Gurnee Park District employee wins state award

Sabrina Hinkens, the Gurnee Park District's youth program supervisor, has been named Illinois Parks and Recreation Association's Recreation Section "Marcy Adams Spirit Award" recipient for 2015.

This award was established in 2001 to honor the life of Adams, a parks and recreation professional, who lost a battle with leukemia Aug. 22, 2000. This award is presented to a current member who exemplifies the qualities that were demonstrated by Adams.

Annually, IPRA recognizes and awards individuals who support and/or work with its mission of developing professionals in an effort to advance communities by providing the best parks, recreation and conservation resources and services.

For the past nine years, Hinkens has been an active member of the IPRA recreation section, and for the past two years she has served as the school-aged/day camp committee chairwoman, officials said in a news release.

At Gurnee Park District, Hinkens oversees a 350-student before- and after-school CARE program and also organizes several other youth programs for the district. In the summer, she supervises the Summer Day Camp, which hit record levels in 2015 with more than 1,000 campers.

Officials said Hinkens never hesitates to volunteer and lend her organizational and creative expertise to district special events, including Halloween Trick or Treat Path, Frosty Fest, Gurnee Days and various other events.

During the past year, Hinkens was instrumental in transitioning the Gurnee Park District from providing half-day K-CARE for the kindergarten students of Woodland Elementary District 50 to providing a full-day preschool and expanded before- and after-preschool child care options, in cooperation with her supervisor Sue McDougle, Hunt Club facility manager.

"Sabrina is a very warm and genuine person who is wonderful to work with. Her commitment to excellence in youth programming, outstanding customer service and dedication to her staff and the recreation team make her most deserving of this award," McDougle said.

Hinkens also is an avid participant in charity race events and is an active Make-A-Wish "Wish Granter," officials said. Most recently, she helped one Make-A-Wish recipient take a trip to Disney World and facilitated another child's dream of traveling to Germany to meet his professional soccer idol.

"Sabrina's personal and professional qualities epitomize the qualities of the award's namesake, Marcy Adams, and her genuine passion to serve makes Sabrina most deserving of this award," stated Scott Crowe, superintendent of recreation.