BMO Harris Bradley Center announces 16 local charities benefiting from final season fundraiser
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – The BMO Harris Bradley Center has announced the 16 local charities – dedicated to serving women, children and families in metro Milwaukee – that will benefit from a final season fundraiser and April 11 community gala honoring the generosity and legacy of Center benefactor Jane Bradley Pettit.
The organizations, chosen in conjunction with the Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation and her family to reflect groups and causes she supported, are:
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee
- COA Youth & Family Centers
- Hunger Task Force, to support children’s meal programs
- Literacy Services of Wisconsin
- Milwaukee Center for Children and Youth
- Milwaukee Public Library
- Milwaukee Public Television/PBS Kids
- Neighborhood House of Milwaukee, to benefit the birth to 3 program
- Next Door, to benefit early childhood education
- Our Next Generation
- PEARLS for Teen Girls
- Sojourner Family Peace Center
- St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care, to provide funding for the Bucyrus campus
- St. Marcus Lutheran School
- Walker’s Point Youth and Family Center
“The BMO Harris Bradley Center was a gift to the people of Wisconsin by one of its most beloved citizens, and for 30 years, our mission has been rooted in the spirit of civic service that Mrs. Pettit lived every day of her life,” said Ted Kellner, the Center’s board chairman. “As the Center embarks on its final season, we are delighted to continue to pay her incredible gift forward by supporting the causes that were important to her and these 16 fine organizations that continue to do impactful and transformative work that makes our community better.”
In early September, the Center announced its final year would include a season-long fund-raising campaign culminating with an April 11 civic gala to raise at least $200,000 for local charities with ties to Mrs. Pettit’s work and community giving. Kellner, who chairs the fund-raising committee, said the effort has already raised $40,000.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to pay forward one of the greatest gifts metro Milwaukee has ever received, and we have been overwhelmed by the positive response,” said Steve Costello, the Center’s president and CEO. “Our community continues to have a deep respect for Mrs. Pettit and her gift’s indelible impact. We are working hard to make the Center’s final season one to remember, with exciting action from the Bucks and Marquette, outstanding concert and family show programming and this fundraising campaign and gala in Mrs. Pettit’s honor. It will be a spectacular season filled with memories, pride and celebration.”