Cocktails w/ Chicago Bears’ Rashied Davis & Teammates for Education at Rockit!

***UPDATED Monday, June 10th, 2013. Rashied Davis will host this year’s “Cocktails for Education” again at Rockit Bar and Grill – Tuesday June 11th from 6-9pm. For more info and tickets, click HERE!***

Fans of the Bears, helping the community, Education, great food & drink, meeting amazing people… This event is for you!!!  Chicago Bears’ Rashied Davis has supported my philanthropic events for art, theatre, feeding poor.. for years.. and I am honored to help him get the word out about how his huge heart has taken it to the next level by hosting his own huge party for a wonderful cause on Tuesday May 17th from 6-8p at Rockit Bar & Grill (22 W. Hubbard)!

This amazing event will support Rashied Davis Charities’ efforts to “teach students how to overcome obstacles to success through inspiration, preparation and discipline.” They help empower the fundamentals of reading, writing and speech to underserved kids teaching them how to apply tools to problem solve, communicate properly and just be an all around contributing member of society. I’m fully on board w/their mission, I have often talked about how communication leads to relationship building which leads to personal growth and opportunities.. And I’m always behind a fun time to help accomplish all of that!

So join us May 17th!  You can mingle with a bunch of Chicago Bears like Lance Briggs, Alex Brown, Anthony Adams, Jerry Azumah, Earl Bennett, Johnny Knox… different local celebrities, media, and all around fun supporters from everywhere who just care like you… cocktails, appetizers, silent auction & more… Get your tickets now: http://rashieddavischarities.org/homepage.aspx and I’ll see you there!

Tags: alex brown, anthony adams, bears, bears 2011, billy dec, charity, charity events, chicago, chicago bears, chicago event listing, chicago summer events, earl bennett, football, fundraiser, jerry azumah, johnny knox, lance briggs, rashied davis, rashied davis charities, rockit, rockit bar, rockit bar and grill, silent auction, sports

‘Working In The Schools’ Needs Your Help

Tags: Bears' kicker Robbie Gould, Founder-All Terrain Inc., WITS, WITSummer Books, Working In The Schools

Live to Support (LTS) Chicago Uses Recreational Sports Leagues and Social Events to Raise Awareness and Donations for Local Charities

Live to Support (LTS) Chicago was co-founded in the summer of 2010 by Mark Biery and Chris DuCharme. It was Biery’s belief that instead of creating a recreational sports league where members receive a t-shirt or medal for participation, they could use the registration fees as a way of giving back to local charities. LTS has several sports leagues including kickball, dodgeball, volleyball, soccer, softball, and flag football. In addition, LTS also coordinates tournaments and sports-related social events. The company believes a core network of young professionals provides an ideal platform to support Chicago charities through monetary donations and awareness.

When you register a team to be a part of one of LTS’ many leagues or events, you have the option of choosing from a drop down list of charities, or you may choose a charity of your choice if it’s not already listed. The percentage that the charities receive differs with every league or tournament depending on the size, but is always specified on the website at registration. The amount can vary anywhere between 5%-100%. LTS Chicago normally donates 7% of each team’s registration fee, and if your team wins the league/tournament, LTS Chicago will donate a minimum of $250 to the charity of your choice.

LTS hosts its leagues and events at various facilities and fields located in Lakeview, Logan Square, and Old Town as outlined on their website, here. Since its inception, LTS Chicago has helped raise over $83,000 for various charity organizations! A list of charities that LTS Chicago supports can be found here. Registration for upcoming 2013 spring leagues is now open, with start dates beginning at the end of March.

Follow LTS Chicago on Twitter and Facebook!

Don’t have time in your busy schedule to join a league, but still want to support LTS Chicago’s vision? Not a problem—make a direct donation to the organization!

-Nathan Sullivan

Tags: charities, Chicago charities, Chicago sports leagues, Chicago sports organizations, Chris DuCharme, coed tournaments, Ken Natoli, Live to Support Chicago, LTS Chicago, Mark Biery, recreational sports leagues

PAWS CHICAGO’S “Animal Magnetism”

Hey Chicago!! It’s 103.5 KISS-FM‘s morning diva, Angi Taylor, guest blogging to talk about the amazing PAWS event Animal Magnetism I want you all to know about!

Ever thought it would be fun to get dressed-up, get the family pooch (or pooches!) dressed-up, and hit the town together for a swanky night out?  You can, AND you’ll be raising money for PAWS Chicago at the same time. Win-win!

PAWS Chicago’s Seventh Annual Animal Magnetism event will take place at Galleria Marchetti, on Friday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m. Hosted by former Chicago Bear Jerry Azumah and myself, Special Guests Alison Victoria of Kitchen Crashers and Susanna Negovan of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Not only will you walk the red carpet with your dapper dog, enjoy amazing food, and be able to dance the night away together, but your 4-legged pal will also be treated to their own doggie buffet!  A benefit wouldn’t be complete without an amazing silent auction, too.  This year’s items include:

• Lollapalooza 3-day passes (Helloooo, Jay-Z is rumored to be headlining!)
• Cannon digital camcorder
• The Ultimate Four Season Hotel experience
• Many, many more exclusive items

MORE ABOUT PAWS CHICAGO:

Founded in 1997, PAWS Chicago (Pets Are Worth Saving) is the Midwest’s largest non-profit, No Kill humane organization.  PAWS Chicago envisions a No Kill Chicago – a city in which no pets are destroyed just because they are homeless. Working toward that goal, PAWS Chicago is on track to find homes for more than 5,600 pets out of the cageless, No Kill Adoption & Humane Center and to perform free and low cost spay/neuter surgeries for more than 18,000 pets in 2013.

Get your tickets here, and we’ll see you and your pup on the dance floor!

-Angi Taylor

Tags: 103.5, angi taylor, Animal Magnetism, four seasons hotel, guest blogger, jerry azumah, kiss fm, lollapalooza, paws Chicago

Good times w/ Gold Medalist buds Ryan Lochte & Conor Dwyer at Sunda Chicago after London Olympics

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw my night out last night w/Olympian buds Ryan Lochte & Conor Dwyer. You obviously know how freakishly talented they are and how great they represented and competed for our country, but just wanted to say on a personal level, they are two solid great guys, pleasure to hang out with for sure.

If missed it, I took them to join me at Sunda, and we all tweeted out this pic (click here) of us and this amazing sushi roll Chef made to look like a gold medal with real gold shavings sprinkled over the top. Had to share it with you! They were blown away, totally fun. Then we all went for Moonshine Bushwackers at my new place Dragon Ranch Moonshine & BBQ for the launch of our Tuesday Industry Night “Moonshine Social Club!“  After all that craze, we headed to a Hennessy Party where Ryan & I were just goofing off and made this little random off-the-cuff 2min Q & A video I think you’ll like…Enjoy!

Tags: "Jeah", basketball, billy dec, chicago, Dragon Ranch Moonshine & BBQ, football, Gold Medal, Gold Sushi, Hennesy, interview, lil wayne, London, Magic, miami, Minnesota Vikings, Moonshine Social Club, Music, olympics, Orlando, Randy Moss, Ryan Lochte, Speedo, sunda, twitter

Nike North v South Softball Battle w/ White Sox AJ Pierzynski, Bears Johnny Knox, Rockit Ranch Billy Dec & more!

Via Meghan Goulette: Had such a fun afternoon in the park yesterday with our CEO, Billy Dec, after invited to watch him play in the Nike Northside vs Southside Challenge. White Sox player AJ Pierzynski may have coached the Southside team to a victory, but Billy and the Northside crew gave them a  run for their money (led by Johnny Knox of the Chicago Bears who stepped in to coach when Cubs’ Ryan Dempster ended up on DL). The event showcased the Nike Fuel Band, keeping stats on calories (check the video for Johnny poking a little fun at Billy’s stats), steps & more…I actually just bought the band for my dad! Highlight of the game by far was Billy’s double play complete with a sky high catch (AJ coined it the “2nd best catch ever”…see what he called first best in the video). Shout out to all the players listed below!

Billy Dec
Trevor Kuhn
Tim Seong
Brotha Fred
Lisa Frame
Edgar Rico
Frank Cashmost
Adam Crouch
Chris Sifuentes
Berj Alexanian
Marie Purvis
Julie DiCaro
Frank Kladis
Players Player
AJ Pierzynski
Ernest Wilkins
Kayla Duffy
Michael Myers
Alex Gallegos
Kristin Cullinan
Frankie Loeza
DJDimepiece
Julie Zakarias
Joe Cowley
Kelli Zink
Twitter Player
Michael Bittles

Tags: AJ Pierszynski, baseball, bears, billy dec, chicago, cubs, football, Fuel Band, johnny knox, Nike, white sox

Ne-Yo, Joe & Nick Jonas, Terry Crews, Jesse Williams Celebrity NFL Madden 13 Pro-Am Flag Football Game in Grant Park

Hollywood’s hottest, NFL’s finest and Chicago’s greatest are coming together June 22nd in Grant Park all in the name of our country’s favorite sport- FOOTBALL! Clearly this is not your everyday football game- this is the EA NFL Madden 13 Pigskin Pro-Am Celebrity Flag Football Game Launch!! Did you catch all of that?

Old teammates will reunite, old rivalries resurface and a bunch of celebs will be thrown in the mix! Celebs including Ne-Yo, Joe and Nick Jonas, Jesse Williams and Terry Crews (more TBD celebs to come!) and notable NFL greats like Marcus Allen, Donovan McNabb, Brett Favre and Jerry Rice will battle it out in a bound-to-be high-scoring, exciting game.

The unveiling of Madden’s new NFL 13 video game is a two-part event! On June 21st, in prep for the big game, these football stars will compete in the NFL Legends Skills Challenge. For the first time, the challenge will be staged in the Windy City and will test these NFL greats in a series of individual competitions testing their accuracy, distance, speed and mobility- sure hope those retired stars have been practicing!

Attendees will be split up into teams for both events and the winning teams will get a FREE copy of the new video game! Head on over to Grant Park, June 21st and June 22nd and see your favorite stars fighting for every yard!

Log on to 1IOTA.com and get your free tickets today to the GameStop and enter the promo code ROCKITRANCH12, for free tickets!

-Lauren Neuschel

Tags: 1IOTA, Brett Favre, chicago, Donovan McNabb, EA, EA Sports, GameStop, grant park, Jerry Rice, Jesse Williams, Joe Jonas, Marcus Allen, ne-yo, NFL, Nick Jonas, Pro-Am Celebrity Flag Football Game, Terry Crews

Jerry Azumah: 4th Annual ASAP Signature Bowling Event

Hello my fellow Chicagoans! My name is Micaeh Johnson and I’m the Executive Director of the Azumah Student Assistance Program. I’m guest blogging today to tell you all about our 4^th Annual Signature Bowling Event taking place this Wednesday but first… let me take it back a few years.

In 2009, All Pro, Former Chicago Bear, Jerry Azumah and I attended a charity event at the House of Blues for President Bill Clinton.  During our visit with the former White House resident, President Clinton said something that would stick with me forever. He mentioned contributions from American households comprise 75% of all giving to nonprofits every year. I looked at my friend and event co-chair, Jerry and smiled knowing the work we did for the Azumah Student Assistance Program (ASAP) that included small donations from our tight and influential network, was a piece of that 75% and our efforts were a part of a bigger picture. A picture that includes over 1,300 listed charities in the Chicagoland area alone!

Every day, Chicagoans attend events that contribute to programs supporting cancer research, environmental concerns, preservation of the arts and like ours, resources for education.  At ASAP, besides opening our mouths for support and soliciting corporate support, we produce ridiculously fun events several times a year.  On Wednesday May 16^th from 6-10pm, we’re hosting our 4^th Annual Signature Bowling Event at Lucky Strike Lanes.

Now in our 4^th event year, the best memory of all the events was when I saw these larger than life personalities and athletes roll in with their teeny bowling bags and personalized balls for the first time. I realized competition was not just reserved for the court, field or on the greens. It was a way of life! A life that included fun, awareness and giving back where one is not independent of the other. Even our founder, Jerry has a painted Chicago Bear on his bowling ball. So off with the helmets and celeb façade and bring on the competition. The bowling tournament pairs fans, sponsors and local celebs up for a night of sheer glee, charity and competition.  All right, time to grab your bowling balls (spectators welcome too!) and plan to have some major fun while making a contribution to a bigger picture!

Tickets are still available and are only $75

Purchase your ticket HERE

-Micaeh Johnson

Tags: 4th Annual, ASAP Foundation, Assistance, Azumah Student Assistance Program, celebs, charity, chicago bears, corporate, house of blues, jerry azumah, Local, Lucky Strike, nonprofits, President Clinton, Students, white house

Make A Wish w/ Jordan, Daley, Corgan, Urlacher, Blackhawks, Rockit Ranch & more!

The Make A Wish Foundation of Illinois is celebrating their 25th Anniversary of their Gala the “Wish Ball” this Saturday May 21st by honoring 25 people and organizations that they have deemed “Leaders In Joy!”  I am beyond honored to say that I am among this humbled group along others like Michael Jordan, Mayor Daley & Maggie Daley, Larry Wert, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Brian Urlacher, the Chicago Blackhawks and more. Since 1985 Make A Wish has been granting special wishes to children facing life threatening illnesses giving each child the power to decide the nature of their wish, providing a sense of renewed faith, courage and self-confidence. These are not in any way “last wishes” but experiences that remind the wish kids that although everything in their world seems to be falling apart, there is still good and magic out there, and I love that message.

As much as there are “Leaders In Joy” being honored, to me this event will be way more about celebrating the work that the Make A Wish team has done by granting nearly 10,000 wishes across the state! One of those wishes was for an awesome little girl, Sydney Martin, (in picture above) that I had the pleasure of meeting last March when helping her present her necklace jewelry line in a run-way show. I blogged about Sydney right after not only because I was extremely moved by her story, but also I was excited about her talents & future.  She was diagnosed in 2007 with an extremely rare blood disease called Langerhan’s Cell Histicytosis (LCH), and started her own necklace line she has used to raise over $120,000 for LCH research.  I’m just inspired by that, and feel like I got just as much out of helping, as she may have received by being granted a wish.

Because of the wonderful feelings and giving all the way around, I’m really looking forward to honoring her, the many many other kids like her, and all those that have been an important part of building the Illinois chapter in to the largest and most well-known wish-granting organization in the region.. to be included in that is something I will always cherish.

For more information about the Make A Wish Foundation and this year’s Wish Ball – please take the time to visit www.wishes.org.

Tags: bears, billy corgan, billy dec, blackhawks, brian urlacher, bulls, charity, chicago, chicago bears, chicago blackhawks, chicago bulls, chicago charity events, langerhan's cell histicytosis, larry wert, lch, maggie daley, major daley and maggie daley, make a wish, make a wish foundation, make a wish foundation of illinois, make a wish iliinois chapter, mayor daley, michael jordan, rockit ranch productions, smashing pumpkins, syd rocks, sydney martin, the bulls, wish ball, wish ball 2011

sing w/ me, second city, chicago fire department & more…for bears vs packers!

Check out this video I did a while back w/many other fun chicagoans singing our fight song “bear down chicago bears!” someone just sent it to me on twitter and it seemed perfect to share since the whole city is gearing up for the big game this sunday between the bears and the packers in their only other post season match up since their first in 1941- which happens to also be the year this song was written!

It was december 14, 1941, just one week after the attack on pearl harbor, when the bears won 33-14 going on to win the nfl championship against the new york giants! The bears/packers rivalry began in 1921, which makes it the longest and oldest standing rivalry in the nfl. No wonder people are saying it’s gonna be the biggest game in history, even bigger than the actual superbowl feb 6th… Which I already got my tickets for because I know the bears are gonna go all the way!  Go bears!!!

go bears!

Tags: bear down, bears, bears vs packers, billy dec, chicago, chicago bears, chicago sings bear down, dallas, football, george went, go bears, green bay packers, nfl championship, packers, playoffs, superbowl 2011, texas