Parisian theme highlights Shelter Inc.'s annual gala
The glamour and romance of Paris were on display Friday night for "Ooh, La La!" - Shelter Inc.'s 32nd annual gala.
Guests at the Hyatt Regency in Schaumburg dined around a model of the Eiffel Tower, sipped champagne chilled by an ice sculpture, and danced to the music of the Elmhurst College jazz band under soft Parisian lights. The charity ball included live and silent auctions and a raffle.
"We really want to raise funds tonight so we can have more success stories like the Dan and Lindsay Tintera family of Bartlett, who adopted two children through Shelter's foster care program," said Maria Zeller Brauer, the agency's senior director of development.
Arlington Heights-based Shelter Inc. is a nonprofit agency that protects abused and neglected children by providing foster care, emergency and longer-term group home services, as well as an abuse prevention program.
The gala was born 32 years ago, when Shelter was raising funds to buy real estate for its boys group home.
The main message, according to Executive Director Carina Homann Santa Maria, "is helping kids in the community that are in crisis and coming together tonight to celebrate all the hard work the community has done for us and with us in Arlington Heights for the past 45 years."
For more, visit www.shelter-inc.org.
• Daily Herald photographer Mark Welsh contributed to this report.