DECEMBER
2015
Garden Center Services
The View From My Chair A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Joey & Gerry
INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE VIEW FROM MY CHAIR Page 1 59TH FASHION SHOW Page 2 COMPUTERSHARE Page 3 AROUND GCS Page 4
On behalf of the Garden Center Services’ Board of Directors, our program participants, our staff, Cindy and myself, I would like to wish each and every one of you a Christmas season filled with quiet moments of gratitude, peace within you and your communities, and a deep sense of joy coming from the many miracles that surround us. At a time that we are made aware almost daily of the cruelty and intolerance created by ignorance and the chaos it leads to, I believe we have to strengthen our resolve to treat
one another with profound kindness and compassion. I would share with you that I am so bolstered in my desire to stay positive by the precious opportunities I have to spend time with the caring and authentic individuals that are supported by our programs. I express my sincerest gratitude to all of you reading this newsletter that have contributed your time, energy, talents, and personal means in ways that positively affected the individuals served by Garden Center Services and helped them to enhance their own strengths and life experiences. Our agency has always felt like a family and no matter how many individuals we are serving, we strive to maintain this fundamental significance as our foundation. Any of you that attended our recent 59th Annual Fashion
Show certainly sensed the closeness and bond we share. If you couldn’t make it this year there’s a link to an awesome video of the event prepared by Mr. Lydon on the agency’s website. As always, I was moved at this year’s event by a number of things: the joy and pride I saw on the faces of the program participants that attended this years’ luncheon; the laughter and sharing happening at all the tables; the playful and charming performance by this years’ models; and the incredible effort and collaboration from the staff, the event committee, the volunteers, and the board of directors that made this our most successful fashion show ever! Inside this newsletter you will find the December calendar that is filled with a number of holiday events that you, your family, and continued on page 4
GARDEN CENTER FAMILY GCS 59TH ANNUAL FASHION SHOW Garden Center held it’s 59th Annual Fashion Show, “I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends” at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Alsip on November 8th. A record-breaking 380 friends and supporters attended this amazing event to see the beautiful fashions of our own Second Chance Thrift Shoppe modeled by Garden Center program participants, staff and supporters. We are grateful to the many volunteers who made this event possible including Junior Girl Scout Troop #20075, St. Rita of Cascia High School Jazz Band, Marist High School Poms, and Tom Lydon. Big thank yous also go to our dedicated Fashion Show Committee, the basket, raffle, and auction donors as well as our wonderful attendees who made this year’s event so much fun!
G C S
B U S I N E S S
C O R N E R
GCS’ ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BAZAAR Enjoy punch and cookies while you shop our beautiful, hand-made gift items.
GCS Annual Christmas Bazaar Friday, December 4th 1pm to 6pm GCS’ State Street Site 8333 S. Austin in Burbank
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Do good when you shop... COFFEE Co.
. Tastes Good. Does Good. Feels Good
Hand-made gifts
STAFF OF COMPUTERSHARE HELP GARDEN CENTER Recently, Debbie Hokinson, sister of GCS’s own Nancy Miller and a Sr. Account Manager at the Burr Ridge office of Computershare, a global expert in high integrity data management and stakeholder engagement, contacted Garden Center to learn more about how they could help our programs. With a list of needed program supplies, the staff of Computershare got to work. Last month, Computershare staff delivered much needed items including paint, smocks, brushes, puzzles, and more! We are so grateful to the staff of Computershare for their generous support. Their donation will help keep the Day Programs stocked in craft supplies for months to come!
DINE & DONATE at the HARVEST ROOM Join Garden Center Services at the Harvest Room Restaurant 7164 W. 127th Street, Palos Heights on Thursday, December 3rd from 5:30 to 9:00pm Enjoy the best fresh-from-scratch cuisine in Chicago and LIVE music by local musician, Ernie Hendrickson. Enjoy an 10% of all proceeds will be donated help Gardamazing meal an d en Cen to support the programs of Garden same timter at the e! Center Services REMEMBER TO NOTIFY RESTAURANT STAFF THAT YOU ARE SUPPORTING GCS
Mark your calendar...
GCS Day Programs and Administrative Offices will be CLOSED DEC. 24th & 25th and
JAN. 1st
SUPER SALE SUNDAY, DEC. 13th 12pm to 4pm
50% OFFSTREET EVERYTHING 44 STEPHEN IN LEMONT
Community Bulletin Board Remember to use iGive for your Holiday Shopping!
visit www.iGive.com/ GardenCenter to learn how you can help Garden Center when you shop online.
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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
BOARD OF DIRECTORS President
Dr. Jenny Wojcik
1st Vice President
Annmarie Caulfield
2nd Vice President
Paul Krutulis
Treasurer
George Sterba
Secretary
Florence Head
Members:
Caroline Connors Joan Strainis Representative Fran Hurley Dave Rauen Tom Beemesterboer
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your friends may want to take advantage of. There are a number of occasions where you can mix with other friends of Garden Center, mark items off your Christmas gift list while supporting our consumers, and just have a really good time! Just this week we have an awesome Dine to Donate event on Thursday, followed by our annual holiday bazaar on Friday! With the busyness and hectic holiday schedule, we will wait until January to have our next Family Forum. During this season of thankfulness and giving, please remember our agency and the incredible individual we serve. In closing I would like to share the following quote on our focus of kindness:
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” - Leo Buscaglia American author and motivational speaker
Enjoy punch & cookies while you browse our beautiful hand-made gift items
Proceeds benefidt residential an s am vocational progrnte r at Garden Ce Services
GCS Annual Holiday Bazaar Dec. 4th 1pm to 6pm 8333 S. Austin Ave. in Burbank
A Merry & Peace-Filled Christmas,
OUR MISSION Garden Center Services is committed to supporting and empowering persons with developmental disabilities through innovative and person-centered 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.
Inday & Sue strike a pose Karen & S hannon sm ile for th e camera
Please show your appreciation for these Garden Center Fashion Show sponsors when you need products/services! Teamsters Local 705 American Heritage Protective Services David Cobb Friends of Harry Klein Mahoney Crowe & Goldrick, P.c. NICOR Gas Michael Kowalik, DDS Lou Viverito South Division Credit Union Pepsi Beverages Co. Chicago Office Products
The Private Bank Ciarlette & Robbins, LLP Little Flower Healthcare Registry Oak Lawn Tax Services Halberg Valek Insurance Agency Maloney & Company, Ltd. Shamrock Blacktop & Sealcoating Catholic Family Holy Society Paul McGreal & Co. US Bank Friends of Bill Cunningham Friends of Fran Hurley
St. Albert The Great High School 19th Ward Youth Foundation Larry’s Break Service Frega Architects, Ltd. Keepsake Publishing Coyle & Herr Abide in Me Running Excels Chicago Lock Box Therap The Original Pancake House