Wilson Avenue near Broadway. Photo: Warren LeMay from Chicago, IL, United States / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Uplift Community School, the public high school at 900 W. Wilson Ave., is asking local businesses to help with its largest fundraiser of the year. The school is taking part in the Chicago Celebrity Chair Auction and is raising money through ticket sales and sponsorships.
Tickets cost $90 each. Sponsorship packages start at $1,500, which puts them within reach of a neighborhood restaurant or a small professional office as well as larger companies.
How the auction works
As the name suggests, the event centers on chairs decorated or signed by well-known Chicagoans, which are then sold to bidders. Schools and nonprofits that participate share in the proceeds from the tickets and sponsorships they bring in. Details on the event itself are posted at celebritychairauction.com.
A young school with big needs
Uplift is one of the smaller public high schools in the Chicago system, housed in a school building on Wilson Avenue a short walk from the Red Line. Like many Chicago public schools, it relies on outside fundraising for extras that the district budget does not cover, such as field trips, arts programs and classroom technology.
For Uptown employers, a neighborhood high school is also part of the local workforce. Teenagers from the area take part-time jobs in the shops and restaurants on Broadway and Wilson, and Truman College sits a few blocks away for students who stay close to home after graduation.
How to get involved
Businesses and individuals interested in sponsoring the school or buying tickets can reach Chor H. Ng, the school’s curriculum coordinator, at (773) 534-2875 or by mail at the school, 900 W. Wilson Ave., Chicago, IL 60640.
Ruth Kaminski is the editor of The Uptown Ledger and covers neighborhood institutions and housing.
