


| TGECI |
| Awakening A New Spirit |
June 2010: We are pleased to announce the opening of TGECI Harry House located in midtown Waukegan. The house will support the needs of 7 men and will be available for the first residents to move in the 3rd week of the month. January 2010: It is our extreme pleasure to announce the appointment of Mr. James Pinkstaff of Beach Park, Illinois, Mr. Phillip Brookshire Sr. of Waukegan, Illinois, and Mr. Bob Gossman of Waukegan, Illinois to the Board of Directors. In addition we were pleased to hear that Joe Valentino will be returning to the Board from his leave of absence in July of this year. November 2009: We are pleased to announce the opening of TGECI Horan House located in the downtown area of Waukegan. The house will support the needs of 6 men and is designated for specific support to homeless veterans. June 2009: Due to some changes in the personal lives of 3 of our directors and the personal involvement in the creation and new direction of Men in Action we have had changes to our Board. These changes have left us with a current Board of 5. Those who have left are, Eric Metcalf, Michelle Bychowski, Mary Burchard and for the interim Joe Valentino has taken a leave of absence. November 2008: It is our pleasure to announce that the Action House of Racine, has, due to its success in creating the Organization of Men in Action, decided to charter this house under their own organization. We at TGECI believe in their mission and wish them a joyful experience in their future endeavors. February 2008: We are happy to announce that Mr. Herbert Odom, Jr. has agreed to volunteer his time as our website manager. October 2007: The Grand Experiment Charities, Inc., is proud to announce the addition of 2 new members to the Board of Directors. Mr. Joe Valentino of Waukegan and Mr. Timothy Jones of Waukegan have joined the corporation as Directors. October 2007: The Grand Experiment Charities, Inc., announces the opening of 3 new houses for individuals in recovery from the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction. The first to be opened is located in the village of Beach Park and will be used as the model for all other houses in the housing group to follow and the house having individuals with long term recovery residing in it has been issued a permanent charter from the organization. The 2nd house opened is in the city of North Chicago and has room for 7 men with currently 4 men in residence. The house has applied for and been issued a temporary charter from the organization. The 3rd house opened and with keeping in tune with our mission of replication and growth to support need wherever that need may present itself is located in the city of Racine, Wisconsin and is in the process of being populated. The house has beds for 8 men and has 4 men currently in residence. The house is in the process of applying for their temporary charter. September 2007: The Grand Experiment Charities, Inc., is excited to announce that notification from the Internal Revenue Service about the application for non for profit status as a public charity under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code has been received and that the application was approved effective retro to the incorporation date with the State of Illlinois. December 2006: The Grand Experiment Charities, Inc. is proud to announce the appointment to the Board of Directors of 3 new people from Lake County. Mr. Eric Metcalf of Beach Park, Mrs. Michelle Bychowski of Beach Park, and Ms. Mary Burchard of Zion, have joined the corporation as Directors. September 2006: The Grand Experiment Charities, Inc., files an application with the Internal Revenue Service for tax exempt status as a public charity under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. June 2006: The Grand Experiment Charities, Inc., launches its own website on the --World Wide Web ---to allow access to any and all information available about the activities of the organization to anyone who is interested. The website can be found at: http://www.thegrandexperimentcharities.org February 2006: The Grand Experiment Charities, Incorporated receives its first financial donation of $150.00 from a group of local business owners in Lake County Illinois. August 2005: The Grand Experiment Charities, Incorporated is proud to announce tha appointment of a new Director to the Corporate Board. Mr. Thaxter Hurd of North Chicago, Illinois has joined The Grand Experiment Charities as a Director. Mr. Herbert Odom Jr. resigns as a director and removes himself from affiliation with The Grand Experiment Charities, Incorporated citing personal and health reasons. July 2005: The Grand Experiment Charities Incorporated distributes donated items from the General Public to 2 women successfully working their program of recovery from the disease of addiction in Waukegan, Illinois. Sheila B. of the south side of Waukegan and Sheila M. of the Downtown area of Waukegan recently received an abundant distribution of furniture, small appliances and household goods to help them through some of the difficult times of moving into a new living space. Sheila B., recently graduated from a local treatment facility and moving back with her family was provided living room and bedroom furniture and dish ware. Sheila M., with 2 years in recovery living sober and drug free, recently gaining back custody of her daughter, received furnishings for a complete 2 bedroom apartment, including hide-a-bed sofa, 2 dressers, queen size bed and more. May 2005: The Grand Experiment Charities, Incorporated receives donation of a stand alone storage building from a resident of the city of North Chicago, Illinois to use free of charge for the purpose of storage of donations from the General Public. October 2004: The Grand Experiment Charities, Incorporated becomes a co-sponsor for the annual Lake County Legislative Breakfast where local social service organizations get together to meet in a round table discussion with local elected officials, and state and federal congressional representatives representing districts in the county to inform them of the needs of the county populace from a social services standpoint and suggest ideas for the introduction of legislation to support those needs. May 2004: The Grand Experiment Charities files their application for incorporation in the State of Illinois as a 'Not-for-Profit' corporation and consecutively registers with Lake County Illinois as a local charity. April 2004: The Grand Experiment Charities is introduced officially to the General Public at the 1st Annual Waukegan Social Services Expo held at the newly built Waukegan City Hall in Waukega, Illinois. April 2004: The Grand Experiment Charities receives its first donations of furniture, hygiene supplies and computers from local organizations and the general public and distributes theses items to individuals at Oxford Houses of Lake County, Illinois; WRS of Lake County, Libertyvillie, Illinois; ATP of Lake County, Waukegan, Illinois; and Gateway Foundation Treatment Facility, Lake Villa, Illinois. March 2004: The Grand Experiment Charities is formed as a business entity by its creator Robert A. Colson III, and co-founding directors, Laurence J. Wolf Sr., Darnell R. Sitton, & Herbet Odom Jr., with the idea that they could help those in the recovery community who find themselves in need of support through the early recovery process by collecting and distributing furniture, appliances, hygiene products and computers with no cost attached to the recipients of these services. |
| The Grand Experiment Charities in the News |