History
Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth (LLAH) was created in memory of the Hon. Abraham Lincoln Marovitz, a longtime federal judge who was beloved by the Chicago legal community. For more on Judge Marovitz, please click here.
In 1994, Chicago attorney Thomas A. Demetrio created the Lend-A-Hand Award of Excellence, with a desire to impact the lives of children in the city by recognizing the efforts of exceptional tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago communities. This award, which eventually became known as the Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence, was the start of LLAH.
The Chicago Bar Foundation (CBF), with the leadership of the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), formed LLAH in 1995. In 2003, the Lend-A-Hand Program received a $100,000 contribution from the CBF, made possible by a major gift from the Hon. Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Trust. Then, in November 2006, LLAH received $2 million as part of a class action lawsuit. The money was awarded to a group of nonprofit organizations in a cy pres resolution.
Initially, Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth was a grantmaking organization that gave financial support to local youth programs. Over the years, we awarded close to $2 million in grants and were able to touch the lives of thousands of youth. Additionally, the Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence was presented annually to an outstanding tutoring or mentoring program at LLAH's Spring Awards Celebration. The grants program and Demetrio Award were concluded in 2021.
LLAH became a direct service organization in 2016 with the launch of Lend-A-Hand Tutoring at the CBA. The program provides free one-to-one literacy-focused tutoring to students from the Englewood community on Tuesday evenings during the school year at the CBA.
While LLAH is now a separate 501(c)3 organization, the program still has strong ties with the CBA. All of our tutoring sessions take place in its building, and in 2020 the CBA allowed Lend-A-Hand to renovate some unused space, which now serves as our tutoring center and office.
In 1994, Chicago attorney Thomas A. Demetrio created the Lend-A-Hand Award of Excellence, with a desire to impact the lives of children in the city by recognizing the efforts of exceptional tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago communities. This award, which eventually became known as the Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence, was the start of LLAH.
The Chicago Bar Foundation (CBF), with the leadership of the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), formed LLAH in 1995. In 2003, the Lend-A-Hand Program received a $100,000 contribution from the CBF, made possible by a major gift from the Hon. Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Trust. Then, in November 2006, LLAH received $2 million as part of a class action lawsuit. The money was awarded to a group of nonprofit organizations in a cy pres resolution.
Initially, Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth was a grantmaking organization that gave financial support to local youth programs. Over the years, we awarded close to $2 million in grants and were able to touch the lives of thousands of youth. Additionally, the Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence was presented annually to an outstanding tutoring or mentoring program at LLAH's Spring Awards Celebration. The grants program and Demetrio Award were concluded in 2021.
LLAH became a direct service organization in 2016 with the launch of Lend-A-Hand Tutoring at the CBA. The program provides free one-to-one literacy-focused tutoring to students from the Englewood community on Tuesday evenings during the school year at the CBA.
While LLAH is now a separate 501(c)3 organization, the program still has strong ties with the CBA. All of our tutoring sessions take place in its building, and in 2020 the CBA allowed Lend-A-Hand to renovate some unused space, which now serves as our tutoring center and office.