Two Skokie Valley Rotary Club grant recipients, Tisha Breitlow from the Maine Niles Association of Special Recreation (left) and JoAnn Kempf from the Skokie Choir Concert (right) presented to the club, discussing their organizations and explaining how the grant funds will be used.
Trisha Breitlow, the Executive Director of the Maine-Niles Association of Special Recreation (M-NASR) discussed the agency and how it provides and facilitates year-round recreation programs and services for children and adults with disabilities who live in the member-district communities. Member Park Districts are: Des Plaines, Golf-Maine, Morton Grove, Niles, Park Ridge, Skokie, and Lincolnwood. M-NASR is one of several special recreation associations (SRAs), which are unique to the state of Illinois. SRAs are formed when two or more units of local government combine to form a cooperative which then provides recreational services to individuals with disabilities within that jurisdiction. M-NASR was the second SRA formed and is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year. Trisha will be discussing the programs, services and opportunities M-NASR provides for individuals with disabilities.
JoAnne Kempf is retired from the American Library Association where she served as the Director of ALA Governance. She has been a member of the Skokie Concert Choir since 2005 and held the office of president 2011-2015. She currently holds the dual position of recording/corresponding secretary on the choir board. JoAnne enjoys volunteering at the Skokie Public Library as a facilitator for the Let’s Get Together Book Club, a book club for intellectually disabled adults, as well as at the Douglas Center where she teaches money skills also to intellectually disabled adults.