The BMO Harris Bradley Center announced the 16 local charities that will benefit from a final season fundraiser and community gala honoring the legacy of the arena’s benefactor, Jane Bradley Pettit.
The organizations, which serve women, children and families in metro Milwaukee, were selected in collaboration with the Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation and her family to reflect the causes that the late Milwaukee philanthropist supported. Pettit donated $90 million to build the arena in 1988.
The selected organizations include:
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee
- COA Youth & Family Centers
- Hunger Task Force, to support children’s meal programs
- Literacy Services of Wisconsin
- Milwaukee Center for Children and Youth
- Milwaukee Public Library
- Milwaukee Public Television/PBS Kids
- Neighborhood House of Milwaukee, to benefit the birth to three program
- Next Door, to benefit early childhood education
- Our Next Generation
- PEARLS for Teen Girls
- Sojourner Family Peace Center
- St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care, to provide funding for the Bucyrus campus
- St. Marcus Lutheran School
- Walker’s Point Youth and Family Center.
“The BMO Harris Bradley Center was a gift to the people of Wisconsin by one of its most beloved citizens, and for 30 years, our mission has been rooted in the spirit of civic service that Mrs. Pettit lived every day of her life,” said Ted Kellner, the center’s board chairman. “As the Center embarks on its final season, we are delighted to continue to pay her incredible gift forward by supporting the causes that were important to her and these 16 fine organizations that continue to do impactful and transformative work that makes our community better.”
In September, Bradley Center leaders announced the arena’s final year would include a season-long fundraising campaign culminating in a civic gala on April 11, 2018 to raise at least $200,000 for local charities with ties to Pettit’s work. The effort has raised $40,000 to date.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to pay forward one of the greatest gifts metro Milwaukee has ever received, and we have been overwhelmed by the positive response,” said Steve Costello, president and CEO of the Bradley Center. “Our community continues to have a deep respect for Mrs. Pettit and her gift’s indelible impact. We are working hard to make the Center’s final season one to remember, with exciting action from the Bucks and Marquette, outstanding concert and family show programming and this fundraising campaign and gala in Mrs. Pettit’s honor. It will be a spectacular season filled with memories, pride and celebration.”
