Black-tie fundraiser helps out Marklund

Marklund Charities is aglow in the news that its biggest annual fundraising event, the Top Hat Ball, set a record for money raised this year.

The Feb. 9 black-tie event, held in Chicago, grossed $480,000 for Marklund facilities, which help people with severe and profound developmental disabilities.

Marklund has six 16-bed homes for adults in Mill Creek near Geneva and a pediatric skilled-nursing facility for children in Bloomingdale. It also runs a day school and a respite program.

Jeannine Zupo, Marklund's director of public relations and marketing, expected Marklund to net around 50 percent of the gross, after expenses are subtracted.

"It was a great event," she said, noting that 660 people, about 100 more than last year, attended the event at Navy Pier.

Much of the money was raised through ticket sales, program advertising, a raffle and an auction.

But $120,000 of it came in outright donations, through the Fund in Need auction. There, people raised bid paddles as the auctioneer called off amounts ranging from $100 to $5,000, indicating what they were willing to donate to Marklund's endowment fund.

"It's an easy ask, because we believe in the cause so much," Zupo said of getting people to donate to Marklund.

Money raised may be used for such things as a $3,400 gait trainer to help clients walk; a $630 bounce chair; or even adaptive switches ($30 to $150) that help clients independently operate different devices, from CD players to toilets.

Jim and Lynn Armbruster of Aurora were honored as Friends of the Year. Jim Armbruster, who is vice chairman of the board of directors, raised more than $130,000 last year by walking from here to San Francisco. The Armbrusters have a son who is a client of Marklund.

Marklund's next major fundraiser is a golf outing May 12 in Bloomingdale.

For details, visit www.marklund.org