Executive Director,Arloa Sutter

On Thursday, December 8th, ABC Primetime did a segment about charitable giving. In short, high end donors and celebrities are giving more money and support to universities and symphonies and less to shelters and soup kitchens. Universities like Harvard have billions of dollars in assets. At the same time, giving to charities that work with the poor has been decreasing for three years in a row. "Nobody wants to be seen at the local homeless shelter, but they would like to be seen at the Symphony Hall", says Trent Stamp, who runs a non-profit Web site called the Charity Navigator, which evaluates and tracks America's charitable contributions.

"If you're working with citizens in this country who are not eating tonight, to me, that's a much more worthwhile cause than people who like to hear a symphony," comments Stamp. As for this winter, he says, "I think it's going to be a very cold and very hungry winter for our most vulnerable citizens."

Thanks for your commitment to Chicago's most vulnerable. We appreciate your compassionate giving!

CLICK HERE to make a year-end donation.

Tutors play an important role in helping students gain reading skills.

The school year is nearly half over, and students in Breakthrough's Nettie Bailey Student Achievement Program are working hard to improve their skills. Reading is a particular focus of the program, as many Chicago Public School students struggle to read at their grade level.

When Breakthrough staff first tested students in February of 2004, 38% of students read at grade level. Now 57% read at grade level, and staff expect the rate will increase when students are tested again in January. Overall, 26 students in the Nettie Bailey Student Achievement Program currently read at or above grade level.

Students learn by using flash cards, playing phonics games and reading to tutors. They also use online tools to help them prepare for testing.

According to Academic Coordinator, Andrea Kirksey, tutors are still needed for the program. "Ideally, we'd like to have a one to one tutor/student ratio. Right now, we need about 10 additional tutors each day."

Volunteers are asked to commit to one weekly session for at least one semester. For more information, contact Andrea Kirksey at 773.722.1144 x219 or akirksey@breakthroughministries.com.

Mike Campbell leads a construction team from Willow Creek.

Why did you decide to become involved at Breakthrough?
Several staff members from Willow Creek's Extension Ministries first told us about Breakthrough. After finding out more, we were happy to share our support with such a great ministry. Plus, we look forward to helping out on the west side of the city. A few years ago, we did a project with Habitat for Humanity in West Garfield Park. We formed a great friendship with the woman whose home we helped to build. Now, when we come to help at Breakthrough, we share a meal with this woman in her home. She cooks for us!

Describe your volunteer service.
We are a small group of sorts. Once a month, we serve together by doing construction work. So far, we've done a lot of "handy-man" type work at Breakthrough's Joshua Center. We installed a vent and a mop holder rack in the broom closet. We also put sorting rods in a clothes closet, painted and built shelves. In the future, we plan to fix the closet doors in the computer lab and whatever else needs to be done.

Bruce and his family are members of Western Springs Baptist Church. He is a Senior Vice President at Northern Trust Bank.