PCA Chicago Region

Charity of the Year

Charity and fundraising are not specific or isolated events or activities in the Chicago Region; they are integral to all of our events.  At the start of each year, a charity for the year is selected from not-for-profit organizations nominated by members.  Each nominating member and their charity has an opportunity to present to the Board details of their organization, the impact that a relationship with the Region will provide, and how they will work with the Region to ensure the success of the fund raising efforts.  After each organization has had an opportunity to present, the Board selects the charity that it feels is the best fit for the Region.

Factors that are considered for selection are:

  • Is the nominee’s focus on serving those in the Chicago Region area, and is the nominee a “local” organization?
  • Does the nominee’s mission emphasize children or youth?
  • Will our contribution be a “meaningful amount” to the charity?  There are many excellent charities whose noble work is undeniable, but the Club prefers that its contributions make a difference to the organization. Another consideration is whether the charity can absorb a significant contribution.
  • Does the organization have the correct tax status, legal registration, documentation, etc.?
  • Is the nominating member willing to represent the charity at club events?
  • The charity should also make a commitment to attending multiple club events to help raise awareness within the club membership and the help with the fundraising.  RADE and TRAC are particularly good events to attend as the touring sessions generally raise significant amounts of money.

A submission should include all the relevant tax and legal documentation as well as the organization’s overall mission, outcomes, and the impacts of the outcomes.  A detained statement as to what impact our contribution will make to the charity and/or it’s programs and how those funds will be spent are also key to a successful submission.

The Charity selected for 2025 is SparkShop

SparkShop is a nonprofit that builds free engineering curriculum for Chicago elementary schools that serve low-income and minority students. Their goal is to introduce students to the dynamic opportunities in STEM and equip them with the confidence and knowledge they need to succeed. SparkShop’s activities are aligned to educational standards (NGSS, CCSS & SEL), making high-quality STEM easy for teachers to incorporate. This school year, 2420 students more than 40 schools are receiving a full year of engineering curriculum!

In October 2020, a principal from an elementary school in Bridgeport emailed SparkShop and asked if they could teach at her school. On the phone, she told them that SparkShop was their only option to teach science to their remote learners. Many of SparkShop’s partner schools struggle to afford formal science curricula. Even from schools with purchased curricula, teachers reported feeling unsupported, especially with remote learning. This inaccessibility creates massive inequality in STEM opportunities for youth.

Equity and access are SparkShop’s priorities. Their in-school programming includes all students, and the school supply kits ensure that students have everything they need to participate. When students study engineering, they learn technical topics like math and science along with social-emotional skills like resilience, empathy building, clear communication, and teamwork. Designed as a supplement to core curriculum, SparkShop’s lessons are hands-on enrichment that gets students off of their computer screens and away from workbooks. Their curriculum is interdisciplinary, integrating literacy, arts, and history into engineering design challenges that create deep experiential learning.

PCA Chicago Donation’s Impact

This upcoming year, we are growing in all directions. We’re working with over 40 elementary
schools, hiring paid high school interns, moving into an office, and improving the quality of our
programs. The SparkShop team identified three reach goals that could become a reality with
support from the Porche Club of America – Chicago Region.

Space Buildout

This summer, we signed the lease for our first HQ location in Make City, a business incubator on
the Near West Side. We’re using the space to pack and store STEM kit supplies, but would love
to do more! We’re working to design low-budget, DIY solutions, but the club’s support would
allow us to make a bigger investment in the space, creating a true headquarters that meets the
needs of our staff, teachers, and students.

Career Spotlight Video Production

To connect our students with more STEM role models, we hope to launch a new initiative and
expand another. The new project includes recruiting and training a diverse cohort of STEM
professionals to send to our schools for career days, STEM expos, and science fair events. Our
staff would prepare these volunteers to communicate with elementary schoolers and navigate
the background checks and compliance paperwork. We’d also like to expand our career
spotlight series, a set of 8 lessons that introduce students to different pathways in engineering
through videos featuring local role models. Professionally producing these videos would magnify
the impact on students and create resources with value extending beyond our immediate
partner schools.

NASCAR Challenge

SparkShop is building content for a citywide STEM challenge in partnership with the Chicago
Public Schools STEM Department and the Chicago NASCAR race. CPS is extremely budgetlimited
on materials, so we are working within their constraints as best we can. This challenge
would reach over 45 schools (including 6 of our partner schools) and 10,000 students, providing
an incredible impact and strategic connection for SparkShop. The exposure of this project would
support recruitment next school year and help attract new funders as we grow.The club’s
funding would supplement CPS’s allotted budget, alleviating the funding pressure that’s been
passed on to us.
Each of these projects represents an improvement in impact and scale not possible without your
support. We look forward to talking more about what form our partnership in 2025 could take!

To make a donation to SparkShop, click here.

If you would like to participate in SparkShop volunteer events and activities, click here to complete their volunteer form and you will be put on their mailing list to be sent information about upcoming events.

Previous year’s charities

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