To Life

Spotlight

Making
Life Easier

JARC-sponsored fun benefits
kids challenged with disabilities.

L

Randee Shapiro,
11, of Farmington
Hills gives a smile
while enjoying the
rock climber's wall.

dN

6/ 9

2005

62

aughter, excitement and wide,
bright smiles filled the Joe
Dumars Fieldhouse in Shelby
Township as more than 1,500 people
gathered for a day of fun to benefit
children with disabilities and their
families.
Kids of all ages literally climbed the
walls, walked on
high ropes, careened
down a giant slide
and enjoyed activi-
ties like laser tag,
arcade games,
miniature golf and
basketball at JARC's
7th annual
SpringElation event.
ROBIN
Ryan Zalla, 4, of
SCHWARTZ Bloomfield Hills had
fun playing with
Columnist
bumper cars while
his proud grandparents cheered him
on. "I think JARC is such a worthwhile
organization. Everyone should be given
a chance to live the best possible life
with dignity and grace," said Linda
Zalla of Bloomfield Hills.
The Farmington Hills-based non-
profit agency serves more than 300
Metro Detroit families.
Event organizers had an extra reason
for elation as they watched all the par-
ents and children having fun. This
year's fund-raiser brought in more
than $500,000 for JARC's Merle and
Shirley Harris Children and Family
Division — the most money ever
raised at a SpringElation event.
"The amount of money we raised
this year was pretty special. A lot of
people put a lot of time and energy
into canvassing companies and indi-
viduals in order to get them to con-
tribute," said Jeff Cohen of West
Bloomfield, one of the event chairs.
Title sponsor for the event was the
Nancy and James Grosfeld
Foundation. More than 300 other
patrons were recognized for their
sponsorship.

Sloane Marwil, 4, of West Bloomfield
In addition, about
plays Roll-a-Score with Jordan
80 people served as
Schulte, 3, of West Bloomfield.
hands-on volunteers.
Jessica Canosa, 23, of
West Bloomfield was
one of them. "I've
always loved working with children
and I think all children are wonderful,
she said as she ran a carnival booth.
Also spotted in the crowd at the
May 15th extravaganza were: Noah
Babcock of Berkley, Jason
Zimmerman of Huntington Woods,
Joey Selesny of Oak Park, Layne
Sakwa of Royal Oak, Jonathan Aaron
of Bloomfield Hills, and Nathalie
Giske and Julie Zuckerman, both of
Birmingham.
"The focus of the children and fami-
ly division is to provide support to
families and provide services for kids
with disabilities to be included in all
of community life," said JARC's exec-
Allie Lipschetz, 11, of Bloomfield Hills
utive director, Joyce Keller of
studies the difficult terrain as a profess
Waterford.
sional climber would.
Money raised at the event will go
toward services like in-home respite care,
a school inclusion program and financial
subsidies for specialized therapies.
Milaine Grossbard of Southfield
said her family receives respite care for
their 6-year-old daughter Chloe, who
has cerebral palsy. "Respite is so
important. For someone else to come
and say, 'Go have a break, go sit down
and read a book, do whatever you
need to do and we're going make sure
your child is 100 percent taken care
of,' that's an amazing thing,"
Grossbard said.
Chloe was among the children hav-
ing a blast at the fund-raiser, which
brought an extra smile to Keller's face.
"We look around and we see the
whole idea of inclusion," she said.
"The whole community, whether you
have a disability or you don't, enjoying
an afternoon side by side — it's a
microcosm of what we believe the
community should be like all the
time," Keller said. ❑

.

Josh Davis, 8, of Franklin eyes up his
shot to finish up for a birdie.

