GCS Newsletter THE LEAFLET Issue NOV/DEC 2017

NOV/DEC

2017

Garden Center Services

is November 28th

INSIDE THIS ISSUE GIVING TUESDAY Page 1 ANOTHER WISH Page 2 GCS FASHION SHOW Page 3 AROUND GCS Page 4

Twin Hearts Autism Foundation has generously agreed to match all donations to Garden Center on this GivingTuesday!

Help us get the word out!

Please consider making a donation on NOV 28th to double your impact!

Worried you might forget? NO PROBLEM! Just text GIVINGTUESDAY to 22828

GARDEN CENTER FAMILY ANOTHER WISH COMES TRUE!

Shannon & Tim prepare to ride Viper, rated “Thrill Level: MAX”on the Great America website. And they rode it ...backwards!

Tim LOVES amusement parks! He has already been to several including the big one ...Disney Land, so it was no surprise when his Wish for 2017 was to go to Great America. Thanks to the generous donation of David Daufenbach and his friend Maggie, Tim was able to visit Great America last month along with one of his favorite GCS staff members, Shannon O’Connell (who is also David’s niece).

Tim is kind of a dare devil and rode the Viper roller coaster backwards! But he’s not crazy, and said “Oh, No Way!”, when he saw the Goliath. It was an amazing day and Tim and all of us at Garden Center are David, Tim & Maggie grateful to David and Maggie for making at Great America this wish come true!

If you would like to help GCS make a wish come true for someone at Garden Center, please contact Denise Rau about our My Wish Program at dRau@GardenCenterServices.org or 708-398-6576.

Garden Center Services

Giving Tuesday is NOV. 28th and we want to use this day to get the word out about Garden Center Services.

ANNUAL HOLIDAY BAZAAR

There is a very easy way you can help us!

DID YOU KNOW? by sharing, commenting on, or even just liking one of our facebook posts, more people will see our message?

Friday, December 1st 1pm to 6pm 8333 S. Austin Ave. in Burbank

This November, each day leading up to the 28th, GCS will post one of our “20 Reasons to Donate to Garden Center on Giving Tuesday”. These posts tell a story about what we do and some of the obstacles we face.

If you would share, comment and/or like our posts, it will help us get the word out to more people.

Proceeds benefit residential and vocational programs at Garden Center Services

If you would like some more direction about how to comment, like, or share messages, please call Anne at 815-557-9145.

Shop our growARTS Holiday Products online or with our enclosed form to guarantee you get the item you need...

To shop online, visit our Website and Click SHOP.

NEW THIS YEAR!

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GCS is selling Fresh Wreaths!

Each wreath has a large bow and pine cones throughout. (24” and 36”) **IMPORTANT WREATH ORDER INFORMATION** ORDER YOUR WREATH By NOV. 27th & We will have it for you to pick up on Dec 1st at the Holiday Bazaar. (Order form is included in this newsletter, order on our website, OR call Anne at 815-557-9145.)

GARDEN CENTER’s 61st ANNUAL FASHION SHOW Garden Center’s 61st Annual Fashion Show was a resounding success! With over 360 people in attendance, It was a beautiful day of friends, fellowship, and fashion.

The stylish ensembles of the Second Chance Thrift Shoppe were as stunning in beauty as they were in price, causing the crowd to gasp when each outfit’s cost was revealed. Garden Center is pleased so many were able to be with us on this special day and our staff are humbled and grateful to have reached the highest level of pledges and sponsorships in the history of this event. Garden Center would like to offer a special thank you to the event’s Presenting Sponsors: Jeff & Peggy Lovelady and Kevin & Jane Doherty, Possibility Sponsors: Teamsters Union Local 705, Spotlight Sponsors: Nicor Gas and Kim & Bill Hanson, and the event’s Runway Sponsors: Hallberg Commercial Insurors and Elkay Manufacturing, Co. Garden Center is also grateful to the Fashion Show Committee who worked for months to ensure this event went off without a hitch. Fashion Show Committee Members: Florence Head, Joan Strainis, Dorothy Ballis, Rosemary DuMais, Lisa Beemsterboer, Jenny Wojcik, Joan Aderman, and Paula Kudlinski.

Although it was Garden Center’s first event at Silver Lake Golf Club, the beautiful venue and delicious food has convinced us that this relationship must continue. So please mark your calendars for the ...

2018 Fashion Show and Luncheon Sunday, November 4th 2018 Silver Lake Golf Club Orland Park, IL

Mark your calendar...

Community Bulletin Board

GCS Day Programs CLOSED Thanksgiving

NOV 23 & 24 Christmas

DEC 25 & 26 MLK Day

opportunity Party is a rare Our Holiday who work er with staff to get togeth ifts sh & tions different loca

Each year, GCS holds a holiday party for our staff.

We use volunteers and create rotating staff schedules to enable residential staff to have the opportunity to attend at least a portion of the evening.

If you would like to volunteer to help out at a home so a staff person can attend the party, please contact Cindy at chaworth@ gardencenterservices.org or call her at 773-941-4151 Ext. 213

3

Growing dignity and independence 8333 S. Austin Ave. Burbank, IL 60459 10444 S. Kedzie Chicago, IL 60655 phone 773-941-4151 email info@gardencenterservices.org web www.GardenCenterServices.org

President

Dr. Jenny Wojcik

1st Vice President

Annmarie Caulfield

2nd Vice President

Paul Krutulis

Treasurer

George Sterba

Secretary

Florence Head

Members:

Joan Strainis

LaShawn’s Group gathering supplies for Hurricane victims in Texas

Tim &nne Karen Night at Yvo , AmDate y & Pat Redlow Robbin at the Hal een Dance

Representative Fran Hurley Dave Rauen Tom Beemsterboer

us Columb f o s t h ll Days the Knig Helpingat Tootsie Ro

OUR MISSION

ing out at home Don & Jeremiah hang

SAVE A TREE ...AND GCS MONEY

JULY

2014

T

Garden Center Services

HE LEAFLET

The View From My Chair A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

When you sign up to receive THE LEAFLET online

by the referral agencies that require the person to take a number of assessments. The purpose of these assessments is to pinpoint those deficits in cognitive, physical, and lifeskill development that will

Nicole & Gerry

INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE VIEW FROM MY CHAIR Page 1 GARDEN CENTER FAMILY Page 2 GCS WALKS, ROLLS & RUNS Page 3 AROUND GCS Page 4

Looking forward to this coming weekend and all the 4th of July celebrations leads me to think about the term “independence” and the struggles we’ve all gone through, as individuals and as a country, to become the people we want to be, spending our precious lives doing what we want to do. I would say the overarching goal we have as an agency that provides services and supports to adults with intellectual and physical disabilities is getting to know each person well enough so that we can accurately identify what their hopes and aspirations are and then doing whatever we can to assist them in realizing this potential.

Before individuals are “awarded” state funding so that they can attend our programs, they must be screened

“It is only by spending quality time with an individual, deeply listening to them, observing them, that one comes to grasp their aptitude and ambitions. ”

verify they meet the criteria of having a developmental disability. It seems to be such a “what’s broken” way of looking at human beings, and does not give proper emphasis to the unique presence and contribution that each person possesses. It is only by spending quality time with an individual, deeply listening to them, observing them, that one comes to grasp their aptitude and ambitions.

In both our day and residential programs we are continually working to improve the experiences and exposure our consumers receive driven by the approach described above.

We so appreciate the input provided by the families about their loved ones, and also the insights contributed by our caring staff that spends so much of their day engaged with our consumers. As an agency, as we become more aware and sensitive to the hopes and possibilities that are within each person we support, we must strive to make those changes necessary that will give them better access to full lives of participation.

As much as I wanted to mention independence in this article, I also wanted to stress the need and benefit of “interdependence”. It’s truly only through the acceptance and support of one another that we can really become our best selves. I often think that one of the greatest gifts bestowed on us by the persons we support at Garden Center Services is their innate understanding of this principle, and the enviable way they open themselves to receiving and providing kindness.

Enjoy the newsletter, and have a great summer.

We need your help to cut postage costs! If you would like to continue to receive the GCS newsletter, please contact Sandi at scoleman@ gardencenterservices.org to receive your next issue via eMail.

USE iGive for your online holiday shopping & a percentage of your sale is donated to Garden Center!

Garden Center Services is committed to supporting and empowering persons with developmental disabilities through innovative and personcentered services.

Our commitment to the excellence of our programs is surpassed only by our devotion to the people we serve and the communities in which they live.

Nichole shows off her best Bat Girl pose