Windgate in the Community

WINDGATE IN THE COMMUNITY

Here at Windgate, we are inspired by so many good works being undertaken by incredible people in wonderful organizations helping to make our world a better place.  Because of this, we have launched Windgate in the Community, an initiative devoted to supporting unique organizations dedicated to improving the lives of others.  We are partnering with our employees and our clients as they follow their passions to make an impact.

We are proud of our commitment to giving back to the communities in which we live and work.  We aim to make an impact by investing our resources – financial contributions, volunteer work, and mentoring – to support outstanding charities like the ones listed below.  We look forward to sharing more of these stories in future issues.


Marklund Wasmond Center in Elgin, Illinois

Marklund makes everyday life possible for individuals with profound disabilities. Marklund provides residential, educational and vocation services at its three locations—Geneva, Bloomingdale and Elgin (formerly the Little Angels Center for Exceptional Care.)

Learn more.


Feed My Starving Children

Feed My Starving Children strives to eliminate starvation in children throughout the world by helping to instill compassion in people to hear and respond to the cries of those in need.

Learn more.


Team Fox for Parkinson’s Research

Team Fox is the grassroots community fundraising program at The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Each year, thousands of Team Fox members worldwide turn their passions and interests into unique fundraising events and athletic feats.

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Holocaust Museum & Education Center

The mission of the Holocaust Museum and Education Center is best expressed in their founding principle: Remember the Past, Transform the Future.

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Udavum Karangal, Helping Hands

Udavum Karangal (Helping Hands) is a registered, non-governmental, non-religious and non-profit social service organization established in 1983, with the sole objective of serving people in need. The center provides individualized services, treatment, care, rehabilitation and education.
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Hephzibah Children’s Association

Hephzibah provides safety and care to society’s most vulnerable children since 1897.

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Kovler Diabetes Center

The University of Chicago Medicine Kovler Diabetes Center has innovative diabetes research and patient care. Kovler Diabetes Center provides holistic treatment, care and education that empowers patients to effectively manage diabetes for a lifetime.

Learn more.


WINDGATE PROUDLY SUPPORTS THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY AND THE SCENIC SHORE 150 BIKE TOUR

Windgate team member Sean Condon, CFP rode with team Chemo-Sabe during a very special weekend in Wisconsin for the 30th Scenic Shore 150 bike tour. The 150-mile bike tour along the Lake Michigan coast is one of the largest fund-raising events for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Currently, the event has raised $1.5 million in support of a cure for blood cancer. These vital funds will go on to power cutting-edge research, critical advocacy, and free support for patients across the country..

“Riding north from Milwaukee for two days with the lake at our side there was never a moment we wanted to quit,” said Sean. “Seeing the hundreds of other riders, many of them cancer survivors, and being extra grateful for financial donations from some Windgate clients was just a humbling experience. It was an amazing event for a great cause.”

Blood cancers are the number-three killer in the U.S. behind lung and gastrointestinal. LLS invests funds to accelerate innovative, life-saving treatments and patients aren’t just surviving, they’re living. Since the 1960’s, the five-year survival rate for many blood cancer patients in North America has doubled, tripled or even quadrupled.

LLS provides complimentary information and support to patients and their caregivers. Additionally, to help patients during this time of crisis, LLS’s financial aid and co-pay programs are critically important.

Anyone interested in learning more about The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Scenic Shore 150 event can see here: https://pages.lls.org/events/vtnt/2022scenicshore150.
SCENIC SHORE 150 BIKE TOUR SCENIC SHORE 150 BIKE TOUR

WINDGATE SUPPORTS LITTLE ANGELS

Windgate In the Community supported Little Angels in September 2017 by inviting eight staff members to participate in the Angel Songs Soiree charity event.

The Angel Songs Soiree started in 2009 as an Open House & Concert fundraising event for the Little Angels organization at the Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington Hills. Hosts Jasper and Marian Sanfilippo graciously open their home and collections to help local charities raise money, and offered this opportunity to Little Angels after Jasper’s 60th high school reunion where he reunited with a former classmate who is also a Little Angels parent.

The guests were invited to a tour of the Sanfilippo Home, which contains magnificent collections of beautifully restored antique music machines and automated musical instruments, phonographs, arcade machines, chandeliers and art glass followed by a concert on their Wurlitzer organ, which happens to be the world’s largest theater pipe organ.

This event has grown and evolved into a unique fundraiser for Marklund that it now includes a gourmet dinner, entertainment and auction in the Sanfilippo Carousel Pavilion, a second building on the estate housing more of the Sanfilippo collections plus an 1890s fully restored Parisian Carousel.

Windgate in the Community is proud to support such an amazing organization and the Angel Songs Soiree was truly a success.
Little Angels Event
Natasha Buh, Mark Buh (CFO), Michael Corbett (CIO), and Teri Corbett

WINDGATE SUPPORTS HEPHZIBAH CHILDREN’S ASSOCIATION

Windgate was proud to sponsor The Hephzibah Children’s Association Heart of Gold Ball in March 2014. Held at Chicago’s Bridgeport Art Center, with dramatic views of the city’s skyline, the event was a rousing success. “What a fabulous night this was,” said Hephzibah Executive Director Mary Anne Brown. It was exactly what we all needed to shake off the winter doldrums. This is a crowd that likes to party, and we raised more than $230,000 for Hephzibah’s kids while having the time of our lives.”

Hephzibah is one of Chicagoland’s oldest charities—founded in 1897 when Mary Wessels opened her Oak Park, IL home to children from a nearby orphanage that had been destroyed by fire. Today, Hephzibah’s mission is to help children thrive and families flourish. Hephzibah serves 1,200 children and families annually through three main program concentrations: A Group Home for abused and neglected children, Family Based Services that provide training and licensing for foster parents, and a Day Care program for working families.

Previously this year, Windgate advisor and Hephzibah volunteer Sean Condon led a financial literacy workshop for a group of foster children. “Sean did a great job of simplifying his message and facilitated good conversation – even our staff took notes!,” said Sarah Niederman, a Hephzibah social worker and director of the Life Skills program, a class designed for foster children who are on the brink of adulthood.

“The Heart of Gold Ball was a special event and we are proud to support a group that is changing children’s lives,” said Sean. “I was doubly thrilled to introduce the organization to several CPAs and attorneys who do great work with our clients.” At the end of the day, Windgate left with a stronger sense of camaraderie and commitment to community which is vital to the success of any firm. And most of all, we were able to contribute to families and kids in need.

The Hephzibah Ball
Sean and Elizabeth Condon (second and third from left, back row) and Guests at the Hephzibah Heart of Gold Ball

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