Thank you for your participation
This year’s Lunar Ball was another resounding success. On Saturday, March 25th, over 800 gathered at the elegant Wintrust Grand Banking Hall to celebrate the year of the rooster while setting a new record turn out! Guests enjoyed restaurant tastings, a silent auction, performances, networking and dancing, all in the name of supporting local beneficiaries.
Thank you to all the sponsors, donors, community partners, performers and guests who attended Lunar Ball 2017 – Chicago’s largest fundraiser for Asian American young professionals and friends. It was truly an evening to remember.
Stay connected with Lunar Ball by following us on Facebook. We’ll be posting event photos and videos soon!
Festivities Include
- Top Restaurants
- Photo Booth
- Performances
- KISS 103.5 DJ JayFunk
- Silent Auction
- Adult Beverages All Night
- Exciting 50/50 Raffle
- Dancing
Theme & Attire
This year’s theme is “Moulin Rouge”! It is a bold, sultry theme, mirroring the extravagant, flamboyant and dramatic nature of this year’s zodiac animal – the rooster. Dress code: Semi-formal, black tie optional, qi pao and tang zhuang welcome.
Past Lunar Ball Highlights
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Highlights
800+
Attendees, primarily young professionals and entrepreneurs
20,000+
Diverse audience reached through email and social media
30+
Community organizations collaborating to produce Lunar Ball
$50,000
Fundraising goal for local charities
Sponsors and Partners
Interested in supporting Lunar Ball?
There are many different ways to support Lunar Ball and the Asian American community. Download a packet below for additional information about the various ways to get involved.
Special Thanks
We are grateful to all of the sponsors and partners who support Lunar Ball.
Jade
Platinum
Logo & Ad Specifications
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HALF page trim size: 5.5″ W x 4.25″ H
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Logos
Vector art with outlined fonts
Preferred formats: PDF, AI, EPS
Other accepted formats: JPG, TIFF – min resolution: 300 dpi
Color: CMYK
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Submission Deadline: Thursday, March 9th
Our Community Beneficiaries
Giving Back To The Community
All proceeds from Lunar Ball benefit local Chicago charities, with an emphasis on the Asian American community. Grants to our community beneficiaries help provide needed services to youth, elderly, and refugees, encourage leadership development, and promote cultural awareness.
One of these charities is Project: VISION, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to providing youth in Chicago’s Bridgeport and Chinatown communities with the tools for educational, personal, and civic development.
Founded in 2003 by a small group of volunteers, Project: VISION has reached over 500 youths, providing them with tutoring, service learning, and leadership programs. 85% of the students Project: VISION serve are from low income families and most will be the first in their families to attend college.
Learn more about the amazing community charities Lunar Ball supports by clicking on the logos below.
Performers
Ji Suk Yi
EMCEE – VIP Reception
Ji Suk Yi is a Chicago TV Personality, Social Media Host and resident foodie on “Windy City LIVE.” Entering its sixth season, you can see Windy City LIVE on ABC7 Chicago at 1PM daily, plus catch a midnight rebroadcast.
Born in South Korea, Ji Suk immigrated to the U.S. when she was five years old. She had an eclectic childhood growing up in a rural town in North Carolina eating southern soul food alongside kimchi and rice, one of many adventures in cultural fusion in her life that helped define her unique perspective!
Ji Suk attended Salem College and went on to get her law degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But soon realized her heart was truly set on journalism and decided Chicago was the best city in the nation to learn about news.
She has been in the ABC 7 Chicago family since November 2006, as a field producer and news writer, and has been on air with Windy City LIVE since its premiere in May 2011.
Her hobbies involve anything to do with food and drink. She’d like to create and work on documentaries one day. Her dream is to be the Asian female version of John Oliver. Anyone that rescues an animal and recycles is considered tops in her book. And always tip your server well.
Kurt Chiang
EMCEE – Main Stage
Kurt Chiang is Artistic Director & Ensemble Member with The Neo-Futurists. As an ensemble member, he has written over 250 two-minute plays since joining the company in 2008. He is the creator of the Neo Prime-Time show Analog (2013). Currently, he is developing the recurring Neo-Futurist storytelling show The Arrow in collaboration with Lily Mooney. He has read his work at various readings throughout Chicago, including Paper Machete, Write Club, West Side School for the Desperate, The Marble Room, and Wit Rabbit. He is also a Company Member with Barrel of Monkeys and has performed in That’s Weird, Grandma, as well as taught and performed in their writing residency programs at Chicago Public Schools. He has taught writing, performance, and Neo-Futurism as a guest teacher for many organizations throughout the city, including Louder Than a Bomb, North Park University, Lake Forest College, National High School Institute, and School of the Art Institute of Chicago. From 2013-15, he was an Artist-in-Residence with Snow City Arts, providing bedside arts & creativity workshops for youth admitted to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. He originates from the Maryland/DC Metropolitan Area, and has lived in Chicago since 2005.
Peter Kim
EMCEE – Main Stage
Peter Kim is a Chicago based writer, performer, comedian represented by Gray Talent Group. Recent credits include The Second City National Touring Company, and The Second City e.t.c. – where he was nominated for a Jeff Award in the critically acclaimed revue: ‘A Red Line Runs Through It’. He can currently be seen improvising with Baby Wine at The Annoyance, hosting The Moth at Lincoln Hall and The Kiki at The Laugh Factory
Dhaea Kang
SINGER/SONGWRITER – VIP Reception
Dhaea is a singer-songwriter from Chicago. Her music has been featured on WEFT 90.1 FM radio, WNUR-FM 89.3, Chicago Acoustic Underground podcast, Pandora Radio, and Rooftop Sessions Chicago. Dhaea has performed with Beast Women, an all-women variety show, for four seasons, and can be seen performing at various venues around the city. She was the winner of the 2015 Kollaboration Chicago Showcase.
Jennifer Zhang & Yingkai Wang
TRADITIONAL CHINESE INSTRUMENTS – VIP Reception
Jennifer Zhang 張羽琪, specializes in various Chinese wood wind instruments such as the Chinese Transverse Bamboo Flute (Dizi), the Chinese Vertical Bamboo Flute (Xiao), the Chinese Bottle Gourd Silk (Hulusi), the Chinese Reed Flute (Bawu). She is also a singer and songwriter who started her music journey at the age of five under professor Xiaosheng Zhao (Piano), Chunling Lu (Dizi) and Yue Chen (Xiao). Graduated from the Northwestern University, she pursued further study at the Berklee School of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music in China. She has performed in over one hundred shows for major organizations around the world. Having won multiple awards, and as a recipient of 2017 Huaren TV Outstanding Overseas Musician Award, she has been invited as a judge for many talent competitions in the midwest region. She was crowned as 2015 Miss Friendship Ambassador of Chicago, and represented Chicago in the Miss Chinese International Pageant hosted by TVB in Hong Kong.
Yingkai Wang 王颖恺, specializes in the Chinese Zither (Guzheng). She has performed for many shows such as the Loyola Chinese New Year Gala. Her beautiful voice has also won her the third place in the 2016 the Voice of University of Chicago Singing Contest. As a graduate student at Loyola University Chicago, Yingkai is passionate about music. She believes that music has no boundary and she would love to have the beauty of Chinese music heard by more people.
Jennifer & Yingkai is a new band in Chicago. It is comprised of two members: Jennifer Zhang and Yingkai Wang. They are both accomplished performer of their own respective Chinese folk instruments and award-winning singers.
4Chu
DANCE CREW
4Chu is a K-Pop dance crew that has performed at various events all over Chicago including Chinatown Night Market, Chinatown 10/10 Parade, Chicago Korean Festival, Lunar Ball, and many Anime Conventions. They also have many YouTube dance videos under the name “4Chu Dance.”
Moku’aina Hula
HAWAIIAN DANCE
History:
Initially assembled in 2010 to provide entertainment for a birthday party, Moku’aina Hula went on to become an official all volunteer performance dance troupe. The name literally means “Island Dance.” Directed and Choreographed by Ross Rodrigo, the troupe has already performed at various college events, local festivals, fundraisers, parties, weddings and cotillions.
Mission:
Moku’aina Hula’s mission is to present dance in the Spirit of the Hawaiian Culture. Its goal is to make Hula not only enjoyable by all, but also more accessible to ladies who might consider learning and performing the beautiful dance.
Michigan City Soul Steppers Drill Team
STEPPING
The Michigan City Soul Steppers Drill Team is a nonprofit, performing arts organization out of Michigan
City, Indiana that travels all year round throughout the country, gaining nationwide recognition for outstanding performances. Their mission is to show others a positive outlook on life by demonstrating hard work through
discipline, respect, commitment, coordination, education, dedication & motivation without hesitation. The vision is to change the negative image youth by promoting positivity through the “Art of Stepping”.
Johnny Huang
CHINESE YO-YO
Originally from Taiwan, Johnny Huang began learning Chinese Yo-yo at a young age. During college, he started a Chinese Yo-yo team at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a group of friends performing for different events throughout the Midwest; by using contemporary music, the team created a unique style mixing the traditional and the modern. He now resides in Chicago and performs with friends in Chicago for different cultural events in the city.
Tsukasa Taiko
TAIKO DRUMS
Tsukasa Taiko, a community program of Asian Improv aRts Midwest, one of the largest taiko groups in the Midwest, offers taiko drum instruction, education, and performances. Its mission is to preserve, develop, and pass on the traditional concepts of genuine Japanese art as a cultural legacy, and to utilize these concepts in expanding and evolving the taiko art form. As a community group dedicated to understanding and strengthening Japanese American, Asian American, and Japanese identity, it strives to respect tradition and develop artistic excellence and connoisseurship. Its director, teachers, and administrative staff are dedicated professionals, all recognized as world class, working artists. As an active performing group, Tsukasa presents over fifty shows a year, both locally and internationally. Tsukasa Taiko offers classes, workshops, lectures, and demonstrations designed to teach how to play taiko, as well as to advance the understanding of how the cultural arts are a reflection of a community’s heritage and legacy.
Yin He Dance
CHINESE DANCE
Yin He Dance is dedicated to exploring, preserving, and celebrating Chinese culture through dance. We work towards this mission through three main programs, the professional performing company, a school of dance, and education & outreach. Through these three programs, we hope to build new avenues of cultural dialogue and most importantly, share the joy of dance with all communities.
DJ JayFunk
ON THE TURNTABLES
DJ JayFunk has been rocking events and tearing down walls since peanut butter met jelly. Representing Chicago, IL, he’s performed events in New York, Las Vegas, Miami, Honolulu, Manila and Los Angeles to name a few. JayFunk showcases every weekend on the #1 station in Chicago, 103.5 Kiss FM and is the official Chicago Bulls In Game DJ. Jay Funk has opened for legendary acts such as The B-52’s, Rob Base and DJ Easy Roc, Grammy winner DJ Jazzy Jeff and was DJ for Snoop Dogg’s 2000 Birthday Bash. JayFunk has been nominated for Midwest DJ of the Year 5 years in a row by Sinternet.com.
Planning Committee
The Lunar Ball Planning Committee team collaborates to organize Chicago’s largest Asian American cultural awareness, networking, and fundraising event. To learn more or volunteer for the committee, please email team@lunarball.org.
Event Chair
- Hauwei Lien
Event Design
- Jessica Zhang, Director
- Gigi Zhang, Associate Director
- Jessica Cheng
- Sue Lai
Creative
- Eric Liao, Director
- Athena Lo
- Courtney Sit
- Cristina Gonzalez
- Jorge Doig
Food & Beverage
- Diana Cole, Director
- Peter Yang, Associate Director
- Angela Mao
- Eric Liu
- James Lim
- Jennifer Lee
- Samantha Chiang
Marketing
- June Zheng, Director
- Patrick Wei, Associate Director
- Adam Molon
- David Yu
- Fabio Hsu
- J.P. Lamp
- Richard Yang
- Tina Zhao
- Zaria Ma
- Zi Lin
Operations
- Trish Brauer, Director
- Cece Tran, Finance Director
- Kevin Chang, Associate Director
- Matt Maa, Associate Director
- Samar Barakat, Associate Director
- Alexander Li, Associate Director
Programming
- Sally Moy, Director
- Zaida Deguzman, Associate Director
- Jeremy Johnson
- Rauthany Ly
Silent Auction
- Diane Chan, Director
- Alicia Maikao Ly, Associate Director
- Anisa Aesram
- Annie Chin
- Daphne Barin
- Jamison Klassman
- Shaun Zhang
- Yara Mia
Sponsorship
- Jeff Li, Director
- Allison Wu, Associate Director
- Christina Hecker
- Eva Hsu
- Grant Wu
- Jessica Lee
- Karen Hwang
- Shuang Zhang
- Stanley Tsao
Volunteer
- Cassie Zhang, Director
- Jun Tan
The host committee supports Lunar Ball by raising awareness of the event in their communities and networks. The 2017 committee is in formation, please contact hostcommittee@lunarball.org to join.
- Angela Mao
- Bao Li
- Cassie Zhang
- Dennis Mondero
- Denny Lau & Sonia Yeow
- John Narcise
- June Zheng
- Jenny Han
- Kevin Chang
- Richard Yang
Silent Auction
Get ready to bid!
From airline tickets to fine art, there will be a variety of great silent auction items for Lunar Ball guests to compete for. Put your best price down and get that amazing deal while supporting charity!
- Ajoomah’s Apron – $60 gift card
- AT&T – Fitbit one wireless activity tracker
- Big Bowl – 2 $25 gift card
- BopNGrill – 5 $20 gift cards
- Chicago Dog House – 1- $50 Gift Card
- Chicago School of Shoemaking & Leather Arts – Voucher for Leather Work 101 class
- Chicago School of Shoemaking & Leather Arts – Voucher for Leather Work 101 class
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra – 4 tickets
- Cumin – $50 gift certificate
- Daebak Korean BBQ Chinatown – $50 gift certificate
- Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream – $25 gift certificate
- Krave – $65 Krave Jerky Gift Basket
- Lou Malnatis – $25 gift card
- Parachute Restaurant – Dinner for 2 and wine tasting
- The Bento Box – $75 gift card
- Wildberry – $20 gift card
- WKPOP – $100 certificate towards 10 dance classes
- Arabel Alva Rosales – 2- Latino Fashion Week VIP Tickets
- BBQ King – 1- $200 BBQ King Gift Card
- Beatrix – $100 gift card
- Brooklyn Boulders Climbing – one month membership for 2 individuals with the activiation fee waived.
- Cafe Ba Ba Reeba – $100 gift card
- Charles Schwab – Cubs Jersey
- Dineamic Group – $100 gift card
- Dolce – 4 course dinner for 2 individuals
- Elements Massage – 2- 1 hr massage sessions
- First Ascent Climbing & Fitness – Climbing starter package and youth rec trail class certificate.
- Gabuttoburgers – 2- $50 Gift cards
- Godfrey Hotel – 1 night hotel stay
- 4 course dinner for 2 individuals – 2 kimono tops $30 each
- IO Rooftop Lounge – $100 gift card
- Jamison Klassman – Cubs baseball tickets
- Joy Holiday – West Coast 4-day tour for two
- Juno Sushi – $150 gift certificate
- Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya – 1- $150 gift certificate
- Matt Herko – Cubs Sport Tickets
- Matt Hertko – Blackhawks Sports Tickets
- Meal Pal Subscription Service – 20 Meal Plans
- Moe’s Cantina – 1- $100 giftcard
- Mon Ami Gabi – 1 – $100 certificate
- Motorola – Moto G4 phone with ear buds
- MVP Chiropractic Massage Therapy Session – 3- 1 hour massage sessions
- Old Crow Smokehouse – $100 giftcard
- Peapod – $150 gift certificate
- Renee Feldman Salon – express balayage + haircut
- Sluggers – $100 gift card
- Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) – 2 Tickets for SASE conference
- Soul Cycle – 5 Sessions Package
- Stella Barra Pizzeria – 1- $100 Gift Certificates
- Strings Ramen – 3- $35 gift certificates
- Summer House Santa Monica – 2- $50 gift cards
- The One Minute Workout – 2 One hour consultation/ personal training sessions with OMW founder and 1 Premium Membership
- Todoroki – $100 giftcard
- Verde Wellness & Massage – $79 gift card
- Victory MMA – One month training for 2 people
- Volare – 2- $75 gift card
- Whisk – 1- $100 gift card
- Yeowoosai – 1- $100 gift card
- Yeowoosai – 1- $200 gift card
- Chicago Cubs – 4 tickets + photopass
- Cathay Pacific – Plane Tickets
- Eva Air – Plane Tickets
- MaxMara – MaxMara ‘S Cube Coat
- Stratus Admissions Counseling – Profile Development Package
- Trophy Room – River North VIP lounge reservation for 4 hours for 10 guests with a champange welcome with 2 bottles of premium liqour, 4 mixers and chef choice of appetizer
- Alice+ Olivia – shopping party, 20% off everything and $495 towards an outfit
- AllSaints – VIP shopping experience and leather biker jacket value $500
- China Airlines – Plane Tickets
- Chiro One Wellness Center – Gift Card for full focused spinal exam, two spinal x-rays (if medically necessary), report of findings with chiropractic doctor, insurance verification for future coverage if necessary, three full spine adjustments, one cervical pillow or lumbar support
- Estate Ultra Bar – Rooftop Cabana Package. VIP reservations for 10 guests for 4 hours for 10 guests with a champange welcome with 2 bottles of premium liqour, 4 mixers and chef choice of appetizer
- Henri Bendel – Rivington Tote Handbag
- St. John – VIP shopping experience with merch value of $500 and private champagne reception w/ 10 friends
- SuitSupply – VIP experience + suit
- Tom Ford – 2- Sunglasses
Wintrust Grand Banking Hall
231 S LaSalle St, Chicago
This year’s event will be held at the beautiful Wintrust Grand Banking Hall in downtown Chicago.
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