Breakthru IL and BUILD Chicago Celebrate the "Summer of Opportunity"

Jun. 28, 2017

Breakthru Beverage Illinois and BUILD Chicago came together Friday at the “Summer of Opportunity” with the aim to help set Chicago’s youth up for a safe and successful summer.

“‘Summer of Opportunity’ went beyond ‘put the guns down;’ we helped change the story about neighborhoods like Austin,” BUILD Executive Director Adam M. Alonso said.

With nearly 2,000 people in attendance, The Summer of Opportunity began with a parade from the intersection of Cicero Avenue and Jackson Boulevard to Columbus Park, where a community celebration took place.

Sixty-five organizations local to the Austin neighborhood, BUILD staff and nearly 250 associates from Breakthru IL comprised the abundance of volunteers who helped to distribute food to attendees and oversee activities.

“Our associates’ participation in the ‘Summer of Opportunity’ is what truly defines Breakthru,” said David Lockie, president of Breakthru’s Midwest region. “The hundreds of volunteers should be proud of the joy and community involvement, which resulted from the well-planned event.”

The celebration involved performances by nearly 25 groups including local dancers, spoken word artists and singers. Various zones of the park offered climbing walls, bouncy houses, basketball and face painting among many other activities for youth in attendance. In addition to the actives, a vendor fair offered youth the opportunity to learn more about potential summer activities and jobs.

"What better way to kick off the summer than for families and kids to enjoy spending time together and getting plugged into summer opportunities,” said Alonso. “It shows the world that good things happen, even in communities that are struggling.”

Summer can be a turbulent time for Chicago’s youth, as temperatures rise and children are not in school. The hope for the “Summer of Opportunity” was to help combat the potential for summer violence and involvement in negative activities. Breakthru IL’s involvement not only in this celebration, but also its partnership with BUILD as a whole, directly aligns with the company’s mission to give back to its communities.

“Despite the challenges facing our neighborhoods, I am proud to see community members and partners like Breakthru Beverage working together more than ever to find positive solutions to the issues we face,” Alonso said.

While BUILD and Breakthru are proud of the event’s success, both organizations realize their work and commitment to Chicago’s communities is far from complete. Breakthru IL looks forward to continuing its partnership with BUILD Chicago, and to many more volunteer opportunities to come. Thank you to all who helped make this event possible.

More on the “Summer of Opportunity” from local news outlets:

ABC 7 – “'Summer of Opportunity' kicks off in Austin” and ‘Summer of Opportunity’ community program launches in Austin neighborhood”
WBEZ – Listen here
wttw – “Austin Community Leaders Kick Off Summer with Parade, Festival”
Chicago Sun Times –  as featured in “For Mayor Rahm Emanuel, it's a small world,” in the second half of the article under subhead, "Wirtz family's busy day."