Million Dollar Round Table Foundation

Park Ridge, Illinois (October 16, 2002) — As part of its Corporate Citizen Grant program, the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Foundation donated $2,500 to the Park Ridge Juniors Foundation.

The MDRT Foundation's 2002 Corporate Citizens Grant presented to Park Ridge Juniors in support of the First Step Foundation, a support group for quadriplegics.
MDRT Foundation president, Mitchell W. Ostrove, CLU, ChFC, presents a $2500 grant to Park Ridge Junior Benefit Co-Chairwoman, Joane Blumeshine (not pictured, Benefit Co-Chairwoman, Terrie Fara)..

The MDRT Foundation’s grant to the Park Ridge Juniors Foundation went to purchase a car from the Bredemann Group of Park Ridge. The car will be raffled off at the Park Ridge Juniors Foundation 50th anniversary black tie dinner and dance benefit on Friday, November 8, 2002, at Café la Cave in Rosemont. “The car raffle is essential to our success,” said Mary Hogan of the Park Ridge Juniors Foundation. The benefit will raise funds for various community organizations, scholarships and this year’s major recipient, First Step Foundation.

Each year the Juniors Foundation selects one major recipient to benefit from its numerous annual charitable activities, committed to improving the quality of life in and around Park Ridge. First Step is a support group for quadriplegics started by a group of friends of Notre Dame high school hockey player Michael Schwass, whose neck was broken in an ice hockey accident in 1975. The mission of the First Step Foundation is to help educate quadriplegics to acquire the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual well-being to thrive and contribute to the world around them.

The funds raised by the Park Ridge Juniors benefit will go to the First Step Foundation’s first annual First Step Foundation Forum, an opportunity for quadriplegics, their families, and caregivers to come together and attend a full day of motivational seminars and training sessions covering a variety of subjects pertinent to quadriplegics.

The Park Ridge Juniors, celebrating 50 years of philanthropic efforts, is a volunteer group of local women. Every penny raised goes to a major recipient, scholarships for high school seniors and numerous other local charities. Last year, Lutheran General Hospital Emergency and Trauma Center was the group’s major recipient.

The MDRT Foundation was created in 1959 to provide Round Table members with a means to give back to their communities. Since its inception, the Foundation has donated in excess of $9 million to more than 1,400 worthy charities around the world. The majority of these funds were raised by MDRT members from MDRT members. Some of the other organizations that have benefited from MDRT Foundation grants are: Make-a-Wish Foundation, Habitat for Humanity and the American Paralysis Association.

The MDRT Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Million Dollar Round Table, the premier association of financial professionals. An international, independent association of more than 28,000 of the world’s best life insurance and financial services professionals from 74 nations and territories, MDRT members demonstrate exceptional professional knowledge, strict ethical conduct and outstanding client service. MDRT membership is recognized internationally as the standard of sales excellence in the life insurance and financial services business.