Clifford Law Offices Sponsors 1st Annual Illinois Race for the Family
The First Annual Illinois Race for the Family will be held Sat., June 23, to help couples become loving parents. The 5K race/walk kicks off at 8 a.m. at the Deer Grove Forest Preserve in Palatine.
The Race for the Family is held in partnership with the Fertility Centers of Illinois and the Cade Foundation, a non-profit organization that serves the needs of families battling infertility through education and outreach in the form of family building grants.
Clifford Law Offices is a sponsor of this event that has a goal of raising $50,000. Donations and contributions for a silent auction or raffle can be made and the Cade Foundation will arrange for pick up by calling 847-433-4400.
Savannah’s Playground also is a part of the day’s event, offering a free outdoor festival for children and families during the race. While children are entertained, parents are offered safety, childcare and education tips about raising their children. One third of the proceeds from the 2012 Illinois Race for the Family will be donated to the Savannah Memorial Fund which provides $10,000 grants annually to families struggling with infertility to assist with the cause of infertility treatment.
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For further information, please contact Emily Naughten, Cade Foundation Race Director, 312-765-7880 or visit raceinfo@cadefoundation.org. The website is www.IllRaceforthefamily.com
Naples Children & Education Foundation Distribute One-Millionth Pound of Food
The Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF) – founders of the Naples Winter Wine Festival – and Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida distributed the one millionth pound of food for underprivileged and at-risk children in Collier County in Southwest Florida.
Robert and Joan Clifford, the immediate past Co-Chairs of the Wine Festival, spearheaded the 2012 effort that raised $12.2 million during a live auction that reached a grand total of $106.7 million raised since the auction began in 2001.
“We never anticipated any set numbers,” Bob Clifford said following the successful event in January. “We were grateful for what we got.”
The latest food distribution, which represents just a part of the health and necessities that the foundation provides to thousands of children and their families in the area, drew 350 families who loaded cardboard boxes with carrots, apples, cabbages, onions, potatoes and other produce along with canned goods, cereal and meat. Volunteers assisted with registering the families and helped them select nutritious food items.
The program works in conjunction with Lunch Boxes of Love, a hunger initiative that began a year ago after the Wine Festival raised $630,000 through a fund-a-need auction lot and began partnering with the Harry Chapin Food Bank. One of NCEF’s initiative is to end childhood hunger. As a direct result of NCEF’s work more than 150,000 children have had their lives improved.
NCEF has 69 trustees that govern the foundation and host the annual Naples Winter Wine Festival in what has been called the most successful charity wine auction in the world. The 2013 festival will be held Jan. 25-27. For more information, visit www.napleswinefestival.com
Clifford Law Offices Sponsors Legal Forum
Clifford Law Offices Sponsors Aviation Safety Initiatives
Robert A. Clifford is sponsoring helicopter Search and Rescue Unit Commander Dan Bitton to the Joint International Helicopter Safety Team (JIHST). The Team is a group of aviation experts, including experts from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) who are attempting to reduce the rate of helicopter accidents by 80 percent by the year 2016.
Chicago Public Television
Through the generous support of Robert Clifford and Clifford Law Offices, WTTW, Chicago’s public television station, was able to purchase equipment for the hearing impaired. For the first time in the station’s history, local programming is now closed captioned. Mr. Clifford also sits on WTTW’s Board of Trustees.
Sponsorships
Robert A. Clifford and Clifford Law Offices are among the proud sponsors of the Second Annual Phi Alpha Delta (PAD) and Vincent Vitullo Ethics and Professionalism Seminar.
Robert A. Clifford and Clifford Law Offices are proud supporters of the 2009 Legacy Award Campaign honoring Elzie Higginbottom sponsored by the Jane Addams Hull House Association.
Making the Holidays a Bit Brighter for the Homeless
Kevin Durkin and Keith Hebeisen made a sizable donation to the Immaculate Conception Parish, 81st and Commercial Avenue, on Chicago’s Southeast side in honor of Robert A. Clifford. Their Christmas gift to Bob Clifford was a monetary gift in his name to the needy and homeless in that area. The parish operates a daily food kitchen open to all those in need, regardless of faith or walk of life.
All of the attorneys at Clifford Law Offices also made a large donation to the Franciscan Outreach Association sponsored by the Franciscan Order at St. Peter’s Church in Chicago’s Loop. The Franciscans operate a facility at 1645 W. LeMoyne St., Chicago, which houses an emergency overnight shelter, dining facility, laundry and Case Management Service which tries to assist the homeless and indigent with long-term service care.
Pictured is Robert Clifford with partners Kevin Durkin, Keith Hebeisen as well as Father Michael Enright of Immaculate Conception Parish. Also pictured is attorney Karina Ayala-Bermejo, Managing Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources for the City of Chicago and a parishioner of Immaculate Conception. She introduced the firm to Father Enright’s program for the needy.
Bob and Joan Clifford Co-Chair Successful Fundraiser for Underprivileged Children
Naples Winter Wine Festival tops $106 million in 12 years for children’s charities. Live auction at 2012 event raises more than $12 million
NAPLES, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2012) – Surpassing the $100 million mark in charitable giving was cause for celebration at the 12th annual Naples Winter Wine Festival charity auction, which raised $12.2 million during the live auction and reached a grand total of $106.7 million raised since 2001. One hundred percent of auction proceeds benefit Collier County’s underprivileged and at-risk children through Naples Children & Education Foundation, the festival’s founding organization. Wine Spectator has ranked the festival the most successful charity wine auction in the nation since 2004.
Gathered at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples, in the Grand Lawn Pavilion, winning bidders were among 580 guests. Lot totals ranged from $35,000 to $1.2 million for 67 auction lots. The top money-raising lot captured multiple bids in a modified Dutch auction that totaled $1.2 million for a private concert by Grammy-award winner LeAnn Rimes. The concert and reception will be held at a Naples beachfront estate, with cuisine prepared by Tom Colicchio of “Top Chef.”
The top wine lot fetched a total of $1.1 million. The original lot featured eight rare bottles of Château Haut-Brion from 1935, 1945, 1959, 1961, 1975, 1989, 1990 and 2009, and six bottles each from the 2010 vintage of Haut-Brion Blanc and Rouge nestled inside a hand-carved red wine console. Following spirited bidding, a second identical lot was donated. Each captured a bid of $550,000.
This year’s highest non-wine bid raised $600,000 for a lot featuring a Baltic Sea cruise for six couples aboard a private, 201-foot Feadship yacht.
“The festival’s theme of ‘Believe in the Magic’ came true thanks to the generosity of patrons, sponsors, donors and other supporters who conjured up life-enhancing bids for thousands of children in need,” said NCEF trustee Bob Clifford, festival chair with his wife, Joan. “We are thrilled and profoundly grateful to our supporters, and we look forward to presenting grant checks to more than 20 charities this spring.”
“Every bid changes a child’s world,” said Joan Clifford. “When a paddle is raised at the $50,000 level, 100 children are assured a safe, nurturing after-school program and not left wandering the streets. A $150,000 bid means 200 foster children receive year-round academic tutoring, and a $300,000 bid guarantees that thousands of children suspected of abuse and neglect receive therapeutic counseling.”
Other top wine lots were $320,000 for a 35-bottle vertical spanning 84 years of Haut-Brion; $240,000 for a wine vertical that included a bottle from each vintage released from Rutherford’s Dana Estates and an estate visit; and a rare collection of Shafer’s Hillside Select and a stay in Napa Valley that auctioned for $220,000. An instant cellar of 556 bottles of U.S. West Coast wines – the most bottles ever in a single festival lot – captured a winning bid of $150,000.
Other high bids extended to a custom-crafted 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster fetching $450,000. Lifestyle lots that enticed high bids included an 11-night Italian extravaganza for four couples, with four nights in Milan at Bvlgari Hotel, Serpenti watches, tailored suits from Saint Andrews, that went for $400,000. Access to Elton John’s White Tie & Tiara Ball at his Windsor, England, estate for two couples, with Wimbledon Centre Court tickets and Chopard keepsakes, captured $320,000.
On-the-spot donations raised $280,000 for a fund-a-need lot to bring improved vision to children in low-income schools and targeted early childhood centers, where 90 percent of students who need eyeglasses do not have them.
Festival events spanned three days, including a tour of children’s charities; intimate vintner dinners at NCEF trustees’ homes where celebrity chefs including Tony Mantuano and Wolfgang Puck prepared the cuisine, with wines personally poured by winery proprietor HRH Prince Robert of Luxembourg and other internationally acclaimed vintners; a wine-down party post-auction; and a celebratory Sunday brunch.
NCEF’s mission is to create and expand charitable programs serving underprivileged and at-risk children in Collier County. The foundation currently supports more than 20 grantees and provides grants for long-term strategic initiatives focused on children’s early learning, medical/oral health, out-of-school programs, behavioral health and childhood hunger. As a direct result of NCEF investments, more than 150,000 children have had their lives improved. NCEF has 69 trustees that govern the foundation and host the festival.
The 2013 festival will be held Jan. 25-27. For more information, visit www.napleswinefestival.com.
Naplesnews.com Editorial: They’ve done it again
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
We could say that the leaders and patrons of the Naples Winter Wine Festival never surprise us.
They keep putting on bigger and better events. Over the weekend they raised $12.2 million to surpass the $100 million mark for the 12 years of fundraising festivities.
Then again, what we really mean to say is that these wine festival people always surprise us. Their ingenuity and generosity gets reinvented every year.
The new wrinkle this year was the sale of tickets to the 100 highest silent bidders to attend an intimate private concert at a Port Royal home by county music star LeAnn Rimes.
That novel idea alone raised $1.22 million.
Top that, Naples Winter Wine Festival 2013.
Seldom has our country seen an example of philanthropy where so much money from so few people gets put to work to help so many others. They raise money in such significant amounts that their efforts make an impact.
They make a difference — for the thousands of children who have taken part in their dental and mental health programs and skilled pre- and after-school mentoring.
Our community is fortunate that they choose Naples as home base for their activities and leadership.
