From the Helm
February 20, 2023
by Greg Miarecki
I hope 2023 is off to a good start for you! 2022 proved to be an epic year for your Chicago Yacht Club Foundation.
We developed a new strategic plan, affirming our focus on impacting underrepresented youth in the Chicagoland area by introducing large numbers of kids to the water, offering them immersive (not literally!) experiences designed to teach them about boating, and then giving them opportunities to develop boating skills.
We launched our new Maritime Academy, focused on teaching youth skills needed to work on Chicago’s commercial boats, and significantly expanded Foundation programming to impact more kids than ever before.
Our season began with the launch of the Foundation’s largest project – the “Boats” exhibit at the Chicago Children’s Museum and ended with the most successful Annual Appeal in Foundation history.
Together, you have made it clear to us that you want to do big things, together!
And that’s exactly what we’ll do. Currently, we’re making plans to build out our Maritime Academy, increasing the number of youth, and adding a swim training component. We’re planning to launch four new community sailing camps, have already moved to double the size of our Lead HER Ship program, and are planning to bring a tall ship to Chicago for a week in July to provide half-day STEM lessons for Chicago youth. We’ve been expanding on existing partnerships while building new ones. In this issue of the Beacon, you’ll learn more about our successful fundraising campaign last year and our big plans for 2023.
This winter, we have launched a new Foundation in Florida series for our donors – come join us in Naples on Saturday, February 25th and Pompano Beach on Saturday, March 11th. Enjoy dinner and conversation with fellow Foundation supporters and get an inside look at our plans for 2023. Please click here to RSVP for the Naples event and click here to RSVP for the Pompano Beach event.
To be sure, we’ve had our ups and downs. Earlier this year, we lost two icons of the Chicago Yacht Club community – Fred Gorr and Ray Teborek. Both provided decades of valuable service to the Chicago Yacht Club, and were both mentors of mine. Ray was especially focused on bringing kids into sailing, and he personally taught me how to do race results on a computer in the early 1980s. Both the Teborek and Gorr families have generously suggested the Foundation as a recipient for a tribute gift. I hope you’ll join me in making a donation to our Foundation in their memory. Click here if you’d like to do so.
We’re excited for the New Year and we hope to see you often in 2023. Stay tuned for more details in future editions of the Beacon!