East Alton, IL – August 4, 2009 — On July 24, two Illinois charities found themselves with an extra $75,000 each. The reason for the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) and Habitat for Humanity’s good fortune is that funds were presented from the 3rd Annual Dinner Auction held this past spring by the Simmons Employee Foundation, the law firm’s non-profit organization dedicated to giving back to local communities.
The handover of money is the culmination of an event that sold out the Gateway Center on May 21 in Collinsville, Illinois. There, Simmons Hanly Conroy employees, friends and local businesses showed their generous support for Habitat and NAMI. Some of the scores of items that were up for grabs at the live auction were home-plate seats to a Cardinals-Cubs baseball game in September, a seven-night European getaway, and a weekend trip to see the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
Local daily newspaper The Telegraph quoted Mark Allison of the Wood River chapter of Habitat for Humanity on the donation, “It will be a boost our chapter. This puts us in line immediately to start a project which we will do in South Roxana, and depending how successful we are with fund-raising we should have seed money for our next house. This is the largest gift that the chapter has ever received.”
“In this economy, it is especially gratifying to see the continued generosity of the Simmons Employee Foundation result in much-needed help for our community,” said John Simmons, founding shareholder of Simmons Hanly Conroy. “NAMI and Habitat for Humanity are both worthy organizations that contribute greatly to underserved local populations.”
The Lewis & Clark Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit housing organization that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from Madison and Bond Counties, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner (partner) families.
The National Alliance of Mental Illness in Madison County (NAMI of Madison County) is a non-profit support group for the family and friends of persons with mental illness. It provides a monthly “Caring and Sharing” session, as well as educational sessions on mental illness. NAMI of Madison County provides a much-needed roadmap to recovery through the services it extends to the community.
About Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC
The Simmons Hanly Conroy is a leading national law firm in the fight against mesothelioma. With offices in Illinois and California, the firm has represented thousands of patients and families affected by mesothelioma from all across the country. The mesothelioma lawyers at Simmons Hanly Conroy are passionate about improving the lives of victims of mesothelioma and asbestos-related illnesses and have pledged over $15 million to cancer research. The firm also has practice areas in intellectual property, pharmaceutical litigation, and business litigation.
