Page Title

NEWS

TGECI

The Grand Experiment Charities, Inc.

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