Good Shepherd Center
The Review
A Newsletter Highlighting Exceptional Children & Families of the Chicago Southland
Winter 2014
Good Shepherd Center Presents:
The 4th Annual Fashion Show Saturday, April 26, 2014 11:00 am - 3:00 pm Gaelic Park ~ 6119 W. 147th St. Oak Forest, IL
• Models & volunteers needed • New committee members welcomed • Donate towards the silent auction
New Committee Members are welcome!! If you enjoy fashion, events or working with kids, we can use your help!!! Volunteers for the day of the event are also needed! We will greatly appreciate all monetary and gift in kind donations (i.e. wine, jewelry, etc.) for the silent auction. Call Kristen at (708) 335-0020 ext. 20 or email kbonk@gscenter.org if interested.
Dear friends, The year of 2013 was certainly a memorable one at Good Shepherd Center. We celebrated the fact that the agency has been serving children and families for the past 50 years with some memorable events. Our “Strong Children ~ Strong Communities” conference sold out one week before the event. More than 400 people enjoyed our informative sessions that were aimed at making a positive difference in the lives of all children, birth through adulthood. Our 3rd Annual Fashion Show was another great success as we had models from the 5 different decades represent their peers from the same time frame. The Golf Outing was a hit again at the perfectly manicured Ravisloe Country Club on a beautiful June day. We also held a Children’s Fall Festival in Homewood where children and their families played games, got their face painted, listened to the great music performed by the Scribblemonsters® Band and even the White Sox mascot Southpaw paid us a visit that day. We also appreciated the Homewood Area Chamber of Commerce honoring Good Shepherd Center at their Oktoberfest event by raffling off a TV with the proceeds going to the agency. All of these events were great fun and successful because of all of the supporters of the agency for which I am most grateful. Our history attests to the fact that Good Shepherd Center’s core values, since it was founded, are to meet the needs of the community by providing services for children with and without special needs and their families. In that tradition we continue to assure that we are meeting these needs. Over the past year we successfully opened the new Children / Adult Waiver program where we provide support services for families that have received this form of funding from the State (for more information contact Mary Ellen McLoughlin at 708-335-0020 ext. 22). We initiated this service at the request of some of our alumni families that wanted to continue to work with us. Another opportunity that we pursued this past year was a possible merger with Park Lawn. Our initial thinking was not that we needed to make this move for financial or stability reasons; rather it might benefit our families as we would be able to provide lifelong support for their love one with special needs. Our efforts unfortunately fell short as we felt that some people did not understand or value children’s services as much as we think they should. Everyone at Good Shepherd Center knows how important the early years are in a child’s development, so it is imperative that if we are to ever partner our services with another agency that they too appreciate this fact. We have continued to collaborate with Park Lawn on projects and may consider a merger with them again or another business partner in the future. We’ll only pursue it further if it would aid us in fulfilling our mission of serving children and families in the south suburbs, which we hope to do for another 50 years. Please know that your input is most important to the future of how we address our daily business. Therefore, if you have an idea for how our staff can better serve you please do not hesitate to share your thoughts with our staff. Brendan McCormick Executive Director
Children’s Fall Festival
This year Good Shepherd Center celebrated its 50th anniversary. In honor of that fact, we held a children’s fall festival. Thanks to our sponsors Andrew Corporation, the Roche Family Foundations and Jack and Marge Hayes. We also appreciated prize sponsors Tom Marszewski, Bev Olson, Marilyn Tyler and Tim and Nancy Larocque. Thanks to all!
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Proceeds benefit programs and services for exceptional children at Good Shepherd Center. LG’s breathtaking 55” Class LED Google TV has been rated Number One, Best TV in the category by a leading consumer magazine. x x x x x
Efficient LED backlighting LG Cinema 3D & 2.1– channel speakers Google TV’s legendary Smart TV See thumbnail previews of every TV show available Organize Android apps, find your favorite content and surf the web from the intuitive Home Dashboard
1 for $10 • 3 for $25 • 7 for $50 • 15 for $100 Drawing will be on Sunday, January 19, 2014, at Mongo McMichaels at 1101 N Independence Blvd, Romeoville, IL For tickets contact Kristen at 708-335-0020 ext. 20 or kbonk@gscenter.org or visit us at 17314 S. Kedzie Ave. Hazel Crest, IL 60429. More information is available at www.gscenter.org. All proceeds further the mission of Good Shepherd Center to be a community advocate for children and adults, with and without disabilities, providing support, services, and education that empower individuals and families to lead exceptional lives. Name: _________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________State: _______________ Zip:__________ Phone: __________________________________________Email: _________________________________________ Credit Card #: __________________________________________________________ Exp: ____________________ Signature:______________________________________________________________________________________ 3.
THANK YOU
Cookies & Milk with Santa
to the individuals, corporations and service groups, who have donated to Good Shepherd Center during the period of August 1st to December 31, 2013.
Some CUTE Good Shepherd Center kids and families met the real Santa! There was also wonderful volunteer help from GSC staff and students from Mt. Carmel High School. Cookies and goodies were donated from Sweet Annie’s in Flossmoor and Starbucks Coffee in Homewood donated coffee. Thank you all for braving the weather to help spread the Christmas cheer!
Joining the Celebration The Homewood Area Chamber of Commerce recently donated $750 to Good Shepherd Center by holding a raffle for a 32” flat screen television at their Oktoberfest celebration. Everyone at GSC appreciates their support, as well as all the people that took a chance at winning the television! Conor Keane was the lucky winner. You too can join Conor by purchasing a chance to win a 55” television (more details on page 3) that was recently donated to the agency. The odds are certainly good as we plan to sell only 400 tickets! Good Luck!
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Andrew Aileen S. Foundation Mr. Ben Arkes Aurelio’s Pizza - Homewood Mr & Mrs. Chester / Daiva Baksys Mr. & Mrs. Scott / Gina Banks The Jean B. Blair Charitable Trust Mr. Paul Berman Ms. Lolita Bogdan Leo Burnett, USA Mr. & Mrs. Robert / Emilie Clifford Mr. & Mrs. Frank / Annie Cole Mr. & Mrs. Thaddeus / Corrine Dabrowski Ms. Christine Dahlberg Mr. & Mrs. John / Dianne Damme Mr. Rodney Dunlap Ms. Virginia Eck Mr. & Mrs. Richard / Kathy Filetti Mr. & Mrs. Michael / Laura Gaughan Dr. Claude Gendreau of Imaging Center for Animals, LLC Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Gibson Mr. & Mrs. Mark / Pamela Gineris Mr. & Mrs. Daniel / Deborah Greenberg Mrs. Sarah Grossi Mr. & Mrs. Jack / Marge Hayes Hinda Incentives Homewood Area Chamber of Commerce The Honorable Fran Hurley Jillian Palenik Foundation Mr. Gaynell Keaton Mr. & Mrs. Larry / Karen Kettelson Kiwanis Club of Orland Park Ms. Rose Klauba Mr. & Mrs. David / Brook Klawitter Mr. Michael Klimas Mr. & Mrs. Tom / Joyce Kolavo Mr. & Mrs. Dave / Barb Kupiec Mr. & Mrs. Timothy LaRocque Ms. Ellen Leader Mr. Tom Marszewski & Ms. Jeanne Galvin Mr. & Mrs. Brendan / Lorraine McCormick
(Thank You’s continued) Mr. & Mrs. Thomas / Marilyn McGannon Ms. Ann McKenna Mr. & Mrs. Carlos / Maureen Michelis Mr. & Mrs. Michael / Mary Murdock NASCAR Friends of Joey Tyler Mr. Steve Nemitz Mr. & Mrs. Dennis / Martha O’Boyle Mr. & Mrs. John Olson Estate of Helen Parks Dr. Kenneth Peterson Mr. & Mrs. David / Elaine Phillips The Honorable Al Riley Roche Family Foundation, Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Sapit Mr. & Mrs. Richard / Patricia Schmidt Mr. Roy Schweinfurth Mr. Manjit Singh Mr. Thaddeus J. Strojny, Sr. Mr. & Mrs. Edward / Doris Sweeney Mr. Tom Tomaszewski Mr. & Mrs. Josh Tyler Ms. Marilyn Tyler Mr. & Mrs. David / Bridget Van Eekeren Mr. & Mrs. Steven / Heather Vuckovich Mr. & Mrs. James / Therese Welser
Hats Off to Staff and Volunteers “To all the days here and after, may they be filled with fond memories, happiness, and laughter.” -Author Unknown
Congratulations to •
Provider Resource Specialist Maureen Turcott and her husband Benjamin on their new son Oliver born 9-5-13.
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Good Shepherd Center’s new Director of Development Kristen Bonk on joining the team.
Mr. & Mrs. Donald / Anna Karin Wiltsey Ms. Eleanor Young Mr. & Mrs. Martin / Marikay Zupan In Memory of Bobby Alvarado Mr. & Mrs. Tom / Carolyn Porzel In Memory of John Budzinski Mr. & Mrs. James Berent Ms. Pauline Bonze Mr. & Mrs. David Bruff Chicago Chapter of Medical Assistants Mr. & Mrs. Dan Hampton Ms. Janice Horeni Sequin RCA In Memory of Chris Hacko and in Honor of Robbie Doubrawa Mr. & Mrs. Robert / Joann Doubrawa In Memory of Kevin Hertz Mr. & Mrs. Richard / Mary Hertz In Memory of Angela Nelson Mr. & Mrs. Tennes / Joanne Nelson
In Memory of Maureen Oleskiewicz Mr. & Mrs. George / Margaret Oleskiewicz In Memory of Chris Predny Mr. and Mrs. Robert / Faye Predny In Memory of Louise Schweinfurth Mr. & Mrs. Bruce / Ruth Watson Mr. & Mrs. Donald / Anna Karin Wiltsey In Honor of Virginia Eck Ms. Sara Leonard In Honor of Ryan Finlayson Mr. & Mrs. John / Pamela Finlayson To make a donation to Good Shepherd Center in memory/honor of someone, please designate “In memory of ” or “In honor of ” with your donation. Donation envelopes are also available by calling the Development Office at 708-335-0020 x 20. Please send to: Good Shepherd Center 17314 S. Kedzie Ave. Hazel Crest, IL 60429.
Thank You Cheryl Everyone at Good Shepherd Center are saddened to announce that Cheryl Assise recently resigned her position as the Director of Development at Good Shepherd Center. Cheryl has done a great job of aiding the agency further our mission during her 5 years of service. During that time the events held to raise funds for the children GSC served were all done with a great deal of thought and heart. She will most certainly be remembered as the person that initiated the agency Fashion Show. This event has become the highlight of the year where our children, families and professional / celebrity models have come together to raise funds for the programs we provide. She also initiated the 1st Annual Golf Outing in 2009. Cheryl also is responsible for the set-up of the agency’s new website. She worked tirelessly with Sandi Jones and Jonnea 5.
Herman to assure that a user-friendly format and that all the information on the site was correct. Visit www.gscenter.org to see the great work that team accomplished. Cheryl also developed a great working relationship with the staff and students at Homewood-Flossmoor High School by establishing a volunteer program for the Juniors & Seniors to share their talents. While she no longer will be the Director, we hope to keep her around in a part-time fashion to aid us as we continue to grow in the future. Thanks for all you have done for us Cheryl!
Good Shepherd Center Serving Children & Families Since 1963
Address Service Requested
17314 S. Kedzie Avenue Hazel Crest, IL 60429 708-335-0020
Non Profit Organization U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 14 Flossmoor, IL
www.gscenter.org
Community Partner Program 17512 Carriageway Hazel Crest, IL 60429 (708) 957-2600