HAPPY FRIDAY!

Last night, 150 young professionals from all over Chicago gathered at the China Grill at the Hard Rock Hotel downtown to learn more about membership in the Auxiliary Society of the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago ARCGC.

The secret’s out by now – this is not your grandfather’s American Red Cross. There was mingling, networking and new memberships being penned as the membership mixer increased the Auxiliary Society roster and added some cool new talent to our chapter. We met and exceeded our goal of new members, as the interest to learn more about our Chapter initiatives and all of the exciting events in which we participate and plan throughout the year was top of mind for those in attendance.

Here’s a summary of what “went down” last night:
Hip servers dressed in black passed trays of beef teriyaki skewers and an Asian spin on Caprese salad to-go (buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil served on a crisp wonton with reduced balsamic drizzle), it was the kind of good eats the fueled the fervor of fundraising!

Red Cross-tinis, the event’s (free) featured drink made with Smirnoff Vodka, was the crowd favorite, but a full bar catered to any taste. The spot was jumping with up-beat, up-tempo groovy modern dance music with an eclectic feel that matched the crowd.

ARCGC Bingo – lots of excitement about learning more about the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago by way of ARCGC "bingo" -- bingo cards were distributed to the attendees to allow them to ask questions about specific facts about the Red Cross, such as how many house fires a day the Red Cross responds to (A: 4-5), or when was the Red Cross founded (1881, Clara Barton, Washington, D.C.). Completed bingo cards granted the attendee a chance to win a $100 gift card to the China Grill at the hard Rock Hotel.

The Flirting for Disaster/Mission Red and Golf Outing event tables generated a lot of buzz and throughout the night caused "traffic jams" as attendees flocked to those tables curious about those events -- at least with FFD/Mission Red, 20+ attendees signed up to volunteer for those event committees .

But it was clear that most of the attendees were there to learn more about the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and how they can get involved. The mission of the evening was to sign-up new members to the ARCGC Auxiliary Society and keep the buzz going about our exciting member roster and event schedule. If you weren’t there last night, call, write or stay tuned to this blog for our next membership event.

By the numbers:
The Board recruited 23 new Auxiliary Society Members raising over $2000 from Society membership dues. *Additionally, we sold 65 Red Cross squares and raised an additional $69 for the chapter!

As part 6 of our 25 part introduction of our Auxiliary Board, I present this week's profile: the strikingly stunning Catherine Erickson – new member to our chapter with quite a knack for making balloon animals.

Catherine Erickson: Catherine is a first year member of the Auxiliary Board. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, she graduated with a BA from the University of Iowa. She has worked as an Associate Auctioneer and Vice President of Susanin’s Auctions for the last five years. Despite her work as an auctioneer, she cannot talk really, really fast.

Join us next week when we’ll share some shocking facts about the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago and how our chapter benefits from the fundraising events we do as Auxiliary Society and Board Members in tangible terms.