Night Under Big Top funds health programs
The Women’s Board of Northwestern Memorial Hospital hosted A Night Under the Big Top, a circusthemed benefit held Sept. 7 at a private club in the Gold Coast. The event attracted nearly 300 guests and supported the hospital’s Evergreen Grants Initiative, a health care program that supports low-income and underserved women, girls and infants throughout Chicagoland.
The delightful theme put the “fun” in fundraising from the moment guests arrived, with two 5-foot-tall bejeweled “elephants” stationed at the entryway. Inside, an array of circus performers and aerial acrobats (from C5 Create With No Limits) provided daring entertainment as they twirled and spun on a high wire 18 feet above the crowd in the ballroom. Scattered throughout the space, other performers balanced precariously on heavy globes as the “ringmaster” tapped his cane for attention.
A tarot card reader foretold fortunes in a darkened, candlelit room, and in yet another unique space, Ludy Gerardi, a professional face painter, drew works of art with glitter and color on partygoers’ faces.
Even the buffet stations followed the evening’s theme by serving carnival-inspired food that included corn dogs, Barnum’s Animal Crackers, Circus Peanuts candy, pizza, hamburgers, pretzels and fried chicken tenders, among other sinfully delicious items. A cotton candy machine and an ice cream sundae station rounded out the decadent food offerings.
The event was co-chaired by Elizabeth Blodgett, Holly Cortes and Abra Wilkin.
Sponsored by Suzy and John Borland, the playful evening raised over $100,000 for the hospital’s Evergreen Grants Initiative that, to date, has provided $4.3 million to 82 initiatives that advance the patient-centered mission and improve health outcomes for women of all ages. More online
Find more photos and video of this event at www.chicagotribune.com/candidcandace