Guest Author

We are featuring a guest post by Mark Brady, a Board of Regents member at Mercy Home for Boys & Girls. He is the Head of M&A at William Blair and is heavily involved in his community, also sitting on the board of Communities in School – Chicago. Brady recently had the opportunity to attend the Indy 500 as part of an auction package donated by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at Mercy Home’s Ringside Gala.

Connect with Mark Brady on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter. Read more about William Blair’s community involvement and employee giving in support of Mercy Home’s kids.

It was a perfect day to watch Graham Rahal compete at the 101st Indy 500 on Sunday, May 28th. My wife, Jamie, and I attended the event with the legendary Indy Car racer Bobby Rahal, who is actively involved with Mercy Home, along with his wife and Mercy Home Board of Regents member, Johanna.

Our group started the day with a special tour from Bobby of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. We had the privilege of viewing the Museum’s collection of race cars from various series including NASCAR and other memorabilia. Afterwards, we headed over to the Speedway for a private tour of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team’s pit. The day followed with excitement as we watched Graham pass all the cars, putting himself in first place for a good portion of the race.

After finishing 12th at the Indy 500, Graham went on to qualify 6th at the Indy Series KOHLER Grand Prix. During this race, Graham wore a special helmet as part of a fundraiser for Mercy Home for Boys & Girls. In October 2016, at Mercy Home’s Ringside fundraiser event, the opportunity to create a design for Graham’s helmet at Road America was auctioned off raising $50,000 for Mercy Home.

The generosity shown by the Rahal family and countless others directly helps Mercy Home for Boys & Girls fight childhood poverty, abuse, and neglect in Chicago. To learn how you can make a difference, visit the Mercy Home giving page.