Mercy Home’s Associate Board officially kicked off our March for Kids celebrations at Butch McGuire’s on March 2.  March for Kids is a multi-faceted, month-long celebration of Mercy Home’s impact on our community that uses the festivities around St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago to create awareness and support for our mission. Our Associate Board is a group of young professionals dedicated to helping our kids. 

Attendees gathered on a Saturday afternoon at the storied Division Street hangout to enjoy food, drinks, and community with friends and fellow board members. The event was the most successful since pre-Covid kickoffs, with nearly 150 tickets sold.

The event ended with a raffle, where the lucky winners took home gift cards, bottles of wine and spirits, tickets to the Chicago Bears draft party, and more. And because these guests showed up to support our kids, everyone left a winner.

The March continues through St. Patrick’s Day weekend when Mercy Home marches in the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day and South Side Irish Parades. 

Following the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade, friends will gather for our annual Post Parade Party at Venue SIX10, just steps away from the parade route across from Grant Park. The family-friendly celebration includes live Irish music and step dancers, an Irish-themed buffet, special children’s activity section, and more.

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 ten years, it was known as Shamrocks for Kids before being renamed and expanded in 2014. 

Today, Mercy Home’s March for Kids involves significant promotion from media and corporate partners and is a time when we offer donors the chance to make their support go twice as far. Thanks to a generous benefactor, gifts to Mercy Home through March 31 will be matched, up to $100,000. March for Kids is an outstanding time to let the public know more about the great things you make possible in the lives of our young people and families while raising the resources our young people need to build brighter futures. 

We are thankful to Associate Board members and social committee chairs Emily Daniels and Kathleen McGovern, who helped make this event such a tremendous success! Thank you to our friends at Butch McGuire’s for being such a generous supporter of our Home year after year. And thank you to everyone who attended the kickoff event—you are truly making this a March for Kids!