Social Responsibility

On Friday, March 22nd, Swoon hosted our fifth annual fundraising event to raise money for Almost Home Kids (AHK), a local organization that offers transitional care and training to families who are bringing their children home from the hospital with complicated health needs.

This year, the event was held in our Chicago office’s building lobby, “The Tenant Lounge at The 300.” This is a brand-new space that was renovated earlier this year. We were very excited to hold our event in the larger venue and to host more guests than we were previously able to. Each ticket included food and beverages, and we were pleased to serve food donated by Mediterranean Express and desserts given by Nothing Bundt Cake and Eli’s Cheesecake.

Our charity committee began planning and gathering donations for the event in early January. We reached out to our friends, family and local organizations to request donations for our gift baskets and silent auction items. Several charitable donors participated, and we had more than 30 raffle baskets and 15 silent auction items available to bid on which was the most we have ever offered! We had a very successful evening with over 90 guests and several bidding wars on our hot ticket items. We raised over $7,000 which was then matched by our CEO and President to total $14,000 donated!

Lindsay Rawlings, Manager AHK Project Management and Martin Grisko, the son of founder Deborah Grisko, attended our event and gave a brief presentation on the organization and the many ways that it helps families in need. Almost Home Kids envisions opening new facilities to service the needs of children with complex medical conditions and their families in other communities throughout the country. Swoon is honored to be able to contribute to the costs associated with running the Almost Home Kids facilities. For more information or to see how you can make an impact, please visit www.almosthomekids.org.

Last Friday, March 23^rd, Swoon and NextGen Global hosted our third annual fundraising event to raise money for the local organization, Almost Home Kids (AHK). The event was held in our office space at 300 S Wacker and took place from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. It included food, drinks, raffle prizes and a silent auction.

Our charity committee began planning and gathering donations for the event in early January. We reached out to our friends, family and local organizations to request donations for our gift baskets and silent auction items. Several charitable donors participated, including Beggar’s Pizza who donated pizza for all our guests the night of the event! We had a very successful evening with over 90 guests and several bidding wars on our hot ticket items.

Judith Mclean, Director of Marketing & Communications at Almost Home Kids attended the event and gave a brief presentation on the organization and the many ways that it helps families in need. AHK offers transitional care and training to families who are bringing their children home from the hospital with complicated health needs. Swoon is honored to be able to contribute to the costs associated with running the Almost Home Kids facilities. For more information or to see how you can make an impact, please visit www.almosthomekids.org.

A special thanks to all our sponsors who made our event possible:

Almost Home Kids Sponsors

From the moment I stepped out of Walgreens with 60 Red Noses to pass out to Swooners and NextGeners I was getting smiles all around. We are a goofy, fun-loving bunch and to have a day dedicated to laughing, having fun AND making a difference for kids … what could be better!

At Swoon we celebrated Red Nose Day last week, donning a ruby red nose for a good cause. We got to hang out listen to records, and just act silly. We started a collection that day and many employees gave, even if only their spare change from lunch. It felt good to be involved.

If you don’t know about Red Nose Day, it’s a great thing to get your office involved in. The initiative raised over $31.5M for kids in need. Half of the money distributed by Red Nose Day 2016 will be spent right here in the U.S. The other half will be spent in some of the poorest communities in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. All money raised supports projects that ensure kids are safe, healthy, and educated. A little bit goes a long way, and it’s a lot of fun.

About Swoon

We are recruiters with an unorthodox method and a proven track record of temporary and direct hire placements. Through an approachable method to recruiting we get to know our clients and candidates then connect the best and the brightest with Fortune 1000 companies nationwide. Are you ready to be Swoon’d?

The Women’s President Organization and American Express recently recognized Swoon as being in the top 50 Fastest Growing Women-Led/Owned Companies. We were number 23! Woot! As a company with headquarters in Chicago, we can truly appreciate the reverence of that number (Bulls fans will understand that reference). This recognition is very, very important to us. When our clients come to us looking for a track record of success creating diverse teams with sought-after skills that outshine the competition—well we embody that! That isn’t just what we do. That is who we are!
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The 50 Fastest Women-Led/Owned companies generated a combined $4.96 billion in 2015 revenues (mean of $99.2 million) and collectively employed 44,744 in 2015 (mean of 1,028). For even greater context and support of a trend Swoon is thrilled to be a part of, Susan Sobott from American Express points out that: “According to our recent State of Women-Owned Businesses report, the number of women-owned firms grew at a rate of five times faster than the national average since the recession.” This means Swoon is indeed in rarified air, on the vanguard of an awesome trend.

Here are some more fun facts we learned about companies owned or led by women:

Average Age: 49
CEOs that founded the business: 92%
Listed companies that do business globally: 44%
Provide health insurance: 92%
Plan to continue to grow their company: 90%
State hiring the best talent as their biggest business challenge: 44%

We especially like the last stat for obvious reasons. It’s not often that your business model and your business get nice validating numbers like this in one press release. “I’m just so pleased to be part of this elite group of women who are moving their visions, their businesses forward,” said Swoon CEO Michelle Baker.

About Swoon

Earlier this month, Swooners got together to host a silent auction to benefit a really great cause. We raised over $13,000 for Almost Home Kids, a charitable organization that provides transitional care in a home-like setting for children with complicated health needs.

Swoon had a lot of help from some great sponsors, including: Gucci, Saks, CareerBuilder, Courtyard Marriott, Cellcosmet, Lagunitas, Headquarters Beercade, Wirtz Beverage, Chicago Fire (TV show), GT Fish and Oyster, Chicago PD (TV show), and Pure Glow.

Everyone was eager to help out such a great local cause. “It’s about enriching the communities we serve, and about teaming up with other like-minded organizations to do something meaningful and creative that has impact,” said Swoon CEO Michelle Baker, “And we always manage to have some fun in the process.” Fellow Swooner

Michael Blachut exclaimed, “It just got a lot cooler to like my already-favorite show, Chicago Fire” after winning an auction for a signed poster from the cast of the hit TV show.

Almost Home Kids helps out kids with complex medical needs but also helps their family adjust to their new lives and unique challenges. They are looking to expand to different communities. If you are interested in learning more about their expansion plans, or consulting services and would like to talk with them about bringing Almost Home Kids to your area, please email Lori Hannon, AHK’s Business Development & Strategy Director atlhannon@almosthomekids.org or call (630) 272-2600.

About Swoon

Maybe you’re looking for some charitable organizations you can help out this year. We learned a lot, had a good time and did our part for some great causes in 2015. So here are some we really like to keep in mind.

Open Heart Magic
We had a great time at the Tricks are for Kids event. Open Heart Magic brings in a majority of its operating funding on this one night, so it’s important that it goes off without a hitch. We wanted to help because we love what they do. They bring bedside magic to hospitals to cheer up young patients. How cool is that right?

Mercy Home
Mercy Home gives kids a stable environment to grow, learn and be kids in. They throw a gala every year and it’s a blast. It’s a well-attended event with many alums coming back to check in. As funding gets more scarce for operations like these, it’s hard not to feel compelled to help in some small way.

HFS Scholars
HFS provides financial assistance and mentoring to inner-city kids who show academic promise and leadership. They’ve helped out three valedictorians at top schools in the city. It just doesn’t seem fair that kids with such academic promise should have to struggle or even skip college because they come from families who struggle financially. We helped with their Casino Night, which was a hit.

Ronald McDonald House
Helping a sick child fight their illness takes a big enough emotional toll on a family. Adding a financial strain can make it all almost too much to bear. RMHC helps families so they can focus on being there for their sick child. One of RMHC’s fundraisers is called Meals from the Heart. It’s a great way to help out. We’re glad we did.

Take Your Marks
And we ran through the cold for good causes this year in some really great events: The Shamrock Shuffle, Hot Chocolate Run and Susan G. Komen. So we didn’t get good weather, we still managed to have a good time. We look to do more of these in 2016. Runners High is an easier thing to come by when you’re running to help those in need in your community.

About Swoon

What could be better this time of year than baking cookies and decorating Christmas trees? Answer: baking cookies and decorating Christmas trees for families in need. The Ronald McDonald house needed people to help their holiday effort so we stepped up by helping spread some Holiday cheer, but there are so many ways to lend a hand.

The Ronald McDonald house helps families with children who have complex medical needs. “Keeping families together when it matters most.” Their work has a huge impact on our families in our community, and we are inspired by the people who dedicate their lives to this mission.

There are So Many Ways to Help

The Ronald McDonald House has some really great volunteering opportunities. From preparing food to cleaning to helping out with fundraisers. We can tell you from experience that it feels great to know the work you’re doing is having such a significant impact on families in the community.

The work you do will make a brighter future for local kids. And, it’s kind of fun baking cookies and decorating trees. So, it was a win-win for us.

About Swoon

Swoon loves the work Mercy Home does.

Most of us come from a loving, stable home, but this isn’t true for everyone. And the public resources for kids who don’t have food, shelter or a loving family to come home to are dwindling in Illinois and around the country. That’s why at Swoon we see it as our obligation to make great efforts to work to improve the communities that we serve and volunteer where we can.

Recently Swooners volunteered to help out at the Mercy Home Christmas party. The party gives alumin of the program a chance to reunite with their families and catch up. It’s a well attended event with over 400 guests last year. Mercy Home asked for help with Food Service, Check In, Administering the toy table, Clean up, etc. We were glad to lend a hand and see the joy the visit from Santa and the toys brought to the people attending. It’s nice to see the great work Mercy Home does in the happy faces of the kids and adults attending the great party.

About Swoon

At Swoon we are dedicated to identifying and connecting great talent with great work. We know that talent resides everywhere, but that it often has to work harder to get recognized and developed in underserved communities. We also know that some of the barriers that keep individuals from underserved communities out of the talent pipeline are starting to dissolve thanks to organizations like HFS Chicago Scholars.

At Swoon we’re also known to enjoy a nice game of cards (among friends), but still have some work to do on our poker face. So imagine our excitement at having the opportunity to help to help HFS Chicago Scholars, an organization committed to helping students from underserved communities get the education and mentoring their talents merit, with their Casino Night.

“I am really glad I volunteered for the HFS Chicago Scholars Charity Event- it was a nice change of pace. I haven’t volunteered for anything like it before. The drinks were flowing and the poker faces were on. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was all for an amazing cause,” remarked Swooner Tara Interrante.

So it appears you can make a difference and have a lot of fun in the process.

Thanks to the volunteers who helped make it all happen:
Mike Wall
Tara Interrante
Deshanna Crockett
Moe Gaffar
Matt Metropulos
Stephanie Kinsey
Adam Noreen
Jack Sawyer

About Swoon

We are technology and professional recruiters with an unorthodox method and a proven track record of temporary and direct hire placements. Through an approachable method to recruiting we get to know our clients and candidates then connect the best and the brightest with Fortune 1000 companies nationwide. Are you ready to be Swoon’d?

There’s always some magic happening around the Swoonscape, so it made sense to share our space with some truly dedicated magicians in training. Open Heart Magic is one of the charitable organizations that inspire us through their creative approach to healing those who need it most in our community. Open Heart performs magic for sick children at their hospital bedside conjuring up excitement, wonder and smiles to these kids who could really use it.

It’s really great having them around the office, they help us keep positive and remind us how it’s more than noble and fulfilling to serve those in need, it’s also kind of fun. A few of us were lucky enough to attend their annual benefit “Tricks are for Kids” which really celebrated their work and spread their magic and creativity across a large room. It felt great being a part of it. “What stood out to me the most was the overwhelming positive attitude of everyone involved in the program,” said Sarah Szymanski after attending.

Everyone seemed to agree with Melinda Simon’s sentiment: “Not only are the magicians able to make the children smile and laugh, but the relief that it brings to their families is truly heartwarming.”

“It was extremely rewarding hearing how this has touched so many families’ lives and that Swoon is a part of that magic!” – Lori Kalbfleisch