Every day we’re touched by the outpouring of support we receive from our friends in the community.  One such example is a creative connection made by our pal Sven, who ran the marathon on our team this year and whose beautiful wife is a cancer survivor.  He introduced us to a talented local band called Elsinore.  They’re donating 100 percent of proceeds from remixes by Sven of “Gasoline” -off of their album Yes Yes Yes- to Imerman Angels in support of our mission to help make 1-on-1 cancer connections.  Check it out here: http://elsinore.bandcamp.com/album/svens-gasoline-trio.

Elsinore is based in Champaign-Urbana and they’ve had national exposure with their title track “Yes Yes Yes” being featured on “So You Think You Can Dance.” Kohl’s has also used this track as part of their national ad campaign.   Channeling the work of modern-day masters Ben Gibbard and Sufjan Stevens, songwriter Ryan Groff has crafted a batch of vivacious yet personal songs that joyfully soundtrack the simplistic bliss of life in the Midwest.

Recorded over two years and a thousand studio hours, Yes Yes Yes is a textured and dynamic song-scape. The album flows organically through epic, passionate rockers (Landlocked, Gasoline), hushed and intimate confessions (Body of Water, Breathing Light), and playful accounts of legendary locals (Chemicals). Groff’s Thom Yorke-esque voice elicits moods of vulnerability and positivity, and pulls from the entire spectrum of love itself. The album was co-produced with Adam Schmitt (HUM, Headlights) and Anthony Gravino, and was mastered by Jon Pines (Billy Bragg & Wilco, Jay Bennett, Braid) in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

Yes Yes Yes is much more than a statement of positivity. It’s an enthusiastic realization; an honest and autobiographical display of humanism. These are stories of self-examination, sacrifice, compromise, and lessons learned.

What a great thematic fit for our own mission!  Thanks, Sven.

Snap a pic wearing Imerman Angels apparel anywhere in the world – or post it on our Facebook fan page- and we’ll include it in our ongoing blog series, “Where in the World is IA??”  Thanks to David Hardin for posing at the Mall of America!

The season of fall-  it’s when the leaves change colors, the weather gets colder, Halloween flew on by and snow is just a few weeks away.  This season also has another very important purpose that many people don’t remember.  It’s a season of cancer awareness.   October is a month to raise awareness for a cancer that affects an estimated 230,480 new women every year- breast cancer.  November is another big month dedicated to cancer awareness- for Lung, Prostate and Stomach cancer!  Whether you grow a moustache or wear purple, any little bit helps to raise awareness.

Some people may ask why cancer awareness is so important.  Most people already know generalities about cancer and think that it is enough.  Some may think getting cancer will never happen to them or they will not be affected by it in some way.  Others may not think a month dedicated to cancer awareness is needed.  But awareness is needed for countless reasons.  That month to raise awareness helps teach methods of early detection and increases fundraising to continue searching for a cure.

Many people believe cancer will not affect them or their lives, but awareness movements, like October and breast cancer, help people learn the early signs.  Knowing about the early signs can save a person’s life.  Awareness helps ensure the cancer gets caught early and treatment can be started immediately.  Without awareness movements many cancers may not be caught until it’s too late. Awareness helps people come together in support of each other and those touched by cancer.    Awareness is essential to continue fighting against cancer.

Laurie Grossinger, Gary Grossinger, Brian Weinberg, Ron Stone, Jonny Imerman

Imerman Angels once again partnered with Chicago fashion house AKIRA to host the 8^th Annual Garden of Even Fashion Show: Hall of Mirrors, on Sunday, October 2- kicking off Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Grossinger City Autoplex, a state-of-the-art 400,000 square-foot space in Lincoln Park, served as an industrial-chic backdrop for AKIRA’s newest crop of metallic minidresses, shiny blazers, and textured blouses. The gritty glam runway attracted over 3,000 guests who were treated to exciting music from DJ Madrid, AKIRA pop-up shops featuring their most stylish merchandise, live break dancers, and drinks and hors d’oeuvres from the city’s hottest eateries. The night continued as fashion hit the streets for an exclusive afterparty held at Japonais.

The clothing & footwear sponsors who made the night possible included: Wolverine, William Rast, PF Flyers, Original Penguin, AKIRA Black Label, Ben Sherman, Michael Antonio, ZiGi NY, and Jeffrey Campbell.  The food and beverage sponsors who generously donated their services for the event included: N9NE Steakhouse, Prasino, Epic, Burger Bar, Barn & Company, Moe’s Cantina, Dos Diablos, 4Rebels, Market, Cabot Creamery, LUNDA, Goose Island, Vitaminwater, Fuze, popchips, and Pirate’s Booty. Upstaging graciously provided the lighting for the show and the Bartenders Group donated bartending staff for the event.

Proceeds from the event go toward our mission to connect cancer fighters with survivors to enable 1-on-1 support.

Core Value # 3: Never let fundraising distract us from our mission
Of course we graciously and gladly accept donations! However, we believe it’s most important to dedicate our time, energy, and resources to our mission.

At Imerman Angels, we want to stay focused on what’s really important in the work that we do: making connections. We’re able to do this with help from fantastic supporters, like our friends at AKTA Web Studio, who recently donated the proceeds from a trivia night to benefit personalized 1-on-1 cancer support.

Below is a message written by Pascale from AKTA:

“How much can something intangible like hope, faith or optimism be worth?  For a cancer patient, these can be invaluable–life saving even. Imerman Angels is an inspiring organization that wants to make these intangibles procurable for cancer patients.  John Roa, head wizard at AKTA web studio, has witnessed this first-hand as his family member faced the fight against duodenal cancer years ago and will never forget the impact a social network, mentor and friends made.  All over the world individuals have to fight the horrors of cancer, but Imerman Angels ensures they won’t have to go at it alone.

We are a UX/UI strategy and design startup company based in Chicago and have been blown away on so many occasions by how such a huge place can seem so small.  Everyone is always so ready and willing to lend a hand (or two), share experiences, offer help, create connections and come together.  We decided it was time to give back to the community, so we invited a subset of Chicago’s tech and web thought leaders and friends to join us in a friendly game of trivia. Our only hope was to fill a room with great people, educate them about an irreplaceable cause and have fun.  With every attendee’s donation matched by AKTA, a fun night of trivia helped to ensure that the Imerman Angels service remains completely free to those in need–we LOVE that.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support the cause and thanks to Imerman Angels for being so fantabulous to coordinate with.  We hope this is the first of many Pascale and AKTA team.”

We’re so happy to have had the opportunity to work together with AKTA and are thankful for their continued support!

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