Residents pitch in to help Goombay Bash break records

Published Tuesday, August 26, 2008

One thing I love about Western Springs residents is they always seem to either already be involved with some fantastic charity project or another, or they''re ready and willing to drop everything to dive in to help out. Sure, residents of other towns are that way. There''s lots of people in the world who are charity-minded. But Western Springs folks are better. You live here. You know what I''m talking about.

For years, my friend Maureen Chopp has been inviting, pushing and otherwise coercing me to attend the Goombay Bash, and like every other year, this one was no exception. I failed to make it. I know, I know, Viki? Pass up a good party? It''s just never worked out. Next year, I promise. (I know, Mo, I say that every year. This time I mean it.)
Helping by having fun

Many of you probably already know what the Goombay Bash is, and the H Foundation for which the bash is a fundraiser. There''s no better way to raise money, as far as I know, than to throw a huge party. Especially a Caribbean-themed, casual event, where everybody wears a Hawaiian shirt and has a great time.

The H Foundation works in partnership with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, and all the funds raised by the Foundation go directly to Basic Science Cancer Research.

How successful has the H Foundation been in raising money by throwing a party? Try $1 million over the first seven years, including $440,000 last year. That''s a lot of money. The Goombay Bash has gotten so big, and so popular, that this year, on Aug. 9, the event was held at Navy Pier for the first time ever.

There was even a free shuttle for folks to take from either La Grange or Darien so they could really throw themselves wildly into the party without having to worry about driving home.

The result was $490,000 raised for the H Foundation -- $490,000!!!

That number deserves about 80 exclamation points. And it brings the grand total of funds raised for cancer research by The H Foundation to $2.5 million.
Local involvement

I spoke with Dan Chopp, co-founder and an original board member of The H Foundation (husband to my aforementioned friend Maureen), and resident of our fair town, about his involvement.

"When you all first had the idea to throw a party for charity, did you know you wanted to raise money for cancer research?" I asked him.

"About eight years ago, John Rot of Western Springs and David Rizner of Horton''s in La Grange pulled everything together, and asked for our help. Pam Hertz, an employee of theirs at Horton''s, was 31-years-old, with a young child when she died of breast cancer, and another longtime employee died of liver cancer shortly after that," Chopp tells me.

"It''s a helpless feeling, you wonder what you can do, so they brought a group together to see if there was something we could do to help raise funds. We raise unrestricted funds for basic cancer research, which is so important toward helping find a cure," he continues.

"You all go to so much effort to put together this party ... what drives you to remain involved?"

"Everybody involved was touched in some way by cancer. For me it was my dad, and he''s a cancer survivor. Steve Palmer, Danny Tischler, all were touched by cancer in their families, and we all knew Pam from Horton''s," Chopp says.

"Is the Goombay Bash the only fundraiser The H Foundation organizes?" I ask.

"We''re all volunteers and local business owners. The retail stores involved, Roly Poly, Horton''s and others, occasionally sell shirts and bracelets, but the Goombay Bash is our main effort."

A party like The Goombay Bash doesn''t put itself together, it''s a year-long endeavor. You can''t see me, but I''m in front of my desk giving these fantastic people a standing ovation.

To learn more, head to http://hfoundation.org or http://GoombayBash.com. Donate! Buy a shirt! Subscribe to receive e-mail updates about their activities!
 
By VIKI GONIA | TOWN COLUMNIST

(630) 320-5443 * doingsnews@pioneerlocal.com.

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