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West Loop Families is a community organization that offers information, friendship and family-friendly activities and events to families with young children. We are the largest family group in the neighborhood and have been keeping families connected and socially active since 2009.
West Loop Families offers Family Memberships to over 1,000 families with children from our community and neighboring areas seeking information on all things family-friendly.
We also offer Chicago businesses and schools promotional opportunities at our events through sponsorship and vendor opportunities. Join West Loop Families and together we will continue building our vibrant, family-friendly community.
West Loop Families offers Family Memberships to over 1,000 families with children from our community and neighboring areas seeking information on all things family-friendly.
We also offer Chicago businesses and schools promotional opportunities at our events through sponsorship and vendor opportunities. Join West Loop Families and together we will continue building our vibrant, family-friendly community.
History
Before our group became West Loop Families, it was called West Loop Moms. West Loop Moms was started as a Meetup group by a mom who lived in the West Loop neighborhood. Several other new moms joined and we started spending time in one another's homes. We then met at coffee shops, later parks. There were many fun playdates, the heart of what West Loop Moms was about. The group grew by word of mouth and within a couple years, almost 200 moms were part of it! It was during this time that the popular Halloween Parade in Mary Bartelme Park began. For two years, families took their children to Mary Bartelme Park on or around Halloween, and costume-clad kids ran around and posed for pictures on the hill. It was the beginning of a beloved neighborhood tradition.
In January 2010, the original West Loop Moms Organizer chose to step down, and a new mom took over the group. The group continued the original activities, kept growing, and soon after, the new organizer changed the group name to West Loop Families. She added activities and games to the Halloween Parade at the park, and began coordinating trick-or-treating on Madison Street immediately following the event. She added other events and activities over the years, including an End of Summer Picnic, Fun with Summer Camps, a Pregnancy & Infant Care seminar, Stargazing in the West Loop, and a school fair called the Chicago Education Expo, which ran for five years. Although the group continued using Meetup, we added a website and eventually social media pages. We made tweaks to some events, discontinued others, and have continued growing through word of mouth. We currently have over 1,000 members and the West Loop Families Halloween Parade, our largest event, brings together over 2,000 families. We are happy to offer this free, inclusive group to all families in the West Loop and surrounding neighborhoods. We are grateful to the original organizer for having the vision to create such a lovely place for families in our neighborhood. We are thankful to the businesses whose generosity make it possible for us to offer all these events and activities free of charge.
We hope those of you who are part of this group have through it made friends, found a support system, and enjoy our family-friendly gatherings. Most importantly, we hope the children have had many opportunities to socialize and play at our playdates, gatherings and the events we offer. West Loop Families is about and for the families in our community. We hope we are positively contributing to our neighborhood and staying true to our mission: helping build a vibrant, family-friendly community in the West Loop.
In January 2010, the original West Loop Moms Organizer chose to step down, and a new mom took over the group. The group continued the original activities, kept growing, and soon after, the new organizer changed the group name to West Loop Families. She added activities and games to the Halloween Parade at the park, and began coordinating trick-or-treating on Madison Street immediately following the event. She added other events and activities over the years, including an End of Summer Picnic, Fun with Summer Camps, a Pregnancy & Infant Care seminar, Stargazing in the West Loop, and a school fair called the Chicago Education Expo, which ran for five years. Although the group continued using Meetup, we added a website and eventually social media pages. We made tweaks to some events, discontinued others, and have continued growing through word of mouth. We currently have over 1,000 members and the West Loop Families Halloween Parade, our largest event, brings together over 2,000 families. We are happy to offer this free, inclusive group to all families in the West Loop and surrounding neighborhoods. We are grateful to the original organizer for having the vision to create such a lovely place for families in our neighborhood. We are thankful to the businesses whose generosity make it possible for us to offer all these events and activities free of charge.
We hope those of you who are part of this group have through it made friends, found a support system, and enjoy our family-friendly gatherings. Most importantly, we hope the children have had many opportunities to socialize and play at our playdates, gatherings and the events we offer. West Loop Families is about and for the families in our community. We hope we are positively contributing to our neighborhood and staying true to our mission: helping build a vibrant, family-friendly community in the West Loop.
