The ninth annual Goombay Bash, hosted by Hortons Home Lighting and its H Foundation, brought 1,100 attendees to the Grand Ballroom at Chicago’s Navy Pier on Aug. 8. The casual, Caribbean-themed event raised $450,000 for cancer research, down about $60,000 from last year’s record tally due to fewer corporate sponsorships.
What began as a small grassroots effort in 2001, when Hortons lost two employees to cancer including 31-year-old Pamela Herts, has grown into a major force in the fight against the disease with continued support from the lighting industry. Hinkley Lighting, Satco, Lights America, Framburg, Holtkötter, WAC Lighting, Forecast, Emerson and Murray Feiss were among the companies participating this year.
To date, the H Foundation and its Goombay Bash have raised $2.9 million for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
Rob Johnson, a news anchor with the local CBS affiliate, emceed the event for the third year in a row. He’s pictured (left) here with Jim Peterik from bands Ides of March and Survivor, who provided musical entertainment and an autographed guitar for auction. Although not in attendance, honorary H Foundation Board member and actress Bonnie Hunt also made an auction donation. Hunt was a former nurse at the Lurie Cancer Center.
The organization is already gearing up for the next Goombay Bash on Aug. 7, 2010, when it will celebrate its 10th anniversary. For more information or to make a donation, visit
www.hfoundation.org.
