KidsMatter Empower Gala to honor former Naperville Park District director Ray McGury and Edward-Elmhurst Foundation
KidsMatter will honor former Naperville Park District Executive Director Ray McGury at the "Empower Gala" from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23, at the Chicago Marriott, 1801 N. Naper Blvd. in Naperville.
The Naperville nonprofit dedicated to building resilient kids who say no to destructive choices and yes to their endless possibilities.
McGury, who also served as Bolingbrook Police Chief, a captain in the Naperville Police Department, commander of the DuPage Major Crimes Task Force and an undercover operative for the state of Illinois and DEA Task Forces, serves on the KidsMatter advisory board.
"Ray has been a great leader focused on supporting young people, both in his capacity as park district executive and in his policing career," says KidsMatter Executive Director Nina Menis. "He had been a valued and insightful advisor to KidsMatter and a champion for the well-being of kids throughout our community. There have been many times when we know he has gone above and beyond for kids. This honor is our way of recognizing his tireless dedication to ensuring kids are safe and mentally and physically healthy."
The gala also will honor Edward-Elmhurst Foundation for their recent mental health grant which will allow KidsMatter to launch a program providing Mental Health Career Pathways programming for high school seniors.
The program, currently in development, aspires to provide youth with a number of opportunities to study and intern in mental health and pharmacy fields for high school and college credit and a possible Pharmacy Tech certification. KidsMatter is currently working with Naperville Unit District 203, Indian Prairie Unit District 204, College of DuPage and Edward-Elmhurst Hospital on specific curriculum.
"This is an exciting opportunity for us to combine our efforts to ensure youth have the tools they need to ensure mental health with an opportunity to enhance our commitment to helping youth find paths to careers that are meaningful to them," Menis said. "This collaboration gives us a double-edged sword to fight the stressors that can debilitate young people making kids aware of how they can stay health and empowering them to help others. We look forward to having more details in the coming months."
Special guest Horace Grant, former Chicago Bull and NBA Ambassador, will attend the gala prior to conducting a mental health fitness workshop on the importance of values and mentorship for select youth and their coaches the next day.
A limited number of special tickets to attend a pre-gala meet-and-greet with Grant are available to gala ticket buyers.
The 2022 KidsMatter Empower Gala includes cocktails, dinner, entertainment late night snacks and dessert. To get tickets, sponsorship information or to make a donation, visit kidsmatter2us.org/empower/.