CHICAGO TRIBUNE CHARITIES ANNOUNCES GRANTS OF $752,000 TO CHICAGOLAND ORGANIZATIONS THAT STRENGTHEN FAMILIES

CHICAGO, October 18, 2007 — Chicago Tribune Charities, a McCormick Tribune Foundation Fund, announced that 29 programs committed to strengthening families in the Chicagoland area will receive grants totaling $752,000. Chicago Tribune readers’ gifts through the newspaper’s annual Holiday Giving campaign are a key source of funding for these grants. Grants are approved by the McCormick Tribune Foundation board of directors based on recommendations from the Foundation staff and a Chicago Tribune Charities advisory committee, which consists of Chicago Tribune employees.

Chicago Tribune Charities’ family strengthening initiative supports its Child and Family Development program area. The four subcategories within the Family Strengthening category include: children’s treatment, domestic violence, early intervention and positive parenting.

“Healthy family relationships are so important. We are committed to efforts that strengthen families by building parenting skills and providing family trauma treatment,” said Janet Dobbs, Chicago Tribune director of development and co-chair of the Chicago Tribune Charities advisory committee.

The following nonprofits committed to providing children’s treatment received grants totaling $127,000:

• Advocate Charitable Foundation
• Bridge Youth and Family Services
• Children’s Advocacy Center
• Children’s Research Triangle
• Lake County Council Against Sexual Assault
• Proviso Township Mental Health Center

  The following nonprofits committed to providing support for domestic violence victims received grants totaling $165,000:

  • Apna Ghar, Inc.
  • Communities Crisis Center, Inc.
  • Crisis Center for South Suburbia
  • Lake County Crisis Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Domestic Violence
  • Life Span
  • Turning Point

  The following nonprofits committed to early intervention received grants totaling $125,000:

  • Chicago Lighthouse for People Who are Blind or Visually Impaired
  • Easter Seals Joliet Region, Inc.
  • Good Shepherd Center for Exceptional Children
  • La Rabida Children’s Hospital and Research Center
  • Marklund Children’s Home

  The following nonprofits committed to positive parenting received grants totaling $335,000:

  • Family Focus, Inc.
  • Hephzibah Children’s Home Association
  • Jewish Child and Family Services
  • Juvenile Protective Association
  • Lydia Home
  • Metropolitan Family Services
  • Mujeres Latinas en Accion
  • Northern Illinois Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
  • Omni Youth Services
  • Parenthesis, Inc.
  • SGA Youth and Family Services
  • Women’s Treatment Center

  About Chicago Tribune Charities
  Chicago Tribune Charities, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, annually raises millions of dollars from generous donors through the Chicago Tribune Holiday Giving campaign. These gifts, plus matching funds from the McCormick Tribune Foundation, provide funding for grants to organizations that help alleviate hunger, promote reading and literacy, and strengthen families. Chicago Tribune and McCormick Tribune Foundation cover all administrative and promotional expenses, so that every cent of every dollar donated goes to work in supporting non-profit organizations, and 100 percent of the funds raised and matched stay in the Chicagoland area. In 2006, 161 grants totaling more than $5.8 million were distributed throughout Chicagoland. Chicago Tribune Charities represents a partnership between the McCormick Tribune Foundation and Chicago Tribune. The mission of Chicago Tribune Charities is in keeping with both the mission of the Foundation’s Communities Program, to stimulate local philanthropy and improve community life, and the company’s mission, which is to help people throughout Chicagoland engage their world and to strive every day to make a difference for the communities the company serves that goes well beyond words. For more information about Chicago Tribune Charities, please visit: chicagotribune.com/about/custom/community.

  About the McCormick Tribune Foundation
  The McCormick Tribune Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to making life better for our children, communities and country. Through its charitable grant-making programs, Cantigny Park and Golf, Cantigny First Division Foundation and the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, the Foundation positively impacts people’s lives and stays true to its mission of advancing the ideals of a free, democratic society. The Foundation is an independent nonprofit, separate from the Tribune Co. For more information, please visit our Web site www.McCormickTribune.org. The McCormick Tribune Foundation’s communities program is a unique effort that stimulates local philanthropy and improves community life across the country. To encourage donations, the Foundation matches, up to pre-determined limits, contributions from its general funds at the rate of 50 cents on the dollar and then makes grants directly to nonprofits in the communities from which the donations were made. The Foundation and the partners cover all campaign administrative costs, so 100 percent of the public’s generosity, plus the match earned, goes directly to agencies providing critical services in each community.