Chicago Yacht Club asks all participants to consider making a generous donation to one or more of our designated charities or become a benefactor by making a Medal Level Donation. Each of our designated charities makes a difference in the lives of Chicago’s children, each in different ways.
CHARITABLE PARTNERS
The Chicago Yacht Club Foundation is a charitable organization that exists to bring the joys and benefits of boating to all, with a primary focus on youth from underrepresented communities. Through our nautical education programs, grants & scholarships, and support to other organizations which share our mission, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation has a robust set of on- and off-the-water programs that serve this mission in Chicagoland, and provide resources for those in Chicagoland and elsewhere who wish to continue beyond what the Foundation offers. Learn more about what we do, and support the Foundation at
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This year, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation has begun to support the development of community sailing immersion programs – opportunities for underrepresented kids to attend sailing school programs in the Chicago area. In 2022, the Foundation is serving as the Platinum Sponsor for the Jackson Park Yacht Club Foundation’s Open Horizons program, which makes sailing school classes available to more than 200 kids in the South Shore and Englewood neighborhoods. Additionally, the Foundation – in partnership with the Chicago Yacht Club – launched the First Annual SOS Illinois Sailing Camp, which is an exclusive sailing experience from kids from SOS Illinois Villages Illinois, one of the three charitable partners associated with the Chicago Regatta. In 2023, the Foundation will use all funds raised from the Chicago Regatta this year to expand on these community sailing immersion programs.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago (BBBS) is an affiliate of the oldest, most respected mentoring organization in the US. BBBS, which is 100% free to youth and families, makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”) from age seven through high school graduation across four counties in Metro Chicago: Cook, DuPage and Lake Counties in Illinois and Indiana.
By engaging with historically marginalized communities, BBBS provides equitable access through exposure to new mentoring relationships, experiences, and opportunities. Their programming fosters behavior modeling, educational achievement, and social emotional learning, all of which are critical to a child’s development and future promise. BBBS programs are proven to keep kids in school, out of trouble and on the path to post-graduate success. Learn more and get involved at bbbschgo.org.
Thousands of kids across Chicagoland are waiting for a mentor. Choosing which one to help, that shouldn’t be an option. That’s why BBBS is committed to ultimately doubling the number of youth they serve annually and transforming communities through the power of one-to-one mentoring.
No one organization, family or adult can take on all the challenges facing our kids today. But we know mentoring works. Big Brothers Big Sisters has a proven solution to help Chicagoland youth stay on the path to a successful future. Your support allows them to make more matches between caring, committed adult volunteers and children waiting for a mentor than ever before.
SOS Children's Villages Illinois offers an innovative approach to traditional foster care. Their model of care gives children the opportunity to live in a nurturing, stable, single-family home with their brothers and sisters in the care of a full-time, professionally trained Foster Parent in one of the Villages. Children benefit from the stability of remaining with their siblings as well as the support of neighboring SOS Illinois Foster Parents and the entire community.
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The kind and generous funds from the Chicago Regatta helps SOS Children’s Villages Illinois at a most crucial time to support the needed educational and emotional needs of the children in our care. This level of support significantly aids our efforts to address many of the educational gaps that occurred during the pandemic.
In addition, this gift allows us to enrich clinical services for the children and families to find security and stability to keep their lives moving forward. SOS Illinois is most grateful to the Chicago Regatta Committee for all the resources they provide to children in need and for being a consistent beacon of hope to many.