This Holiday Season, You Can Change Lives

Dear Friends,

The season for giving back is upon us! Here at Search we are celebrating the many ways people with intellectual and developmental disabilities contribute to their communities. In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share a few inspirational stories of giving back with you:

"I like helping out. It makes me feel good to give back to other people."  - Lillie

Lanni recently started volunteering at a local food bank through Search's Community Life program. Lanni, along with other volunteers, places expiration date labels on meals for malnourished children. Her experience inspired her to collect change to donate to the food bank.

Bob found a perfect outlet for his love of the outdoors and generous spirit when he recently spent the day cleaning up litter in a local Forest Preserve. Bob demonstrated leadership by taking responsibility to show his peers how to gather and bag litter. Newfound skills, knowledge and confidence are just a few things Bob gained from his experience of giving back.

Lillie, Lewis, and other Search participants recently assembled 100 brown bag lunches for a local nonprofit that serves people impacted by homelessness and poverty. The volunteers assembled the lunch bags with care and placed an inspirational quote on the front of every bag. Everyone felt good about giving their time to help others.

We hope you feel the same sense of enthusiasm we do for empowering the people with disabilities give back to their communities and to live more independent, purposeful and connected lives. If you do, please consider supporting this important work by adding Search to your holiday gift list.

Gratefully,
Beth Valukas
Executive Director