Standard Club Offers Members Access to Athletic Facilities And More

The Standard Club
Image: stclub.org

In 1986, Richard Kaplan founded the private real estate investment firm Syndicated Equities located in Chicago, Illinois. Active outside of the office, Richard Kaplan belongs to The Standard Club of Chicago , where he was also on the board and was president from 1994 through 1996.

In business for more than 150 years, The Standard Club boasts membership of leaders who pursue charitable, civic, and social responsibility. Many of the prestigious private city club’s members work in Chicago’s academic, cultural, business, and industrial sectors. Benefits of club membership include access to more than 201 reciprocal clubs scattered throughout the world, golf privileges, and invitations to approximately 60 club-sponsored events throughout the year.

For a nominal monthly fee, members gains access to the club’s athletic facilities, which allow members to achieve fitness goals and enhance personal and business relationships. The club’s offerings include an indoor running track, paddleball and basketball courts, heated indoor swimming pool, strength-training and cardiovascular equipment, and free weights. Members can also partake in the club’s personalized training and workout classes as well as athletic programs and tournaments. After an intense workout, they can enjoy massages, steam rooms, and other treatments.

Volunteering with WITS Kindergarten

Working in the Schools
Image: witschicago.org

Richard Kaplan, founder and president of Syndicated Equities in Chicago, Illinois, is a supporter of various charities, most involving education. One of the charitable organizations with which Richard Kaplan is involved is Working in the Schools (WITS), a Chicago non-profit that focuses on providing literacy mentors for students.

WITS, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, has achieved many of its goals over the course of its operation. The program has made a positive impact within the Chicago community by turning students who struggle with reading into lifelong readers.

Among the programs WITS offers is WITS Kindergarten, which trains volunteers to give one-on-one literacy tutoring to kindergarten students. WITS Kindergarten works with 12 partner schools and assists 300 kindergarten students by providing each student with a volunteer to teach them their letters and sounds and to act as the student’s “reading role model.” After undergoing WITS training, volunteers meet with students on a weekly basis to help improve literacy in kindergarten classrooms.

OneGoal’s 7th Annual Graduation Gala in May of 2015

As the founder and CEO of Syndicated Equities in Chicago, Richard Kaplan has facilitated commercial and residential real estate transactions both throughout Chicago and around the nation. Richard Kaplan balances his professional pursuits with his support of numerous philanthropic groups, such as OneGoal, an organization that helps high school students from low-income schools transition from under-performing students into college graduates.

Every year, OneGoal hosts a Graduation Gala to celebrate students who are graduating from high school and planning for college in the fall. The 7th Annual It Starts with One Graduation Gala in May 2015 will take place at the Palmer House Hilton and feature special guest Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson. At the fundraising event, OneGoal will highlight the importance of both supporting a reality where all students have the chance to attend college and redoubling these efforts in the organization’s flagship Chicago region.

The Graduation Gala illuminates different aspects of the It Starts with One theme each year, and the 2015 event is set to delve into the Power of One concept. With this concept, OneGoal emphasizes that it only takes one moment to transform students’ circumstances, life trajectories, and social patterns. OneGoal notes that the 2015 fundraising gala will help the organization’s flagship chapter reach more than 3,000 students across 50 area high schools.