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By Mark A. Marshall, Sheriff, Isle of Wight, Virginia; Immediate Past President, IACP; and Chair, IACP Foundation
| | | | 2011 Foundation Chair Chief Michael Carroll and
Chief Warrant Officer Four Michael Durant (retired) | | | | | | Photographs by Convention Photo by Joe Orlando |
 he Windy City blew in great success for the IACP Foundation’s Fifth Annual Fundraising Gala held on Saturday, October 22, 2011, on the opening night of the 118th Annual IACP Conference in Chicago, Illinois. More than 300 guests joined the Foundation Board and IACP leadership at this glittering event that continues to grow in popularity as one of the hottest tickets in town during the conference. The 2011 gala opened with a glorious blast of pomp and ceremony courtesy of the Pipes and Drums of the Chicago Police Department, who piped guests into the breathtaking and historic Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Chicago. The band finished its performance by honoring outgoing IACP executive director Dan Rosenblatt with a moving chorus of “Danny Boy” in recognition of his exceptional personal and professional support of the Foundation over many years. Guests at the gala were treated to an enthralling presentation by guest speaker Chief Warrant Officer Four Michael Durant (retired), whose life became the inspiration for a bestselling book and the academy award–winning film Black Hawk Down. Durant was the pilot of the black hawk helicopter Super Six Four that was fired upon and crashed during a combat operation in Mogadishu, Somalia, in October 1993. Gala guests listened as Durant recounted how he turned his horrifying experience into a powerful story of survival and motivation. Then-current Foundation Chair Chief Michael Carroll praised each and every Foundation partner in the room—corporate colleagues and individual attendees alike—when he reported that the Chicago gala had raised a record-breaking $125,000 for the programs and the initiatives of the Foundation. “We started this dinner in 2007 and raised $100,000 during that first event, and every year since then, we have surpassed the year before,” said Chief Carroll. “I am so pleased to tell you tonight that we have done it again, by beating the figure of $120,000 that we raised in Orlando in 2011.” In addition to the gala dinner, the Foundation raised additional funds through a series of silent auctions, earning almost $7,000 from the purchase of auction memorabilia. Further, thanks to a vigorous bidding war on the exhibit hall floor, the IACP Foundation successfully auctioned off an engraved Sig Sauer P229 firearm—the third in a series donated by Sig Sauer beginning in 2009—for more than $1,300. Finally, at IACP 2011 the Foundation kicked off its first fundraising raffle for a 2012 Harley-Davidson Peace Officer Edition motorcycle. The raffle winner will be drawn on August 1, 2012. ■ For more information, visit http://www.theiacpfoundation.org. The board and staff of the IACP Foundation sincerely thank every individual and organization that participated in the gala dinner event, with special thanks to the following dedicated partners: - Dinner sponsor: Lockheed Martin
- Gold sponsors: LexisNexis, Motorola, Target, Verizon Wireless, and Intrado Inc.
- Silver sponsors: 3i-Mind, AT&T, Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, OnStar, and TASER
- Bronze sponsors: ADT, the Alarm Industry Association, Blauer Manufacturing Inc., Contemporary Services Corporation, Deloitte, DuPont, ELSAG North America, and the LEIM Section of the IACP
Please cite as: Mark A. Marshall, "Fifth Annual Foundation Fundraiser Stands Tall in City of Big Shoulders," IACP Foundation, The Police Chief 79 (January 2012): 10.
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