CHICAGO, January 24, 2023 – From August to December 2022, WGN-TV Family Charities, a fund of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, held three charity drives: The WGN Morning News Food and Toy Drives, as well as a coordinated campaign for Chicago Scholars. The combined total of funds raised was matched by the McCormick Foundation at .50 cents on the dollar. With the Foundation paying all campaign and administrative expenses, 100% of all donations, plus the match, are granted to qualified nonprofit organizations.
Including the match funds, WGN-TV Family Charities will be donating a total of $71,000 to four charities:
Greater Chicago Food Depository $25,000
Off the Street Club $5,500
Christmas in the Wards $5,500
Chicago Scholars $35,000
$71,000 Total in Grants!
All four charities had representatives on the WGN Midday News on January 24, 2023. Check out the story HERE.
WGN-TV Family Charities, a McCormick Foundation Fund, is focused on creating opportunities for children and families to help them fulfill their potential. The charity hopes to bring awareness to various organizations and to enlist community support to help make a difference in the lives of families throughout the Chicago area.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository is Chicago’s food bank who believes a healthy community starts with food. The Food Depository is at the center of a network of more than 700 partner organizations and programs – food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, mobile distributions and other partners – working to bring food, dignity and hope to our neighbors across Chicago and Cook County. The Food Depository addresses the root causes of hunger with job training, advocacy and other innovative solutions. The Food Depository is a proud member of Feeding America – the national network of food banks. Learn more at chicagosfoodbank.org
Off the Street Club is Chicago’s oldests boys and girls club, providing hope, play and ‘casual joy’ since 1900. The Club currently serves more than 3,000 kids in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country, West Garfield Park. Providing after-school activities, summer camps and events ‘where kids can be kids’, Off the Street Club’s motto is, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Every child seeking a safe place to go is welcome to join Off the Street Club for games, play and mentorship; it’s where ‘hope has a home.’
Since 1996, Christmas in the Wards has served Chicago’s underserved and hard-to-count communities, bringing the spirit of the season to hardworking families, deserving students and youth. Christmas in the Wards dedicates 100% of their resources for a sole purpose: to serve. Annually, this is accomplished by working with local aldermen and community leaders to select over 700 deserving families from the wards of Chicago and Chicagoland, who would otherwise go without essentials such as food and clothing, and special gifts from Santa. In addition, Christmas in the Wards supports education in marginalized communities through its laptop giveaways, providing over 200 laptops to middle school and high-school-aged students excelling in the classroom. This past holiday season, Christmas in the Wards welcomed back Christmas Spectaculars, hosting over 40 wards and families from Chicago’s South, West and North Side communities, along with 10 communities from Chicago Southland.
Chicago Scholars is empowering Chicago’s talented young people with tools, resources, and opportunities to go to our nation’s best colleges and universities, gradate on time, and become Chicago’s next generation of leaders. The Scholars are first-generation college students and students from low-income communities in Chicago. They come from nearly every zip code and community area in the city of Chicago. By becoming a Chicago Scholar, students will join a diverse community of like-minded peers and professionals committed to their success. During their 7-year program, Scholars have access to one-on-one college counseling, mentoring, unique scholarship opportunities, career and leadership development workshops, and access to their network of over 140 colleges and universities.
WGN-TV is Chicago’s Very Own source for news and entertainment and is owned and operated by Nexstar Media Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. WGN News programs more local news than any other Chicago TV station and can be seen on WGN-TV; the WGN+ TV streaming app on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV; online at WGNTV.com/Live and the WGN News mobile app. In-depth local weather coverage is available on all newscasts, WGNTV.com/Weather and the WGN Weather mobile app. WGN Films, part of WGN-TV, presents compelling and in-depth cinematic journalism that goes beyond the headlines to explore the stories and issues that affect Chicago area communities. WGN 9.2 is the Chicago affiliate for Nexstar Media Inc.’s 1950s – 1970s classic TV network Antenna TV, WGN 9.3 is the Chicago affiliate for Grit, WGN 9.4 is the Chicago affiliate for Nexstar Media Inc.’s 1980s – 2000s retro TV network Rewind TV, and WGN 9.5 is the Chicago affiliate for TBD. For more information on Chicago’s Very Own WGN-TV, go to WGNTV.com