On a hot and humid September day, 115 soccer players from 1^st through 8^th grade came together to play in the annual Justin Wynn SoccerFest at ETHS Lazier Field.  The day was a true celebration of community and soccer as players affiliated with area organizations like AYSO, JaHbat, Team Evanston, Chicago Fire Juniors North Shore, plus players not affiliated with any organization participated in the tournament.

Each year a portion of the funds raised at SoccerFest are donated to a local organization chosen by the youth in the Justin Wynn leadership program.  This year’s recipient is Books and Breakfast, a before school program offering a healthy morning meal and homework help to Evanston elementary students in need of additional support.

Congratulations to the 2018 Justin Wynn Award recipients!  These 24 fourth grade students from across District 65 were honored at the annual brunch held at the Hilton Orrington/Evanston.  Close to 300 people attended the ceremony, including Mayor Hagerty, Dr. Witherspoon, and Dr. Goren.

Pictured with the 2018 Justin Wynn Award recipients from left to right are: Riian Wynn, Laura Wynn-King and Kelli Wynn.

Photo courtesy of Genie Lemieux/Evanston Photographic Studios

Thank you to the over 200 players who participated in our tournament.  New this year, we added a 7th/8th grade tournament and it sold out!

The Justin Wynn Fund Red Tie Soirée was a huge success!  Thank you to the almost 200 attendees who helped us raise over $41,000.  This money will be used to support our community service based youth leadership program.

More than 60 youth (grades 5-12) from the Justin Wynn Fund leadership program gathered in Kingsley School’s gym to sort and bag food that they had collected from their neighbors as part of the organization’s 10th annual November Food Drive.  Some of the students and their families then delivered over 200 bags of groceries to three community organizations:  Hemenway United Methodist Church Pantry in Evanston, Gates Manor in Wilmette, and A Just Harvest in Chicago.

140 players from all the Evanston soccer organizations participated in SoccerFest, held on September 3rd at ETHS.

Thank you to all the volunteers, community members and in-kind donors who helped make SoccerFest a big success!

The youth in the JWLA have been collecting pennies over the years and donating them to Pennies for Peace. This money goes to support educational opportunities for children in Central Asia.

Read about the JWLA on the Pennies for Peace website.

Congratulations to the 2017 Justin Wynn Award recipients!  They were honored at the 30th Annual Justin Wynn Awards Brunch on May 7, 2017.

Check out the article in the Evanston RoundTable.

Check out the article on the District 65 website.

Congratulations to the 200 players who participated in the JWLA 3-on-3 Tournament. It was an exciting tournament!

The first place winners in the 3rd/4th grade tournament were Kaloyan Mirtchev (Lincolnwood), Will Macdonald, Conlon Kane and Gunnar Worth (all from St. Athanasius). The second place winners were Malachi Gonzalez (Oakton), Nathaniel Commons (Oakton), Amare Leflore (Walt Disney Magnet), Tony Horton (Rogers).

Taking first place in the 5th/6th grade tournament were Daniel Goes, Gus Berne, Will Collins, and Jameson Kane (all from St. Athanasius). The second place winners were Eyan Simms, Jacob Hall, Devin Fox (all from Chute), and Riche McCourty (King Arts).

Read about the tournament in the Evanston RoundTable.

The Justin Wynn Fund held its 2nd Annual Red Tie Soirée on Saturday, February 11 at the Evanston Art Center. Close to 200 people enjoyed food and drink from local establishments, along with music and great raffle prizes. Additionally, Willie Miller, Jr. was awarded the 2017 Buddy Portugal Award, given annually to an adult that has made significant contributions to the youth of Evanston.

Check out the photos from the Red Tie Soirée in the Evanston Review Trend section and in Evanston Magazine.

Read about the Red Tie Soirée in the Evanston RoundTable.

Thank you to our Red Tie Soirée sponsors, partners, and in kind donors.

Photo courtesy of Lynn Trautmann/LTPhoto