Annual Gala
A 45th Anniversary Celebration Honoring our Chapter Founders:
Dr. Edward Baum, Mr. Bill Chunowitz, and Mr. Charlie Marino
We were so grateful to welcome attendees, supporters, sponsors for the return of our Annual Gala and to honor our 45-year legacy of support for families. Your help in raising over $1.3 million at the Annual Gala means we will be able to help over 13,680 families get better together – an experience deeply felt by Saturday’s special guest, Dr. Cathy Humikowski, who stayed at the very first Ronald McDonald House in Chicago on Deming Place as a young patient of Dr. Baum’s and now helps children as a physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
“I have such strong memories of Ronald McDonald House as a child after my treatment, that it was this beautiful home and a safe place. And I knew that this is where my mom stayed when I was sick.
A home isn’t just the house that you live in, it’s where you come home from work, it is your community and your family. For some families, home becomes the hospital, and the people around you while you’re dealing with illness.
That’s really what Ronald McDonald House does – it creates that home wherever you are, and that’s just unbelievably important.”
– Dr. Cathy Humikowski
