This year The Arc sent individuals from our People First Appleton & People First Neenah-Menasha groups to the annual Self Determination Conference at the Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells. Each year all of the local People First groups submit a nomination form for both a male (Jed Buza Award) and female (Susan Nutter Award) self-advocate who is active in their local group.
This year People First Neenah-Menasha choose to nominate Don Fascio for the Jed Buza Award and he was selected to be the recipient! It was a very exciting day for all of those who attended. Don is a very active Self-Advocate in both the Statewide People First group as well as being a strong influence in the People First Neenah-Menasha group.
Congratulations to Don for making a difference in the community and being a strong Self-advocate in Wisconsin! Thank you Don for being such a strong voice for People First!
Green Bay Packers Community Service Award presented by Humana, Inc.
(Appleton, WI) Ellen Sauer, The Arc Fox Cities’ Special Olympics Track coach for over 30 years, has been awarded the Green Bay Packers Community Quarterback Award. This award, presented by Humana, Inc. is designed to honor volunteers who exemplify leadership, dedication, creativity, and a commitment to improving the communities in which they live through volunteerism.
Ellen was one of ten chosen out of numerous statewide nominees. Ellen is a teacher at Ferber Elementary School in Appleton, WI and has lived in the Fox Cities the majority of her life. She is an active member of the volunteer community and has coached The Arc’s Track and Field team for over 30 years. She has grown the program from 10 track athletes to more than 60 this past year. She not only gets the athletes involved, she also reaches out to students in her school to volunteer during the season. Ellen is a leader because she leads by example. She is humble, generous, passionate, caring and persistent. She is everything to her athletes. She is a teacher, a friend, a family member, a caregiver, a fan, a supporter, a helping hand and most importantly a COACH!
The honor of this award includes a generous grant of $4,000 to The Arc Fox Cities, Inc. In addition, Ellen will be honored at a luncheon at Lambeau Field and will receive two tickets, provided by Humana, for the December 22, 2013 contest between The Green Bay Packers and The Pittsburgh Steelers at Lambeau Field.
The Arc Fox Cities, Inc. provides programs and services to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Their mission is to Utilize Advocacy, Respect and Concern to empower all people with disabilities to have the opportunity to choose and realize their goal of a full life and a secure future.
It’s time for Monday night football! The Packers are taking on the Bears! Who do you think will bring home a win?! Our office is rooting for the Packers 🙂
Want to make a quick and easy Packer snack? Here is a yummy recipe to test out.
For those of you on Facebook you have probably seen this floating around on your newsfeed, but just in case you haven’t… Noah a Senior at Little Chute is making lots of news around the state!
This past weekend the SOAR group (ages 16-26) spent the weekend up at Lu-Wi-Somo for a fun filled weekend of camp! Friday we spent the night playing games by the camp fire to get to know each other before telling scary stories! We also tried out our singing skills by the fire we sang lots of silly songs and we hope that some of the campers can share them with friends and family 🙂
Saturday was jam packed with fun. We took the campers out on a nature hike to collect nature items to create their nature houses. Our campers also got the opportunity to go horse back riding. We took a nice leisurely trail ride but man was it a hot one outside! It reached 91 degrees so after our horseback adventures we went down to the lake front for a nice refreshing dip at the lake. Nothing beats the heat like an afternoon swim!
Saturday night our campers got to participate in one of The Arc staff members favorite summer activities— Pudgy Pie making! We got to mix and match different goodies to make our own grilled sandwiches right on our campfire. (Some burnt like a crisp, but we finally got the hang of it!!) We spent the evening telling stories around the fire, making S’mores with all of our new friends. Luckily the storms didn’t hit us so we could stay up late enjoying the great outdoors. After a long day of fun in the sun it was not a surprise that most of our campers were ready to head to bed early.
Sunday morning came around all too quick and our weekend was coming to an end… 🙁
We spent the morning playing all kinds of fun games planned by our volunteers Liz and Amber! They really made sure our campers had a fun weekend. (Thanks ladies for all your planning!) Then we had to pack up and head back home- some of the campers were reluctant and some were excited to leave. No worries though next years’ camp will be here before we know it!
Thanks to all the parents, campers, volunteers and Camp Lu-Wi-Somo we had a fantastic weekend! We couldn’t have done it without you.
