Will County Gazette

Village of Homer Glen Ability Awareness Committee met July 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

1. Call to Order.

Vice-Chair Adamczyk called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

2. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

3. Roll Call.

Members present: Vice-Chair Karen Adamczyk, Members Angela McKenna, Bob O'Connor, Jim Crones, Teresa Kocanda and Kitty Mitchell.

Absent: Chair Christina Neitzke-Troike

Also Present: Staff Liaison Penny Richards, future committee member Dr. Joyal Akkawi

Upon calling roll, members gave a brief personal history to introduce themselves to Committee Candidate Dr. Akkawi.

4. Approval of Amendments to the Agenda.

No amendments. Member Crones made a motion to approve the agenda. Vice-Chair Adamczyk seconded the motion. All in favor, none opposed.

5. Approval of Minutes

June 4, 2024

Member Crones made a motion to table approval upon further clarification regarding the purchase of a transport van for use by the Ability Awareness committee as well as seniors and veterans. Member McKenna seconded the motion. All in favor, none opposed.

6. Public Comment.

The Committee welcomed potential future candidate Dr. Joyal Akkawi as she introduced herself. Dr. Akkawi is a practicing family practice physician and her husband has an abilities and mobility company that she helps him with. Dr. Akkawi and her husband live in Homer Glen with their four-year old child.

7. Reports and Communications.

a) Report from Chair

Vice-Chair Adamczyk talked about the Fest. We had 70 families that had registered for the Special Needs Day. The letter regarding money raised by the committee at the fest was reviewed and it was mentioned that Walt Konow would be donating $1500 to the Ability Awareness Committee as well, but that that number was not included in the totals given and deposited to date. Karen Adamczyk thanked members for their help with Fest and talked about wanting to go back to the t-shirts provided to participants like we had always done in the past.

Staff Liaison Richards discussed items that were leftover from the Fest such as aprons, banners and raffle tickets. She said she would put them in the Ability Awareness closet in the mayor's office.

c) Report from Members

Member McKenna talked about the Back-to-School Parade on August 31st and needing ideas for a float. There was also discussion on the route for the parade.

Member Kocanda spoke about the birthday box project and would like to consider having individuals with special needs possibly helping to put them together or having high school students help for service hours. There was also discussion about making special birthday boxes to be gluten-free and using sprite for those that may have allergies to eggs, etc. Member Kocanda also asked about the split- the pot raffle and how exactly it was run and who benefitted from the split. She also mentioned again about the wheelchair swing that was previously discussed.

Member O'Connor brought thank you cards to be used for the dunk tank volunteers and suggested ordering more business cards for the committee. He also mentioned that the t-shirts need to be done again for next year's fest and had suggested possibly having places for people to sit during the special need carnival and near the dunk tank for people to watch.

Member Crones talked about collaborating on merchandise for the committee and possibly getting sponsors to participate. It was also suggested to have a banner made for the back of the golf carts advertising dunking the mayor. Ideas for next year's dunk tank included having the committee dress in swim rings, floaties, swim goggles and other paraphernalia promoting getting wet in the dunk tank. Member Crones also mentioned that the F-3 Organization had 50 people from their men's exercise group that volunteered to work serving in the beer tent for the benefit of the Ability Awareness Committee. The organization manned two shifts of 25 each and all tips were donated to the Committee. Member Crones also suggested ordering 100 – 16" beach balls with the Ability Awareness logo to be handed out at the parade.

Member Mitchell mentioned the library bookmobile may be going up for sale and would possibly be a good use for the committee's transportation service.

8. Old Business

Congratulations were given to Kitty Mitchell for being appointed to the committee at the June 12, 2024 Village Board Meeting.

9. New Business

The consideration of appointing Dr. Joyal Akkawi to the Ability Awareness Committee.

10. Adjournment

Motion to adjourn was made by Kitty Mitchell, seconded by Teresa Kocanda. All in favor, none opposed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:49 p.m.

http://www.homerglenil.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_07092024-2764