Pitch In Raises Funds at Annual Gala to Expand Mentoring Program

It was an evening of celebration for nonprofit Pitch In, along with their founding board members Kerry and Sarah Wood, hosting the annual Storybook Gala on Friday, October 27th at Morgan Manufacturing in Chicago. The evening, in theme with bestselling book Rainbow Fish, welcomed 250+ guests for cocktails, dinner, live auction and program which honored Dr. Janice Jackson with the inaugural Sarah & Kerry Wood Pitching In For Chicago Kids Award.

Funds raised from the Storybook Gala go directly to Pitch In’s mentoring program which fosters high-quality mentoring relationships between supportive adults and students while providing exposure to a social-emotional learning curriculum. Today, the program serves nearly 250 middle school students in 5 schools with afterschool mentoring programs while additionally impacting approximately 800 students through in-school support.

Middle school students Christiasia White (4th grade, Benjamin E. Mays Elementary School)

Matthew Salgado (8th grade, Richard Yates Elementary School) and Kamaria Morse (11th grade, alumni of Lawndale Community Academy) greeted attendees and shared their own personal stories on how the mentoring program has benefitted them and what they like about it.

Pitch In’s partner schools include Sumner Math and Science Academy in North Lawndale (2019), Lawndale Community Academy in North Lawndale (2014), Bernhard Moos Elementary School in Humboldt Park (2019), Richard Yates Elementary School in Humboldt Park (2018) and the most recent addition, Benjamin E. Mays Elementary Academy in Englewood (2023).

Kerry and Sarah Wood have been committed to improving the lives of children in and around Chicago for over ten years.

For more information, please visit www.pitchinchicago.org.