Jimmy Had a Dream. It's up to others to make it a reality.

The annual Cabrini Connections Golf Benefit is named in memory of Jimmy Biggs, a young man who grew up in Cabrini Green with the help of the volunteer tutors/mentors of Cabrini Connections. Jimmy became part of the tutor/mentor program when he was in 2nd grade. He graduated from high school in 1995 and became part of the Cabrini Connections staff.

Jimmy championed the goals of Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection. Jimmy had a personal goal of recruiting 100 CEOs and "people of influence" to be his personal mentors and his partner in bringing resources to Cabrini Connections and similar mentoring-to-career programs throughout Chicago. Jimmy was working toward this vision when he died suddenly in August 2000. Because of the friends and "people of influence" Jimmy met at the annual golf benefit, the event is named in his honor.

At last Thursday's golf benefit more than 120 people gathered for golf, dinner, a silent auction, and networking. One of the guests was Tangela Smith Marlow, who was in Cabrini Connections the same time as Jimmy, and has now finished college and is a successful businesswoman.

Among the guests we had business executives,lawyers, pro football players, and many others who have the potential to be one of the 100 leaders who make Jimmy's vision a reality.

How does one get into this club? Write a check for $5000 and send it to Cabrini Connections, Tutor/Mentor Connection, 800 W. Huron, Chicago, Il. 60642.

Everyone at the golf dinner, or the annual year end dinner on June 4th, was able to see for themselves how much our current students and alumni value what Cabrini Connections offers.

All you need to do is look in the mirror, and look in your network. If you have the financial ability to be one of Jimmy's 100 leaders, please send your check this week, or sometime in the next six months.

If you don't have the personal capacity, but know others who do, then introduce them to Cabrini Connections and the Tutor/Mentor Connection, and ask them to join Jimmy's Club. If you can't write a $5,000 check. Write a $2500 check. If 100 leaders take this role each year we can stabilize our funding, and dramatically expand the impact we have on current and former students, and on helping similar programs grow in other neighborhoods.

I was not able to stay for the dinner, because I caught some sort of flu bug, and was running a 103 fever by the time the dinner started. That meant that our other volunteers, staff, and board members had to fill in for me. Think what that means.

Everyone needs to be an owner, not just Dan, Ray, and a few others. I read a book titled The Spider and The Starfish (given to me by one of our volunteers) and I've posted a link here.

This is the concept of leaderless organizations, or movements, where many people take responsibility for the success of the enterprise.

Anyone reading this, or looking at our web sites, or who attends an event like the Golf Outing, Year End Dinner, or Tutor/Mentor Conference, can take the same responsibility that I've taken for 30 years. When that happens we'll recruit Jimmy's 100 leaders, and we'll do more to help the kids and volunteers who are part of tutor/mentor programs like Cabrini Connections.