Let It Be Us ‘Be Mine’ Gala Raises Over Half a Million Dollars for Illinois Foster Care and Adoption

Left to Right, Susan McConnell, Elizabeth Felice, Robin Kelleher, Matt Hower, Vince Foglia, Jessica Canning, Doug Locke, Kaycee Coles – Missing are Carolyne Osterhues, Vinnie Foglia

Let It Be Us celebrated their 10th anniversary at the 6th annual Be Mine gala, raising more than half a million dollars towards innovative solutions for Illinois foster care and adoption. Nearly 250 friends and supporters gathered at Chicago’s Walden event venue on May 10 to honor a decade of achievements for the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and licensed Illinois child welfare agency.

Vince Foglia, Let It Be Us Board Chair, in attendance with his wife, Pat, described the celebration as “the most lively and exciting event I’ve ever seen!”

The Foglia Family Foundation, together with lead sponsors Rita and John Canning of the Canning Foundation and the Canning family, sponsored the event. The next generation of the Foglia and Canning families also participated, including board member and event co-chair Jessica Canning.

“It has been incredible to watch this event grow each year,” said Canning, who has co-chaired the event since its 2019 inception. “Our goal is to educate and bring awareness to the challenges and opportunities of foster care and adoption in the State of Illinois. Each year, our reach grows, and I look forward to sharing the mission of Let It Be Us at future events and fundraising activities.”

Canning is joined by Be Mine co-chairs Kaycee Coles and Patrick Macellaio. Coles, a board member, secured many of the live auction items, which included front row tickets to the Billy Joel + Stevie Nicks concert at Soldier Field and a lakeside retreat at a Charlevoix, Michigan, vacation home. Coles is “moved by the positive response to our Golden Ticket Raffle & Live Auction Items. We had a terrific participation in our paddle raise and paddle drop that we added this year and it generated a ton of excitement in the room. It was such an inspiring evening that led us to quadrupling our raise from previous years!”

Macellaio, Event Manager for the Obama Foundation, introduced the organization to the nonprofit After School Matters, whose student performers sang during cocktail hour. “As an adoptee, I know the importance and necessity of family. The Be Mine gala was a special evening promoting the success stories of placement of kids through Let It Be Us while demonstrating the endless need that is out there and why we have to continue to support this organization and its mission!”

During a plated dinner, founder and Executive Director Susan McConnell presented 10-year service awards to two inaugural Let It Be Us board members, Elizabeth Felice and Douglas Locke. Both Felice and Locke are educational professionals who focus on the organization’s Springboard to Adulthood program, helping young people in the child welfare system make the difficult transition into adulthood by providing foster homes or family-like housing and wrap-around services.

McConnell recalled a pivotal moment in her decision to establish Let It Be Us. Shortly after spending time with a 14-year-old in need of an adoptive home, she found herself touring college campuses with Felice and their daughters. “I was struck by the opposing outcomes,” McConnell said, “as I visited colleges with my daughter, who came to our family through adoption. I knew the only way that the child living in a group home could pursue higher education was through an adoptive family.”

Illinois ranks extremely low in the nation at securing adoption for waiting children. “It’s unacceptable,” said McConnell. She was driven to establish Let It Be Us to find families and improve the lifetime outcomes for Illinois children in foster care.

“I’m thankful, every day, for Let It Be Us. They brought me my baby girl!” said Ellen Williams, a Public Administrator with Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) and an Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Specialist. Williams and her daughter were featured in an emotional video played at the event—before the enthusiastic youngster greeted the cheering crowd from the stage.

“It’s a coming home experience for me,” McConnell said of creating the heartfelt video. “Spending time with families formed through Let It Be Us, seeing the babies and kids who are now thriving in adoptive families brings me back to my why of starting Let It Be Us.”

Leading national media consultant Ann Liston of AL Media Strategy produced the video, her sixth for Let It Be Us. Liston’s husband, Dave McKinney, a WBEZ political reporter, served as Master of Ceremonies. Reflecting on the couple’s role as respite foster parents to two teen girls, McKinney shared, “It’s been one of the most humbling experiences of my life.”

Funds raised at the Be Mine gala support expanded programming for foster family recruitment and foster care and adoptive placements.

Foglia emphasized, “Let It Be Us is one of the best organizations we support. Their work is the essence of life!”

Thanks to a 2024 grant from the Barrington Area Community Foundation, Let It Be Us recently launched a Corporate Sponsorship Program. Business leaders interested in playing a role in strengthening Illinois foster care and adoption are invited to contact Susan McConnell, Executive Director, at susanmcconnell@letitbeus.org.

About Let It Be Us

Let It Be Us is an Illinois 501(c)3 and licensed child welfare agency dedicated to changing the landscape of foster care and adoption in Illinois. The mission of Let It Be Us is to provide collaborative, innovative solutions of effective recruitment and placement for children in Illinois foster and adoptive care. The Let It Be Us vision is for all children in the Illinois child welfare system to achieve educational equity, employment equity, and overall well being through the incorporation of Let It Be Us Programming into statewide advancements in foster care adoption recruitment and placement. For more information about Let It Be Us, visit www.letitbeus.org.