Dear Members:

With only five months left in our Chamber’s 100th Anniversary year, now is the perfect time for you or your member business/organization to contribute to our $250,000 Centennial Celebration Capital Campaign—especially with Treasurer Ralph Pechanio offering to match up to $25,000 in gifts to his endowment fund at Elmhurst College.

Featuring the $150,000 Ralph P. Pechanio Student Internship Fund at EC and $100,000 Second Century Fund (including $50,000 for development a public Civic Hall of Fame Memorial)—our Capital Campaign is at 79 percent of goal with $198,052 in gifts, pledges and earnings.

The Pechanio Endowment Fund is at 93 percent of goal ($138,790), including earnings for Fiscal Year 2017 and FY 2018 Year-To-Date, while the Second Century Fund is at 59 percent of goal ($59,262), which includes the $50,000 unrestricted fund at 96 percent ($48,112) and the Civic HOF fund at 22 percent ($11,250).

Our recent solicitation letter with donor form generated $3,600 in Second Century Fund/HOF gifts made by Morningside Group (Elmhurst 255 Downtown Apartments), the law firm of Storino, Ramello & Durkin, the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot Foundation and Judy Coleman of the National Federation of Independent Business.

Elmhurst-Opoly Goes Viral
Our July 27 Facebook post of Elmhurst Mayor Steve Morley receiving the first Elmhurst-Opoly board game went viral with more than 6,700 views and 20 shares, attracting online purchasers as far away as Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia.  To date, nearly 25 percent of the 1,000 games have been bought online, so make your purchase while quantities last.

Coinciding with our Chamber’s Centennial Celebration, Elmhurst-Opoly is designed to provide residents and visitors an entertaining and affordable way to enjoy our community for the next 100 years!!!

Some 100 Elmhurst-Opoly games are being delivered starting this week to the 50-some members who were quick enough to commit to one of our 75 sponsorship opportunities and another 150 games have been sold in advance, leaving only 750 in stock.

Follow/Like Us On Facebook
Thanks to our Elmhurst-Opoly post and another viral post promoting the Cool Cars Under The Stars nights at Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187 (more than 5,600 views and 45 shares), our Facebook page picked up some 50 new likes and followers, putting us at 1,095 and 1,092, respectively.

Nearly 1,800 people viewed our Facebook post of the Chamber Ambassador ribbon cutting photo from Christopher Glass and Aluminum’s July 27 Grand Opening, in part because of the globe structure from outside the Sears Tower featured in the background.

Elmhurst Cycling Classic
Elmhurst Our Kind of Town will air coverage of the Sixth Annual Superior Ambulance Elmhurst Cycling Classic, organized by the DuPage Cycling Foundation, on Comcast Channel 6 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 on Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m.  Later, the program can be viewed online at elmhursttv.com.

Happy Anniversaries
Four members are celebrating milestone Chamber anniversaries in August, as follows:  25 yearsMostardi-Platt; 20 yearsKing Construction; 10 yearsMetropolitan Family Services – DuPage; and 5 yearsAXA Advisors.

Thanks also to Mostardi-Platt for hosting the Elmhurst Economic Development Commission’s July 27 meeting.

New Members
The Chamber welcomed two new members in July as follows:  Velasco Insurance Agency and Windy City Ninjas.

No Longer Members
The Chamber said goodbye to the following six members in July:  Commercial Tire Service, Elmhurst Family Restaurant, Hazyl Boutique, Karl Meyer Plumbing, Sushi Nest and Tree Towns Imaging & Color Graphics.