Local 'Legacy Guild' Founded to Help Kids Who Have Lost Parents

The early passing of a mother or father is a terrible tragedy for a family for so many reasons that it’s possible for a community to overlook some—like the cost to a child’s hope of attending college in a new, suddenly harsh financial situation.

But a new La Grange-based non-profit group is seeking to tackle that difficulty where it arises by establishing scholarships specifically for students living in District 204 (Lyons Township) who have lost a parent.

The Legacy Guild, officially incorporated this month, was born of a group of about 30 La Grange-area men who noted a spate of local deaths in 2012 that had affected many friends and potentially darkened college prospects for the deceased’s children. (One particular impetus was the passing of Lyons Township High School Board member Bill Purcell.)

“You go to these funerals and you come home and you think, what can we do? How can we help the people left behind, the kids and these parents?” said founding member Brian Davis. “We felt we needed to do something more.”

The Guild will take their first step towards doing something more when they host their first fundraiser for their scholarships, a golf outing at Homewood’s Ravisloe Country Club on Oct. 19. Registration is now open at the Legacy Guild’s website; various levels of sponsorships are also available. (The Guild is hoping for about 130 golfers.)

“It’s a great cause,” said Legacy Guild inaugural president Jack DaDan. “You could help send someone’s kid to college by having a good time… We’ve got to take care of each others’ families.”

Besides the scholarships, the Guild also serves as a support group for its (all-male, Christian-focused) membership to emote and hold open discussion about various issues in their lives—from the passing of friends to self-improvement techniques.

“It’s nice to have a venue to talk about things that you might not talk about in, say, a sports bar,” said DaDan, who added that he’d never before attended any such support or prayer group meetings. “It’s just amazing, some of the comments and viewpoints that some of the people in the community have to offer.”

Members also each share what they can for the organization—some host the biweekly events in their home, others offer organizational or public-relations skill, still others lent their legal knowledge to helping establish the group as a legitimate non-profit.

“I’m really happy with where we are so far,” said Tom Scaletta, another founding member. “Everybody is contributing time, expertise and enthusiasm. Even though we’ve only been promoting it for one week, we’ve already got $10,000 pledged.”

Although a brand-new organization, the Guild has its focus on the long- as well as the short-run.

“The thought is, there’s a lot more kids out there than we know who have lost a parent,” Davis said. “We want to make sure that we help as many kids as possible. We’re just getting off the ground.”

You can learn more about The Legacy Guild at their website, and sign up for the Guild’s first fundraiser here.