Want to see your donation dollars in action? Check out some of the sport wheelchairs Variety of Illinois has presented over the last couple years in this WTTW segment on wheelchair basketball:
Jay Shefsky introduces us to a basketball team you won’t forget on Chicago Tonight at 7:00 pm. View a photo gallery of the Skyhawks basketball team during practice.
Why watch the Academy Awards at home in your jammies when you can take part in a premier red carpet event?
Naperville’s Hollywood Palms Theatre will once again host its annual Oscar Viewing Party Feb. 24 to benefit Variety Children’s Charity of Illinois.
Oscar Party SuppliesFree Ship & Low Price Guarantee. Hollywood Theme Party Decorations. www.windycitynovelties.com
The space will be transformed into the Kodak Theatre of the Midwest, complete with haute couture evening wear, a red carpet, paparazzi, champagne and deluxe goody bags.
Oh, and the actual Academy Awards ceremony will be shown on the big screens of the Hollywood Palms.
Tickets cost $40 and are on sale now. The event has sold out the last several years, and organizers urge patrons to purchase their tickets early. All proceeds benefit Variety, a non-profit dedicated to helping children with physical handicaps lead more enriched lives.
This is the third year the party’s been held at Hollywood Palms, said marketing manager Angelique Barthel. It had been at Hollywood Blvd. in Woodridge previously.
The National Federation of the Blind is now accepting applications to our national scholarship program from freshmen beginning college this fall on up through graduate students. The 30 scholarships range in value from $3,000 up to $12,000, and include a trip to Orlando this July for the world’s largest convention for the blind. Applications must be received by March 31, 2013. To learn more and to apply, please visit www.nfb.org/scholarships.
Please pass it on to eligible students, counselors, teachers, parents, college disability offices, libraries for the blind, your group’s listserv, offices for assessing equipment for the blind or visually impaired, radio reading services, the state announcement section of NFB-NEWSLINE®, and any other outlet you think of that will help blind students discover this program.
Email: scholarships@nfb.org
Website: www.nfb.org/scholarships
They Scare Because They Care
Limited edition “Mike & Sulley” Gold Heart Pin goes on
Sale to raise funds for local children’s charity
Chicago, IL (Feb 6, 2013) – You won’t believe your eye when you see Variety the Children’s Charity of Illinois’ 23rd annual Gold Heart Pin! Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios have partnered with Variety the Children’s Charity to create a pin featuring Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan (Sulley), the beloved characters from “Monsters, Inc.” and the upcoming film, “Monsters University.” Proceeds will benefit Variety programs throughout Illinois that serve children who are disabled and disadvantaged.
The collector’s item are available now in movie theatres around the state (as well as throughout the country) through June 2013, coinciding with the release of “Monsters University,” coming to theatres June 21, 2013.
Screaming with laughter and fun, “Monsters University” tells the story of how two mismatched monsters, Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan, overcame their differences and became the best of friends.
Variety of Illinois’ Valentine’s Dance 2013 at Fuller Park was a major hit! Over 125 kids with disabilities boogied the afternoon away, made lots of new friends and learned about our new Social Club Program with the Chicago Park District. Channel 5 NBC News also turned out to share the good times, and the Variety cause, with the whole city!
Dear Colleague,
I am pleased to announce that with the vital support of the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, USICD is launching our first internship program, and I write to ask for your assistance in disseminating this announcement to potential applicants for this exciting program.
The Youth in Development program (YiD) will bring a small group of talented college students, graduate students, and recent graduates with disabilities to Washington, DC this summer for immersion in the international affairs and development field. Interns will serve for nine weeks in nongovernmental organizations that work within the field, participate in core training and networking activities provided by USICD, and have a unique opportunity to hone their experience and career trajectory.
Participating interns will be matched to a host organization and receive a stipend, travel expenses, and fully-accessible housing for the summer of 2013.
The program follows from a vision, core to USICD’s mission, to increase disability inclusion in U.S. foreign affairs by supporting future professionals to invest their skills and talents in this field. A successful candidate will have shared in their application their preparation for a career in international development and foreign affairs, their vision of their future, and how a Washington, DC internship will aid their career development.
To learn more about YiD and how to apply, please visit USICD’s Youth in Development Initiative page: http://usicd.org/template/page.cfm?id=257
Please note: the application deadline for the 2013 summer program is February 18, 2013.
Please disseminate this announcement to your students and relevant network lists. Thank you,
David Morrissey
International Network for Disabled Youth, known as “INDYspace” (www.indyspace.org), an online network dedicated to connecting young disabled people aged 16-30 from around the world, has been officially launched. The website, funded by Oxfam Australia through their Oxfam International Youth Partnerships (OIYP) programme, is the first of its kind in bringing young disabled people together on a global level. It enables users to sign up and share their experiences through the posting of blogs, pictures and videos, as well as providing information on a range of relevant topics including disability rights, independent living, travel and transport, and inclusion and accessibility, acting as both a network and an information base to which users can contribute. It is hoped that in the long-term, the site can provide informative, user-run webinars and interactive online video conferences. There is a strong dedication to making the site both ascetic and accessible to its users, with recommendations given by a web accessibility consultant currently being implemented.
The founders of the website, Erin Gough from New Zealand and Zara Todd from the United Kingdom, who first met at an Oxfam international youth conference two years ago, embody the site mission of enabling young disabled people to work together across borders, constructing the site from opposite sides of the globe. When asked why the pair created the website, Zara Todd commented “We saw that there was a gap, online and literally within the international sector for young disabled people to connect to one another. We wanted a way for young disabled people to all become stronger, to enable them to find solutions together to the barriers that they face as young disabled people, regardless of what country they’re in.” Erin Gough added that the site was “made by young disabled people, for young disabled people” and that she hoped users would take the opportunity to both use and share the site, as “the more of a global force we are, the more global change will be created”. For more information on INDYspace, visit http://www.indyspace.org/, “like” www.facebook.com/indyspace or email info@indypsace.org
The AAPD has announced its 2013 internship program, which is open to people with disabilities that are undergraduate or graduate students, as well as recent graduates. The program is a paid, 10-week internship that offers both public and private sector opportunities. The internship offers paid travel to Washington DC as well as housing.
Internships are invaluable professional development tools and can open doors that education alone cannot. In the best programs, interns receive hands-on work experience and mentoring, which prepare them to succeed in the workforce. In Washington, DC, internships have become a standard part of any resume, introducing motivated students and recent graduates to professional networks upon which they build their careers.
Read More
The 4th Annual Santa Hustle 5K (www.SantaHustle.com), brought to you by Variety Children’s Charity (www.varietyofillinois.org) and Adrenaline Sports Management (http://www.adrenalinesportsmanagement.com/), helps “Variety Children’s Charity of Illinois,” and Amy Key, Chairman of the Board with Variety, came into our ABC7 studio to tell us how you can still be part of the race. At the Santa Hustle race, Variety will be presenting kids with sports wheelchairs in observance of “International Persons with Disabilities Day,” which takes place on Monday, December 3.
ABC Chicago
More News about The Santa Hustle 2012 in Chicago in
NBC Chicago
Chicago Parent Magazine
Chicago, IL (June 1, 2012) – Variety the Children’s Charity of Illinois has selected its first Live to Achieve grant recipients. The program, launched earlier this year, enables kids with disabilities in Illinois to pursue their dreams of sporting excellence. With generous support from the Fink Foundation, Variety of Illinois’ Live to Achieve provides grants of $1,000 to eligible applicants for assistance with travel, training and other costs necessary to help pave the way for young disabled athletes. “Variety of Illinois is excited to announce our first Live to Achieve grant recipients, and thanks the Fink Foundation for helping us give these amazing kids, and more, the opportunity reach new levels through sports,” said Amy Key, president, Variety of Illinois. “Helping children with disabilities reach their full potential in life is a tenet of our mission – our Live to Achieve program is just one way we are doing that.”
The first group of Live to Achieve recipients were selected based on their personality and life goals in addition to athletic determination and drive. They include:
Samantha Smolka, 16, of Hometown, IL:
She has retinitis pigmentosa and is visually impaired. Samantha does a variety of sports including swimming and track and field. She is the only athlete with disabilities in her high school. She holds nine national records with the National Junior Disabilities Division, and she plans to use the grant funds to travel to the National Championships in Mesa. Samantha’s ultimate goal is the 2016 Paralympics in swimming. Following competition she hopes to coach sports and teach special education.
Romero Sortor, 16, of Crest Hill, IL:
He has Spina Bifida. Romero is a wheelchair basketball and wheelchair softball athlete as well as an overall good student. Romero is aiming to go to college at University of Wisconsin Whitewater to play wheelchair basketball. He has been named to the Junior All-Star team and recognized for his ability, motivation, and attitude. He is seeking the grant funds to enable him to attend various tournaments and camps throughout the 2012 season.
Hailey Daniscewicz, 20, of Evanston, IL:
She is an amputee athlete. Hailey is a student at Northwestern University. She had been volunteering with Dare2Tri, Chicago’s Paratriathalon Club, when a coach told her she should compete in a triathlon. Hailey soon discovered a hidden passion and talent for it. Following her recently placing second in her division in nationals, Hailey is hoping to make the World Championship team this year. She plans to use the grand funds to pave the way with expenses.
Click here to learn more about Live to Achieve Grant Program
