Having recently celebrated the first day of high school for the inaugural class of Pitch In students who were 4th graders when they began, the Wood Family Foundation is now implementing the program into two more CPS schools -Moos Elementary in Humboldt Park and Sumner Elementary in North Lawndale.
The ribbon cutting was held at Moos Elementary on Monday, September 9th where Kerry & Sarah, WFF staff, board members & volunteers all gathered together to host incoming students and parents to unveil the new Pitch In Resource Room and new Tech Room, both transformed from a former classroom and under-utilized storage space. As a gift, WFF additionally revamped the Moos library.
“We are humbled by the success of the Pitch In mentoring program,” explains Kerry Wood. “To witness the benefits through our students has been eye opening and we couldn’t be happier that it has become such a huge success…both for mentors and mentees.”
The Pitch In program is made possible by funds raised annually from WFF’s Storybook Gala taking place on Friday, September 20th at Union Station. The event, which will be emceed by actress Bonnie Hunt, brings to life the childhood classic Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson for a crowd of 500 guests. including civic, social, philanthropic, corporate and education leaders. The evening will feature cocktails, dinner, desserts, dancing and décor with the theme of “Write Your Own Story,” and will explore how we can all empower more Chicago middle school students to forge their own paths to high school, college and beyond. In addition, the Wood Family Foundation will honor A Better Chicago, a local venture philanthropy organization, with the 2019 Pitch In for Excellence Award recognizing A Better Chicago’s game-changing investment of capital and capacity-building support to help launch the next chapter of Pitch In.
Sarah Woods and a Pitch In student.