Telethon at Waubonsee helps a good cause

Rick Poulton joked that after Saturday he would have a lot fewer friends, what with all the calling them and asking for money.

Poulton, who serves as chairman of membership for the Kiwanis Club of Elgin, was among the 800 or so volunteers who participated in the annual telethon to benefit the Association for Individual Development held at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove.

“One of my friends was at the airport in Cancun when I called his cell,” said Poulton, who estimated he called about 20 people during his hour shift at the phone.

The annual event raised about $100,000 last year, a result that organizers expected to at least match, if not top, this year, said Lynn O'Shea, the association's president and CEO. The 10-hour-telethon, which featured performances by local talent, was broadcast live on TV and streamed online.

The Association for Individual Development serves more than 5,100 people through programs like in-home services for children and adults with disabilities, respite care, and job training and placement. It also operates 32 group homes, with another one slated to open in Elgin next month.

The fundraisers have become crucial as the state legislature has cut the association's funding for the last five years, O'Shea said.

Among the event's emcees was first-timer Tom Meaney, the football coach at Bartlett High School. “I will admit, it was a little bit nerve-racking, but (the organizers) did a great job in helping us out,” he said.

The event was particularly poignant to singer Amy Becker of Millington, who planned to perform a couple of songs on her acoustic guitar. Her 16-year-old son has mild cerebral palsy and has received therapy services from the association for several years.

“I give so much credit to AID, because as a parent you don't really know what you're in for,” Becker said.

Some of the performers were clients of the organization, like singer Robert Hamer, who belted out Stevie Wonder's “Superstition,” and Kim Richter, who was getting ready to show how to bake a German blueberry pie.

Volunteer Alexis Mandrelle, who was on spring break from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said helping out at the telethon is a more than worthy cause.

“We really enjoy doing this,” she said of herself and her sister Sierra Mandrelle. “AID does a lot of good.”