SSID Diary

Spring & Fall 2007

Please feel free to submit your own pictures and SSID stories for the Diary to Gina at SSID.

December 5- Holiday Social/Gift Wrapping

This year SSID helped to give a family from Chicago Ridge, IL a great Christmas. Through Spring and Fall Clean-Up, as well as donations from various SSID members, we were able to give the four children an assortment of both fun and practical presents. When meeting with the mother of the children, we realized just how much this meant to the family. After all, Christmas is the season of giving.

-Holly Martz, Social Coordinator

gifts SSID donated to a family in need on Christmas

Thank you for all of your generous contributions!!

SSID members wrapping gifts more SSID members wrapping gifts!

SSID member with service hour certificate

We also passed out our SSID member certificates for the Fall 2007 semester. These certificates help you to keep track of how many service hours you put into SSID. They are given at the end of every semester.

November 14- General Meeting & Elections

This month’s meeting was a busy one! We held elections for the Spring-Fall 2008 executive board- congratulations to the new members! Then we made and distributed containers of candy to show our appreciation for teachers on behalf of American Education Week. We also voted on which books to purchase and donate to a library in need of books that raise disability awareness. And finally, we prepared for our awareness day on Celiac Disease. For more information on this condition, please visit http://www.celiac.org/.

SSID members with candy for teachers

November 10 & 11- Fall Clean-Up

Fall clean-up was a huge success!! We had a great turn-out and raised lots of money to give to various organizations for people with disabilities at the end of the year. Thank you for your dedication and hard work! It is so heartwarming to see so many college students willing to take a break from their busy lives to devote their time and energy to helping other people in need.

SSID members at Fall Clean-up on Sunday

SSID members cleaning the garage window

SSID members cleaning up a garage

Letter from a former SSID executive board member...

    Hi SSID Members!

     As a past SSID member and officer I would just like to say how wonderful
it is that many of you have dedicated your time to serving individuals with
disabilities. As a Chicago field base student I miss having the
opportunities to volunteer with the McClean County Autism Society and
CIDSO... you are all so fortunate to be part of an organization that
provides you with opportunities to volunteer in the community.
To the executive board: (based on your website and word of mouth) all
of you are doing an AMAZING job. I think it is wonderful that you have
stepped up in the ISU community to be leaders for fellow education (and
non-education) majors. Keep up the good work. I know it can be cumbersome at
times, but it will pay off in the end.
     To the members: keep up the great work! SSID would not be possible
without dedicated members like yourselves. Having been in the schools this
semester, I have seen the need for volunteers in our community supporting
individuals with disabilities. Parents have also expressed to me how
beneficial it is having young people willing to work with their sons and
daughters with disabilities. Someone somewhere out there is touched by the
good deeds you do through SSID.
     I am so proud to say that I was a member of SSID. Keep up the good work
and best of luck.

     Sincerely,
     Valerie Balicki
     ISU SED Field Base Student

October 10- General Meeting & Sibling Panel

SSID would like to send a big thanks to those who participated in the Sibling Panel. We really appreciated you sharing your experience with us as a sibling of an individual with a disability. It was very insightful! Also, thank you to everyone who stayed later to help us make and pass out suckers to raise awareness of Down Syndrome. It was a very interesting meeting!

SSID members signing up to volunteer.

Sibling Panel volunteers

September 12- General Meeting

Thank you to everyone who came to our September meeting! We appreciated all of your help printing out facts and making suckers to pass out to raise awareness of Cystic Fibrosis. Several volunteer opportunities were offered at this meeting, and we are thrilled to see that so many of you willing to donate your time to help others. Thanks again!

SSID members raising awareness.

facts on Cystic Fibrosis attached to suckers SSID members holding suckers and flyers

August 22- Festival ISU

SSID members sitting at booth for Festival ISU.

May 2- May Day Social
Today we made baskets for the Baby Fold!

group shot of SSID members

making baskets for the Baby Fold

April 22- Spring Clean-Up

Today we worked hard and had a good time in the sun! SSID volunteers cleaned the backyards of ISU professors to collect money that we will donate to organizations for people with disabilities.

SSID volunteers ready to clean!

SSID volunteers pulling weeds

SSID volunteers cleaning garage

April 4- Speaker Jacquie Mace

Jacquie Mace, President of the McLean County Autism Society came in and spoke at our meeting.

Jacquie Mace speaking at meeting