For six years, HSBC – North America has partnered with United Way as the title sponsor for the annual “Day at the Races” event at Arlington Park. As always, the event promised to be an exciting day of racing, fancy hats, silent auctions and – most importantly — making a difference for people in the 18 communities served by Northwest Suburban United Way.

The 2007 “Day at the Races” event was no exception – except in one important area. Thanks to the generosity of HSBC and other major corporate sponsors such as Capgemini, Northwest Community Healthcare and Comcast, Northwest Suburban United Way was able to raise a record $96,000.00 to benefit the health and human service programs serving residents in the Northwest suburbs and Skokie Valley. And the total is still growing as contributions to the event continue to flow in.

“It’s so great to see the community rally around this event in such a record way to support United Way,” said Marcia McMahon, Chief Professional Officer of the Northwest Suburban United Way. “The money raised at this year’s “Day at the Races” will make a tangible difference to people in our community.”

In addition to the dollars raised, everyone who attended had a great time, added McMahon. United Way guests in Arlington Racetrack’s elegant International Room were greeted by stunning views of the track, an incredible buffet, an exciting “mystery” wine raffle and a wide variety of silent auction packages, including such items such as a Flat Panel HD TV donated by Meijer, an overnight stay in New York City, autographed sports memorabilia and even a week long stay at the spectacular Villa Tre Grazie in Todi, Italy.

Northwest Suburban United Way’s Youth Board was proud to accept a $5,000.00 grant from Capgemini, which will enable them to make their own community investment in a program that is creating results in the Northwest suburbs and Skokie Valley. The check presentation was made during the special “United Way Making A Difference” race. Youth Board representatives joined representatives from HSBC and Capgemini in the winner’s circle to present the trophy to the winning jockey, along with a mock-up of the check representing their youth board sponsorship.

Northwest Suburban United Way would like to thank the many sponsors of this record-breaking event: title sponsor, HSBC, Capgemini, Northwest Community Hospital, Comcast, IBM, First Data International, IBM – Enterprise Content Management, Pegasystems, Inc., Cornerstone National Bank & Trust, Experian, Fair Issac Corporation, Nicor, SAS and Equifax. This event would not have been possible without their support and that of all the individual attendees whose support of the silent auction, wine raffle and split the pot helped to raise much-needed dollars for the community.