This week's speaker was Dawn Schaefer, Executive Director of the Kishwaukee Special Recreation Association. Dawn described KSRA as a DeKalb County "park district for special needs kids and adults, ages 5-85, offering therapy through fun."
One of KSRA's most significant efforts has been running Camp Maple Leaf at a DeKalb Park District property for 45 years, and serving 30-60 children each summer. The organization has also partnered with the Sycamore Park District on many occasions, most recently in its development of a sensory room at the Sycamore Community Center. $15K in materials have already been purchased for the new space featuring bubbles, music, smells, and more. Dawn is hopeful they will be able to raise funds to install a floor projection game which she and others have seen elsewhere and found very impressive and impactful.
In addition to local park districts, KSRA partners with the Disability Studies and Speech Pathology departments from Northern Illinois University.
Dawn shared that parents often say "I never thought they could do this", when they see what their children can accomplish with KSRA's opportunities, support, and encouragement. One of the activities offered is bocce. A team of participants was formed in order to compete in the Special Olympics in DeKalb. During their preparations for the Special Olympics, the participants competed with board members on Halloween (dressed in costume!), and then won fair and square!
KSRA has a $350,000 budget, two employees, and typically (pre-COVID) serves about 600 people each year. However, Dawn believes 2,000 residents of DeKalb County would benefit from KSRA's services, and is working to increase their funding and staffing through the creation of a 501(c)(3) foundation. She wants to ensure donations can be collected and accepted from any person or organization, but with an eye toward Amazon, Facebook, and other large companies in the process of adding facilities and employees to the county.
KSRA will be hosting a golf outing on Friday, May 20, using the marketing message "Golf in May with KSRA".