June 2023 Special Needs Living Akron/Canton

Don’t Miss the Nathaniel’s Hope Make’m Smile Event!

Saturday, July 8th at Hartville Memorial Park from 11am to 3pm

WRITTEN BY SARAH SMITH PHOTOS BY MICHELLE HERDLICK

The Make’m Smile Ohio event celebrates people with Value and Incredible Purpose - those with special needs, whether cognitive, physical, or emotional. The VIPs have fun and are able to be themselves in a safe and understanding environment. Parents and caregivers receive information from the many resource vendors who attend. This year’s day of fun and food for the whole family will be Saturday, July 8. Best of all, it’s free!

The fifth annual Nathaniel’s Hope Make’m Smile Ohio party will be held at Hartville Memorial Park from 11am to 3pm. VIPs of all ages and their families are invited to celebrate. Families that attend can expect entertainment all day long. 95.5 The Fish radio station will broadcast live at the park and will have a prize wheel for everyone to spin. Thanks to generous donations, all attendees and vendors will receive a picnic style lunch and snacks. All vendors will have a free game or giveaway for the VIPs. In addition, there will be a bounce house, dunk tank, yard games, and many other fun activities.

This event was started in Orlando, Florida, by Tim and Marie Kuck. Their son, Nathaniel, relocated to heaven at the age of four. He never walked or ate with his mouth.

Make’m Smile launched in 2002 and has grown exponentially since. This party, celebrating those with special needs, has spread from Florida to Ohio to California.

“My hopes and dreams are that this celebration day will grow and be positively impactful to not only the VIPs, but to any parent or caregiver who is struggling to gather information, who needs a support group, or who needs to express their fears and concerns over raising a special needs child,” said Lena Hartman, Make’m Smile team member. “This is something I wish was available to me when raising my daughter. Tanya was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, specifically Autism. While I loved Tanya very much, I had no idea how to help her. She was seen as different and people didn’t know how to act around her, so they avoided her. We were never invited out with other families for fear Tanya would be disruptive and she didn’t understand she didn’t have friends like her brothers. Now I’m part of a large community of parents and caregivers who I can help and who also help me. This event brings everyone together in a positive, helpful setting.”

Resource vendors include Gigi’s Playhouse, Pegasus Farm, the Shriners, Canine Companions, and others. Lena shared how rewarding feedback from the event has been. “I love the testimonials of thanks and hearing how some of the vendors helped families,” she said. “I’ve heard people say, ‘I didn’t know that was available to me’ and another mom said, ‘My child smiled for the first time today!’”

Make’m Smile Ohio has five core team members and is always looking for more volunteers to serve the more than 200 people who attend the event. Those wishing to participate can be a buddy, a resource exhibitor, a sponsor, or a smile-maker.

Harvestime Apostolic Temple hosts Make’m Smile Ohio. The church has a special needs program where anyone with any disability is loved and included.

“We understand there’s no ‘perfect person’,” Lena explained. “We are all flawed and shine in different ways. If we exclude anyone for any type of disability, whether mental, emotional, or physical, then we are not complete. Just like in a puzzle, each shape is unique; leave one piece out, and the whole is not complete.”