Arlington Heights CEO donates $20,000 to random people

Arlington Heights resident Cary Chessick decided one weekend to donate $20,000 to 40 random people. And he's still witnessing the kindness snowballing on Twitter's TweetItForward.

The founder of Arlington Heights-based Restaurant.com wanted to stress the importance of doing good deeds. So he and his wife, Robin, decided to do the gifting while he was a speaker at a Likeable Media social media conference in June in New York.

“We have all heard it is better to give than to receive, but seldom do we ask why,” Chessick said. “We felt that the answer to that question is simple. It feels really good to give to others. It is gratifying, uplifting and can spread happiness.”

They took $20,000 of their personal money, divided it into $500 increments inside 40 envelopes. People at the conference were given colored wristbands. The 40 that randomly received a blue colored wristband were asked to come up. That's when Chessick surprised them.

He said they can do what they wanted with the cash, but he hoped they would go forward and do something nice for another person. And many did.

One woman in particular, Angela Schaefers, was undergoing cancer treatments and used Chessick's gift to help create a nonprofit, do public speaking, and founded YourStoryMatters.net, where she encourages people to tell their life stories. She also came to Arlington Heights about a month ago to talk to Chessick's staff about the impact the gift has had on her life.

And by using social media, his experiment has paid off in kindness and a platform that allows thousands of others to hear those stories of giving and thankfulness and participate in a social media giving movement.

“While the kick off of TweetItForward was done with our funds, (it's) a forum for those to share stories, for free, in a singular online destination. Now, people share their experiences, and it is both free to share and free to read about them,” Chessick said.

One unanticipated outcome was the opportunity to meet many amazing, caring, thoughtful people that he would form a strong personal and social connection.

“The value of the relationships and the experiences far exceed the monetary contribution that kicked off the event,” Chessick said.

While everyone has their chosen form of philanthropic activities, this was one where Chessick met the beneficiaries of the funds, and tracked their giving and the impact that their giving had on others.

“Powerful stuff that I am thankful to have had the opportunity to do,” Chessick said.

Going global again

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. of Barrington Hills has been busy since leaving President Bush's cabinet. He's chairman of Chicago-based Paulson Institute and will work with other organizations on “Cities of the Future: Urban Sustainability in Modern China,” a conference on Dec. 5 in Beijing. He wants to bring together policy makers, private equity companies, architects, urban planners and scientists.

Rosemont goes Bavarian

Chicago resident Michael Matuschka, head of Windy City Group and owner of MaxBar and the former Crobar nightclubs, and his father, Josef Matuschka of Niles, just broke ground in Rosemont for a new franchise of Munich's legendary Hofbrauhaus. Josef, who is active with the local German community and May Fest in Chicago, has ties to the original Hofbrauhaus and always arranged to have its original beer shipped in for local German festivals. Michael is in Germany this week to order authentic copper brew kettles so they can brew their own Hofbrauhaus beer here. The beer hall is expected to be completed by next summer.

Moto's Jha honored

Libertyville-based Motorola Mobility's CEO Sanjay Jha was honored Friday by the Chicago chapter of the American India Foundation at a black-tie gala that included former President Bill Clinton. The gala's chairman was Harit Talwar, president of U.S. cards for Riverwoods-based Discover Financial Services. Talwar and his wife, Reena Talwar, are supporters of social entrepreneurship and were instrumental in gathering support of the gala from local business leaders.

FastTrack

Norm and Mark Zienty, who started their Fair Oaks Ford dealership with their father 32 years ago, have added a Lincoln franchise in Naperville. They purchased Joe Rizza Lincoln in Naperville, and will change the company name to Fair Oaks Ford-Lincoln. Next summer, their lineup will include electric vehicles. ... Casey Reagan, chief technology officer at Elgin-based Re/Max Northern Illinois took Best Brokerage website Award during the sixth annual Chicago Agent Magazine Agent's Choice Awards, while colleague John Spillane, an agent with Re/Max in the Village Realtors in Oak Park, received the Industry MVP/Suburb award.

South Elgin resident Randy Reynolds has resumed his position as sales consultant at West Dundee-based Davis Business Solutions after serving as a trainer and adviser on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. ... Michael Golden is the new general manager at Westfield Hawthorn in Vernon Hills. He's previously been an assistant general manager at Westfields in Toledo Ohio, as well as Old Orchard in Skokie and Fox Valley in Aurora. ... Walter Rymsza of Arlington Heights is the new senior project manager/director of railroad structures for Alfred Benesch & Co., a civil and structural engineering firm in Chicago.

John Littrell is the new group senior vice president of asset-based lending and Frederick F. Sinkovits is the new commercial loan officer at Itasca-based First Midwest Bank. ... Jack White of Arlington Heights was named vice president of investments at the Arlington Heights office of Wells Fargo Advisors. ... St. Charles resident J. Lyell Clarke, president and CEO of Clarke, an environmental products and services company in Roselle, received the 2011 Member Leadership Award for Innovation by Vistage International. ... Paul Martis, broker at Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT Oak Brook office, has been appointed as co-chairman of the commercial investment committee at Main Street Association of Realtors More in Downers Grove.

Governor Pat Quinn, along with 50 Illinois high-tech executives, including those from Lisle-based Molex and Naperville-based Tellabs, convened in New York last Tuesday to open the Nasdaq stock market. ... Huntley resident Ken Kozy introduced the “7 Dimensonal eCommunications” concept at the Project Management Institute's Global Congress in Dallas. The concept focuses on the more human side of electronic communications. He's also been invited to speak at three other such events, including two in Australia. ... Mike Vrska is the new global director of research and development at Chicago-based Wilson Golf.

Judy Pelinski received the Pride in Crystal Lake Award from the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce's board of directors. For the last six years, she's chaired the Community Harvest committee, which coordinates fundraisers through Crystal Lake to raise food and funds for the Crystal Lake Food Pantry. ... Natalie Zysko marks 9 years since opening her Enzee Boutique in Elmhurst with a party Dec. 8. She'll offer refreshments, DJ and 25 percent off the entire store. ... Richard D. Liebman, a Highland Park native, joins Grant Thornton LLP's Chicago office as managing director of tax services.

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