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"Would you be willing to donate one hour of your time to help thousands of Philadelphia public school students to learn, stay in school and prepare for life?" was the question posed to a variety of civic, municipal and national Leaders representing the Philadelphia area and they resounded with a roaring "YES!" The CISP 2003 "Lunch With A Leader" Online Auction was presented from September 16 through October 21, 2003 during which approximately 200 Leaders posted their photographs and biographies on a website where eBay members throughout the world-wide-web had the opportunity to bid for their "Lunch of a Lifetime." The CIS National office spearheaded this public awareness/fundraising initiative in 2002. While the first online auction proved successful, CIS National decided to share the wealth and extended its participation to include CISP and six other local affiliates across the country. As a result of the overwhelming show of participation throughout the Philadelphia area, CISP ranked as the premier affiliate office in Leader Participation by providing 60 leaders to the online auction, totaling 1/3 of the total number of leaders who participated.
Thanks to the support of such national leaders as Patti LaBelle, Peter Nero, Congressman Chaka Fattah, Duce Staley, Les Brown, Sonia Sanchez, World B. Free, and Rev. Herb Lusk , CISP raised money to support its programs. The top National Leader for CISP was Patti LaBelle at $3,350. The Leaders who represented CISP in the online auction were as follows:
BUSINESS: James Cuorato, City of Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; Mr. Bruce Crawley, Crawley, Haskins and Rogers and Mrs. Pamela Crawley, Citizens Bank; Lorina Marshall-Blake, Independence Blue Cross; Sharon Pinkenson, City of Philadelphia Film Office; Derrick Roman, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers; and Kathleen Sullivan, Comcast Cablevision.
COMMUNITY SERVICE: Hon. Rev. Dr. W. Wilson Goode, Sr., former Mayor of Philadelphia and Director, Pubic/Private Ventures; Christine James-Brown, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania;
Orien Reid, former Consumer Affairs Correspondent and Vice Chair, Alzheimer's Disease
CULINARY ARTS: Chef Fritz Blank, Deux Cheminées; Chef Carl Deutsch, Art Institute of Philadelphia; KeVen Parker, KeVen Parker Company; Chef Joseph Poon, Joseph Poon Asian Fusion Restaurant; Delilah Winder, bluezette, and Ellen Yin, Fork Restaurant.
EDUCATION: Dr. Constatnie Papadakis, Drexel University; Dr. James Gallagher, Philadelphia University; Colonel James White and John Dipaolo, Temple University; and James Nevels, School Reform Commission.
GOVERNMENT: PA State Representatives Hon. John Taylor, Hon. Curtis Thomas and Hon. Jewell Williams; PA State Senators , Hon. Vincent Fumo, Hon. Vincent Hughes, Hon. Allyson Schwartz, and Hon. Anthony Hardy Williams ; City Councilmembers Hon. Jannie Blackwell; Hon. W. Wilson Goode, Jr.: Hon. Frank Rizzo, Jr.; Hon. Michael Nutter and Hon. Marian Tasco; City Representatives : Hon. Harold Hairston, Hon. Victory Richard, III, City Commissioner, Hon. John Saidel; Hon. Lynn Abraham; Hon. Augusta A. Clark, Esq.; Dr. Nancy Morgan; Gwen Foster; and Bonnie Grant.
MEDIA: Dawn Timmeney, NBC10; Arthur Fennell and Lynn Doyle CN8, The Comcast Network;
Robert Bogle, Philadelphia Tribune; Lehronda Upshur and Glen "Golden Boy" Cooper, Power 99 FM; and Tamlin Henry and Darryl Taylor, WDAS-FM.
CISP placed third in money raised amongst the participating affiliate offices in the online auction, with CIS National placing first and CIS of California placing second. But more than this, the community and national awareness that resulted from this year's online auction was invaluable. "How could anyone resist donating one-hour of their time to help thousands of young people successfully learn, stay in school and prepare for life?" stated Renée Keels, CISP's Community Partnerships Administrator and the Philadelphia Coordinator for the Lunch With A LeaderT Online Auction. "Aside from the local and national publicity received, each Leader expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to help today's youth via an innovative fundraiser that was convenient, flexible, and enabled one-to-one contact with the community. The potential relationships formed from this initiative far outweighs the monetary profit that may or may not have been gained...in other words, it's 'priceless'."
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