Cathy Berk
Photo: Eric O\'Connor
Cathy Berk has worked with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana for three years in fund-raising and event capacities and has been in her current role as the manager of events for a year and a half. In addition to planning eight small fund-raisers, Berk produces three major annual events including the Big Mac Under Glass gala, the RMHC-CNI golf classic, and the Sporting Clays Tournament that is set for September 6 and 7 at Northbrook Sports Club.
Catering: “Food for Thought is an amazing new vendor for us, and they have quickly become a favorite. They can handle large-scale events—our gala has 1,000 guests—but they still have the feel of a boutique catering company. The food is restaurant quality, contemporary, and delicious; it translates well from a six-person tasting to a 1,000-person seated dinner.”Tenting: "Stellar Productions' Mike Glabowicz and Tyler Boumann can put a tent on any terrain. The year before last they built us a gorgeous 18,000-square-foot tent with carpeted floors and chandeliers on the front lawn of a private residence. It rained the entire week before the gala so it basically turned the front lawn into a giant mud pit, but the tent went up safely because of their expertise.”
Audiovisual Production: "Five-Star Audio Visual does all of our audiovisuals from a podium and speaker at our small meetings all the way up to our gala. I often joke with them that I don’t know the techie stuff, so I convey it to them in simple terms and they get it right."
Signage: "Florida Plastics International is our favorite signage company because with charity events there comes a lot of recognition signage, and Kim Cunningham and Amelia Leubscher make the large sign process easy and manageable. They handle it from the design to the delivery, and there have been no hiccups."
Catering: “Food for Thought is an amazing new vendor for us, and they have quickly become a favorite. They can handle large-scale events—our gala has 1,000 guests—but they still have the feel of a boutique catering company. The food is restaurant quality, contemporary, and delicious; it translates well from a six-person tasting to a 1,000-person seated dinner.”Tenting: "Stellar Productions' Mike Glabowicz and Tyler Boumann can put a tent on any terrain. The year before last they built us a gorgeous 18,000-square-foot tent with carpeted floors and chandeliers on the front lawn of a private residence. It rained the entire week before the gala so it basically turned the front lawn into a giant mud pit, but the tent went up safely because of their expertise.”
Audiovisual Production: "Five-Star Audio Visual does all of our audiovisuals from a podium and speaker at our small meetings all the way up to our gala. I often joke with them that I don’t know the techie stuff, so I convey it to them in simple terms and they get it right."
Signage: "Florida Plastics International is our favorite signage company because with charity events there comes a lot of recognition signage, and Kim Cunningham and Amelia Leubscher make the large sign process easy and manageable. They handle it from the design to the delivery, and there have been no hiccups."
