February 27, 2018
On February 15th, a group of Epsteins architects, engineers and executives attended the annual ACE Mentor Chicago Luncheon held at the Chicago Hilton Grand Ballroom. Epstein & our in-house employee run charity, the Epstein Community Foundation (ECF), are proud and long-time sponsors of ACE Chicago, a program which engages, sponsors and mentors Chicago-area students with an interest in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry. ACE Chicago places a special focus on recruiting minority and female students; groups that are significantly under-represented in the construction and design industry. ACE Chicago also financially supports each student's continued success through scholarships and grants. And, this fundraising luncheon, which was attended by over 50 firms and 700 people, all coming together to raise funds and celebrate the great accomplishments of the program, and most importantly its mentors and mentees, set fund-raising records for ACE Chicago as over $310K dollars was raised for the program, $23K more than last year!
Photos courtesy of Tone Stockenström Photo, Inc
This ACE Luncheon, for which WTTWs Geoffrey Baer served as the MC, also represents a great opportunity for sponsors like Epstein & the ECF to further connect with the ACE Program as each table is joined by a student who is actively participating in the program and a mentor to act as ambassadors for the donors. During the luncheon, tables were tasked with a contest to create either the Daley Plaza Picasso sculpture or the Chicago Water Tower out of straws and Dots candy. Two winning tables were selected and each won a $500 scholarship provided by the ECF to the student sitting at that winning table!
(from left to right, Epstein's Criss Paccione-Anderson & Jenn Pisano, ACE Mentor Chicago ECF Scholarship Winners - Justine Yan and Gabriela Aguilar-Ripley, and Epstein's Jake Effinger)
Lastly, a big thanks goes out to the Epsteiners representing the company as well as the ECF at this great event, a group that besides Criss, Jenn and Jake also included Jim Jirsa, Randy Buescher, Jon Scales, and Tim Gall.