and help us with fundraising. We are so passionate about the cause and would love to get as many people as possible involved.

Please visit the Chicago CDA web page to learn more and see a list of all the current members: https://www.chicagodesignalliance.com/members/

Sign up for the race or donate to the team CDA page RIGHT HERE!!!

My nephew Oliver is currently passed the initial intense six months of cancer treatment, and has a few years of monthly treatments to go to make sure the cancer continues to leave his body. He is doing well overall! And I can’t wait to visit this sweet boy in Denver, CO very soon.

Join the CDA and Oliver in fighting childhood cancer! We can’t wait to have you on the team! Let us know if you have any questions.

XO – CLAIRE (& Devon & Nicholas)