Our Charities

We've supported the cause of medical research for many years. Now we are donating to two exemplary organizations in honor of Barge Lady guests. We have selected serious medical conditions - such as diabetes and cancer - which impact so many people, including our customers, employees and immediate families. We are proud to support:

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

JDRF is the largest private funder of diabetes research worldwide. It's mission is to research into the causes, prevention, treatment and cure of Type 1 diabetes. Caroline Sack-Klein, the Barge Lady's 31 year old daughter and now Marketing Manager of The Barge Lady has been insulin-dependent for 15 years (and fortunately is doing well), but Ellen believes in fighting back and has been very active in the Illinois chapter of JDRF. Ellen has chaired major fundraisers and has also raised thousands of dollars by auctioning barge cruises donated by our generous colleagues and owners in the industry.

Here are Ellen and Caroline at the 31st Annual Chance of a Lifetime Gala held on December 11, 2010. With 2,000 guests in attendance, this is one of Chicago’s largest charity events. A record 3.4 million dollars was raised to underwrite the most advanced diabetes research. We sold a cruise on the barge Luciole in Burgundy; see the picture above of Caroline and Kelly thanking Pen

ny Liley, owner of the Luciole.

A second cruise on the barge Napoleon in Provence was donated by our very good friends at Orient-Express. This is one of France’s most glamorous vessels – and we were thrilled to be able to offer it to JDRF supporters. Here is Ellen thanking Annette Kishon-Pines of Orient-Express, who arranged this donation.
We WILL cure diabetes!
For more on diabetes research,
Go to: WWW.JDRF.ORG

American Brain Tumor Association

The ABTA was founded in 1973 by two Chicago-area mothers who had lost children to brain tumors. It's goals are to eliminate brain tumors through research and to meet the needs of brain tumor patients and their families. Fellowships, grants, medical student programs, epidemiology research and cutting edge research is supported by the ABTA. There is also an extensive education and support program.

Barge Lady Cruises was proud to sponsor Team IneBRAINated (pictured below) in the 5th annual ABTA Path to Progress walk that was held at Soldier Field Saturday May 22, 2010.The team was captained by Barge Lady's Kelly Weiss and had more than 50 family members and friends that walked! The event raised over $800,000 for brain tumor research and patient/family education programs and had over 6,000 participants. This is a cause dear to our hearts! Go to: WWW.ABTA.ORG