LINK Unlimited Scholars DreamKeepers Gala Slated For February 19th

CHICAGO - Feb. 5, 2014 - PRLog -- (CHICAGO) -- LINK Unlimited Scholars (http://www.linkunlimited.org/) will host its 10^th Annual Dream Keeper’s Award Gala (http://www.linkunlimited.org/10th-annual-dreamkeepers-awards-gala/) on Wednesday, February 19^th at the Ritz Carlton Chicago. This year’s event honors Patrice Purcell DeCorrevont, J.P. Morgan, CEO Government, Not-For-Profit and Healthcare Banking.  DeCorrevont is a longtime LINK Mentor, Emeritus Board Member and longtime corporate funder. The event is Co-chaired by Elizabeth Hartigan Connelly, J.P. Morgan, Region Head, Government, Not-For-Profit and Healthcare and Susan Faccenda Walsh, Attorney at Law. Her brothers Paul Purcell, Chairman, President & CEO, Robert W. Baird & Co. and Phillip Purcell, President, Continental Investors, LLC along with Glen Tilton, Chairman, Midwest Region, J.P. Morgan Chase, are serving as Honorary Chairs for this year’s event.

DreamKeeper’s is LINK Unlimited Scholars premier annual fundraiser where over 500 of Chicago’s business, philanthropic and community leaders come together to support LINK’s mission of providing educational college preparatory opportunities for economically disadvantaged African American high school youth. The DreamKeepers Gala spotlights the organizations 48-year focus on educating economically disadvantaged African American youth from some of the Chicagoland’s most underserved neighborhoods.  LINK was founded in 1966, the same year that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Chicago and was greeted with hostility and contempt.

“This event honors Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream of equality and justice”, says Virgil Jones, president & CEO of LINK Unlimited Scholars. “LINK continues to be guided by this principle by focusing on educational crises that affect highly motivated, low-income African American youth”.

The LINK legacy is impressive.

Average GPA for the senior class: 3.3
Average ACT score:  24 (7 points higher than the national avg. of 17 for African Americans)
Number of students accepted to a 4-year college/university: 100%
Number of students accepted to SELECTIVE Institutions:  96%
Number of students receiving FULL Scholarships/Financial Aid:  46%
The amount of scholarship money awarded to the Class of 2013 over 4 years:  $7.2 million!!!!
Distinguished awards: 3 Posse Scholars and 2 Gates Millennium Scholars

Now in its 10^th year, this year's DreamKeepers Award Gala is LINK's premier fundraising event. Master of Ceremonies for the evening will be CBS 2 Chicago Anchor Rob Johnson. The evening begins with cocktails and a silent auction at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 dinner and live auction.  Bidding for the silent auction will begin on-line prior to the DreamKeepers Gala. Online bidding began Wednesday February 5 and will remain open through February 18 at 12:00 p.m., re-opening at 5:00 p.m. on February 19. The highest online bid will be the starting bid at the Gala when the auction re-opens at 5:00p.m. on Wednesday February 19^th.

For more information on DreamKeepers, please contact Naja L. Morris at LINK Unlimited Scholars, 312.225.5465.

ABOUT LINK Unlimited Scholars:

LINK Unlimited Scholars provides educational college preparatory opportunities for economically disadvantaged African American high school youth. In so doing, it integrates mentoring relationships, college readiness and leadership development to foster academic success, personal development and interracial understanding and harmony. For the 13th consecutive year, 100% of LINK graduates were admitted to 4-year colleges and universities. Founded in 1966, LINK has transformed the lives of over 1,850 students.  It is the oldest, most comprehensive and successful educational support program of its kind.  www.linkunlimited.org