Lead 222 service organization sends volunteers to Marklund
Volunteering is a great way to give back to the community, but sometimes there's an opportunity to expand that community and take the spirit of service much farther.
Forty-six teen volunteers with the Lead 222 mission organization did just that, spending four days volunteering with kids and adults with profound disabilities in the Chicago suburbs when they visited Marklund.
Marklund is a nonprofit organization with residential, educational and vocational sites in Bloomingdale, Geneva and Elgin.
These volunteers came from churches in local areas and different states as part of Lead 222's mission to "build and equip a community of student ministry leaders to live a coaching and mentoring lifestyle."
"Helping out at Marklund was an incredible experience," said Suzanne Ryan of West Chicago, a volunteer leader from Community Fellowship Church. "It was neat to see the teens given the chance to interact with the residents. I hope many of them will come back to visit or volunteer in the future."
The group from Community Fellowship Church visited the Marklund Hyde Center in Geneva for the second year in a row. The volunteers helped decorate classroom doors, worked with students using SMART Boards, and organized activity closets in the classrooms.
They also took the Community Day Service students outside to play baseball on the Hyde Center's Miracle League baseball field.
"Year after year, all of the groups have brought laughter and joy to our residents and community clients," said Cathy Nikrandt, manager of volunteer engagement at the Marklund Hyde Center. "This was the 10th year Lead 222 has sent a group to our Geneva Campus. They are fantastic!"
At the Marklund Philip Center in Bloomingdale, volunteers from the First Baptist Church of Manistee in Manistee, Michigan, visited Marklund for the first time. They assisted the staff in their daily task of cleaning wheelchairs and medical equipment, in addition to disinfecting sensory items, mats, and therapy equipment. They also played an interactive game with Community Day Service students using SMART Board technology.
The River Church members came all the way from Ohio to volunteer at the Marklund Wasmond Center in Elgin.
They have been a part of Lead 222 for nine years, and this is the third year in a row that they've come to volunteer at the Wasmond Center.
Volunteers went bowling with the Community Day Service students, assisting them each with their turns, after joining staff on reorganization tasks in the classroom.
"It is always a pleasure to have the Lead 222 volunteers who travel from all over to serve at Marklund every July," said Lisa Esposito, volunteer engagement specialist at the Marklund Philip and Wasmond centers.
"They work hard all week completing various projects, interacting with our residents and, most of all, bringing smiles to those we serve."
Marklund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that serves infants, children, teens and adults with serious and profound developmental disabilities and special health care needs. With three residential locations, it is currently home to nearly 174 clients.