Hinsdale Junior Woman’s Club Gilded Affair

BY MIKE ELLIS

The Hinsdale Junior Woman’s Club (HJWC) is preparing to hold its annual benefit next month on Feb. 8 at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel on the Near North Side.

The benefit, which functions as the signature event and fundraiser for the HJWC each year, is embracing a more formal theme this year, in conjunction with the club’s 70th anniversary.

Founded in 1949, the HJWC is one of manifold organizations within the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) and Illinois Federation of Women’s Clubs (IFWC). Especially within the past decade, the club has grown tremendously, and it is now the largest IFWC member organization. “This year, we are celebrating our 70th anniversary,” benefit managing chair Jennifer Graham said, “and that’s why we’re bringing it back and making it a little more formal, a little less nightclub-y, because it’s a big anniversary, and we’d like to honor that, with the hard work that the club has done over the years.”

In 2014, the HJWC took its annual benefit to Chicago for the first time, welcoming roughly 800 guests to the Skyline Loft at the Bridgeport Art Center in the neighborhood of the same name on the South Side. The club has continued to host its benefit in the city ever since, selecting a new venue each year appropriately suited to match the adopted theme.

Long devoted to supporting causes impacting women and children, up until 2018, the HJWC partnered with a single beneficiary for two years, over which time it generally donated between $300,000 and $500,000 to that organization, while also lending volunteers and raising awareness on the beneficiary’s behalf.

The club is now in its second year of a more diversified giving approach, awarding grant requests to numerous non-profit organizations in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Last May, the HJWC directed a record $280,000 in benefit proceeds to 18 charities, including The Community House, Wellness House, Aspire and Reclaim13.

Non-profit organizations who either did not enter a request last year or asked for an amount of less than $25,000 had until Oct. 1 to submit their grant applications for the 2019-20 club season. Graham said the HJWC received approximately $1.7 million in grant requests this year, which it is currently in the process of evaluating.

“We approve their application that they are allowed to be submitted to us, and then they get awarded at the end of our fiscal year, once we have final numbers,” she said.

While the funds will ultimately be awarded in May, they will all be raised through the benefit in February.

The theme for the benefit will be “A Gilded Affair,” which Graham described as a “crossover between the Gilded [Age] and James Bond: Casino Royale.” “Everything is very glitzy and very shiny and very glamorous,” she said.

There will be a casino on-site in the second-story Prince of Wales room—which Graham said “lends itself very well to a casino”—sponsored by Therapeutic Health. Other event sponsors include Band & Wire, Hinsdale Dance Academy, Hinsdale Bank & Trust and Evergreen Bank.

From the casino room, guests will find easy access to the ballroom, which is also located on the second floor, and will contain VIP seating.

On the heels of a special appearance by DJ Paul DelVechhio Jr., a/k/a DJ Pauly D, at the 2019 benefit, the HJWC is continuing its theme of high-profile DJs with Joe Nardi, a/k/a NAW-T-BOY Nardi, based in west suburban Elmwood Park.

The benefit will also feature a silent auction, highlighted by a piece of jewelry donated by Tiffany & Co.

“I think that’s going to be one of our bigger silent auction packages,” Graham said of the Tiffany piece.

There are a total of 500 tickets available for the benefit at $185 apiece. Graham said the club is attempting to “scale back” the benefit slightly in order to “give more to the charities.”

Underwriting chair Emily Bower said a number of past HJWC members have expressed interest in attending the event.

“I’ve had several past presidents reach out to me saying they’re super excited to come,” Bower said.

Graham said there are plans to further incorporate the 70th anniversary into the benefit.

“I think it’s going to be an amazing night,” Bower said, “where everyone can come together—they can gamble, they can dance, they can drink, they can visit with their friends, and have a wonderful time.”

The 2020 Hinsdale Junior Woman’s Club benefit, “A Gilded Affair,” will be held from 7:30 p.m. to midnight on Feb. 8 at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago. Tickets are available for $185 apiece, and may be purchased online at agildedaffair.givesmart.com. Sponsorship opportunities are still available, and individuals or corporations interested in sponsoring are encouraged to contact underwritinghjwc@gmail.com. For more information about the Hinsdale Junior Woman’s Club, visit www.hjwc.us. ■