Unveiling The Peace Auditorium

 CYC has proudly served the North Lawndale community since our founding in 1956, when our co-founder Sidney Epstein fought to save a North Lawndale youth club on the brink of closing. Each year, this Center serves more than 200 children and helps them realize their potential and pursue success. 

A long legacy sometimes results in outdated spaces. After decades of usage and generations of families, CYC-Epstein’s gym was in need of an upgrade. Our incredible grant makers, National Recreation, Barker Welfare, and the Donnelley Family, agreed and set out to make it happen! 

Our beautiful space now boasts sport-court flooring, padded walls, a state-of-the-art scoreboard, and other new equipment to welcome our students, providing them room to play basketball or volleyball, explore yoga and meditation, and share their end-of-session performances! 

We were fortunate enough to work alongside Nicole Hershwick, the daughter of Jim Donnelley, who served as our Board Chair from 1968 to 1971. While we initially planned on renaming our new space “Jim’s Gym”, Nicole insisted that we let the students name the gym instead, affirming that it’s what her father would have wanted.

CYC youth brainstormed and came up with the gym’s new name: CYC’s Peace Auditorium.  

 To celebrate the Donnelley Family’s support (Jim Donnelley’s father, Elliott Donnelley, was CYC’s co-founder!), the generosity of our partners, and, of course, our kids, families, and community, CYC hosted a recognition ceremony in the gym. Thanks to the coaching and mentorship of Chicago Westside Sports, our students had won their basketball championship a few weeks prior as well.  

Basketballs signed by the students were handed out to the coaches and grantmaking partners, each student received a medal, the group joined in a sparkling grape juice toast, and our banner was hung, making the Peace Auditorium official. 

Thank you to everyone who made the Peace Auditorium a reality for those who deserve it! We are so excited for the community to enjoy this space for many years to come.