Timberland Brand Partners with Dream Town Shoes for ”Dream Big” Event in Chicago

The Timberland brand is doing some social good in Chicago’s Austin community.

GRIP Magazine was on hand for a special community event called “Dream Big”, sponsored by Timberland.  The event took place at Dream Town, a shoe store located in Chicago’s Austin community. The event featured music, food, art, special giveaways for students, and a panel discussion that featured some of the top influencers and musicians in the city of Chicago. Proceeds from the raffle went to support the Association House of Chicago.

We spoke with event organizer and Timberland’s Midwest Account Manager, Audrelle Giles, about the Timberland brand, its history of philanthropy, and why they choose to benefit Chicago’s urban Austin community.  “Timberland is known for giving back…the company has done 40 years of path of service.” She states. ”We want to encourage the people here in the community to think outside the box and believe that they can accomplish their goals they are trying to accomplish.” When asked why the Austin community on Chicago’s west side was chosen for this particular initiative, Giles says “Austin was actually chosen because we saw on the news that 15 out of the 19 schools have had budget cuts, not because of the education but because of the number of students…so we are trying to get them [students] to stay in the community to start building more here in the community and more of a positive environment.”

David Kim, owner of Dream Town Shoes, was thrilled to collaborate with Timberland for such a positive event for students. “We’ve been here for about 40 years on this block on the west side, it’s definitely under represented sometimes…we try to do events like this every so often just to give back to the community.” Celebrity panelist included B96 radio host, Gabe, The Alan Brothers, Brandon Breaux (the art director responsible for Chance The Rapper’s Coloring Book artwork), singer-songwriter Kaye Fox, and Grammy award winning recording artist, GLC. Kaye Fox, a native of the Austin community, says it’s important that the community have access to events like this. “It’s good so that the kids can see us, those of us that work with major artists and are major artists, see us in there, are able to talk to us, and are able to know that it started for us right here too.”

Chicago Public Schools have suffered massive budget cuts over the years and celebrities that call the Windy City home have stepped up to raise funds to ensure that Chicago’s youth have access to the education they deserve. Most recently, Chance The Rapper made headlines when he raised $2.2 million to help 20 CPS schools.

Thank you to Timberland and Dream Town Shoes for inviting GRIP magazine to cover this amazing event! To learn more about the work that Timberland is doing in urban communities across the country, visit www.timberland.com.

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