Thank you for supporting the 2023 Annual Appeal! The 2024 Annual Appeal takes place November thru December 2024.
YOU Can Change a Life with Just a Click!
We need your help!
Every child, teen and adult deserves the opportunity to meet new friends, try new things and explore new places… especially with people their own age. Every caregiver needs the opportunity to take care of themselves and WDSRA can give them the time to do that. You can help make that possible!
Please donate TODAY! Your gift WILL change the course of life for a participant & family as soon as the very next program season.
Funds raised through the Annual Appeal are a vital part of our FY23-24 budget.
We Met the Match!
Thank you to donors and The Trish and Scott Karll Charitable Fund! We met 100% of the $12,500 match!
For every donation of $225 or more The Trish and Scott Karll Charitable Fund donated and additional $225.
2023 Annual Appeal Goes thru 12/31/23!
A message from Dan Leahy, WDSRA Executive Director
From the moment your child is born, you worry about their future. Will they be safe? Will they be happy? As a parent of a child with special needs, you also worry about their long-term care and the impact it will have on their siblings.
Often after a parent(s) passes, the role of caregiver becomes the responsibility of a sibling. It can be a loving, yet daunting, experience. Along the way, they will need all the support they can get.
Stepping into the caregiver role, Bobby realized there was a void he couldn’t fill.
Paris and Bobby are brothers whose father passed away in 2020. After his passing, Bobby became Paris’s caregiver. It was a huge responsibility. Bobby quickly recognized that he couldn’t provide the companionship that his parents once had. He knew Paris needed to interact with people his own age. But he didn’t know where to turn.
Paris needed companionship but Bobby didn’t know how to make that happen.
Bobby found WDSRA. Paris would be able to meet new friends, try new things and explore new places… especially with people his own age. However, Bobby is a veteran on disability and Paris is also on disability. Finances were already strained.
How could he give Paris the companionship he needed to fill the void? Would Paris being enrolled in WDSRA programs give Bobby the ability to accomplish the things he needed to in this new life they were both living? And how could they afford it?
WDSRA filling the void was a ‘beautiful thing’.
Scholarship assistance was able to relieve some of the financial strain. WDSRA began filling the void Paris felt as both his and Bobby’s worlds had tilted. Paris was able to attend the adult day program. There he found the companionship and activity he so desperately wanted and needed.
We need your help to make sure that everyone has the opportunity for companionship and every caregiver gets the support they need to fill the void.
Will you help? Every child, teen and adult deserves the opportunity to meet new friends, try new things and explore new places… especially with people their own age. Every caregiver needs the opportunity to take care of themselves and WDSRA can give them the time to do that.
You can help make that possible!
Simply by making a donation, YOU can help families like Paris and Bobby’s. Your gift can provide scholarship assistance, send an adult to the adult day program and so much more. Your gift WILL change the course of a life as soon as the very next program season.
Will YOU make a gift today?
Corporate Giving Programs
Does your company have one? Employee matching gift programs are part of corporate giving programs in which the company matches donations made by employees to eligible nonprofit organizations.
These are just some of the companies we know offer a matching program: Comcast, Exelon, Constellation, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, Thrivent Financial, Catalent Pharma Solutions, CVS Caremark, Pfizer, CIT Bank NA, PIMCO, Crowe, Abbvee, Costco.
For questions regarding your company’s programs, please contact your employer’s HR or community giving department. If we can assist in anyway, please contact Ann at annk@wdsra.com or 630-681-0962.
(WDSRA EIN #36-3932924). WDSRA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and all contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
FY22-23 Gratitude Report
See the impact your donations had in FY22-23!
In FY22-23, our focus centered on fostering innovation and embracing sustainability, with the dual purpose of meeting current participant and family needs while laying foundations for the future. Our commitment was to provide unparalleled services. We could not have done it without YOU! Read how your support is making an impact.
Contact Us
For more information on the WDSRA Foundation, contact WDSRA Superintendent of Communications & Development, Lea Jackman at 630-681-0962 ext. 580 or leaj@wdsra.com.