Another March to Remember

March 31, 2026

It was another incredible St. Patrick’s Day weekend in Chicago as Mercy Home joined with friends to raise funds and awareness in support our life-saving mission.

While St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Tuesday, celebrations in Chicago and at Mercy Home began ramping up shortly after March roared in. Once again we welcomed friends from overseas, paraded through rain and revelers in the city’s two major St. Patrick’s Day parades, and hosted a party filled with delicious food, music, and dance, all while honoring the important work being done in the lives of our young people. While all these festivities were organized as part of our annual March for Kids campaign, the hospitality extended over the weekend has deeper roots in our Home’s history and culture.

The festivities began at the Home on Friday when Fr. Scott welcomed our friends from County Cork, Ireland including the Cork County Mayor, Cllr. Mary Linehan Foley. The mayor and our guests then exchanged gifts with Fr. Scott and took a tour of the Home.

On Saturday, March 14, board members, March for Kids sponsors, coworkers, and other friends of the Home braved the cold and wind to gather in Grant Park with Fr. Scott at Mercy Home’s float before marching down Columbus Drive in the 70th annual Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade, hosted by Plumbers Local Union 130. Fr. Scott was warmly greeted by emcees at the reviewing stand while Mercy Home received extended accolades for its work with Chicago’s youth by parade broadcast hosts from ABC7 Chicago.

Board members and other friends helped generate name at the parade by handing out Mercy Home branded items like chip clips, carabiners, beads, and bottled hand sanitizer to revelers lining both sides of the parade route. US99 radio personalities Austin Huff and Melissa McGurren were also on hand to help excite the parade spectators and draw attention to our parade entry. They encouraged parade goers to support Mercy Home while a US99 curated playlist of country hits played.

After the parade, guests headed across Grant Park to Venue SIX10 and our annual family friendly Post Parade Party. On the 9th and 10th floors of the Spertus Institute building, where floor-to ceiling windows provided sweeping views of the lakefront, guests enjoyed a variety of delicious food, kid and adult beverages, arcade and carnival games, music from St. Stephen’s Green, and traditional Irish dance performances by the Hogan Irish Dance Academy and Trinity Academy of Irish Dance. And no St. Patrick’s Day celebration would be complete without the thunderous entrance and march-through from the world-famous Shannon Rovers, whose bags and pipes reverberated throughout the cavernous, multi-level event space.

Fr. Scott addressed the audience and thanked them for all they do for our Home, while singling out sponsors and our friends from Cork who were in attendance.

Like last year, the highlight of the celebration was provided by certified Irish dance teacher Kate Flanagan. With the help of her sister, Mercy Home’s Molly Riley and a few friends, Flanagan led a traditional Irish céilí dance known as the Walls of Limerick played by our event musicians in St. Stephen’s Green. Audience participation was the goal, and the infectious energy of the traditional Irish dance brought guests of all ages to the floor. Even the lead singer from St. Stephen’s Green hopped down from the stage to join in as her bandmates continued to play.

For a glimpse of our Post Parade Party celebration, check out our photo gallery.

Our Post Parade Party was only possible because of our amazing sponsors, coworkers, and volunteers. We wanted to give a special thanks to Rich Daniels and the City Lights Orchestra for providing audio-visual for the event. And thank you to all our board members who help sell tickets, to our many volunteers, and to everyone who attended.

The March, Continued

A little bit of rain didn’t dampen spirits on Sunday, March 15, when our young women rode the Mercy Home float in the annual South Side Irish Parade–the largest community-based St. Patrick’s Day parade outside of Dublin, Ireland. They did a great job representing the Home and helping hype up the crowd, as did Molly Riley on the mic!

While so much of the awareness raising about Mercy Home surrounds the parade weekend and the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, the critical fundraising aspect of the March for Kids program ran throughout the entire month of March. The primary donation vehicle was at Mercy Home’s website. Contributions to mercyhome.org through March 31 were matched by a generous donor.

Aiding the effort are friends in Chicago media. While US99 personalities joined us for the parade, they’ve also been promoting our March for Kids campaign with both pre-recorded PSAs and on-air mentions since the beginning of the month. Melissa and Austin also interviewed COO Joe Wronka the week after the parades.

Similarly, our long-time television partner ABC7 helped reach new audiences with news of our program, airing PSAs featuring weatherman Greg Dutra since March 1, and also welcoming Mercy Home Communications Director Mark Schmeltzer onto their newscast to talk about Mercy Home and how people can help.

Mercy Home’s March for Kids has been held annually under different names, since 1996 when it was known as A Touch O’ Green. For years, it was known as Shamrocks for Kids before being renamed and expanded in 2014. The annual public outreach, awareness, and fundraising effort was rooted in our participation in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and has always leveraged the energy and events occasioned by St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago to raise awareness of work on behalf of kids and families in crisis and support that makes it possible.