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10 | October 4, 2018 | The frankfort station FRANKFORT frankfortstation.com 37TH A N N U A L FRIDAY-SUNDAY October 12-14, 2018 Main Park • 10925 W. La Porte Rd., Mokena Event Hours: Fri. 4-8pm, Sat. 12-8pm, Sun. 1-5pm Free Admission/Parking: $5 per vehicle • $25 Unlimited Carnival Ride Wristband specials • Monster Market • Scarecrow Laboratory • Free Kid’s Contests • Horse Rides NEW THIS YEAR! Fri. & Sat., 4-8pm Beer Tent & Entertainment Age 21 & over • Mutt Strut Contest • Free Kid’s Straw Maze • Free Pumpkin Painting • Ghoulish Goodies • Ghost Town Games AND MUCH MORE! Saturday 8pm Halloween themed Fireworks! CELEBRATE OUR VERY 1ST PET ADOPTION DAY WITH US! Baird & Warner — Finding Homes For Humans and Animals Alike! We have partnered with NAWS of Mokena, Cache Creek of Frankfort & St. Sophia’s Forgotten Feline’s to help get some furry friends new homes. Join us for fun giveaways, raffles, pet merchandise, and refreshments. Let’s help welcome these forgotten pets home! Saturday, October 6 th | 12-2PM Baird & Warner Frankfort Please feel free to drop off any wish list items for the organizations as well. Open bags of animal food (as long as it’s not expired and properly stored) / Towels or Blankets Nawsus.org @nawsus @cachecreekanimalrescue stsff.dreamhosters.com @stsff For more information, call 708-390-2401 or visit www.mokenapark.com Baird & Warner Frankfort | 21130 S. LaGrange Road | 708.798.1855 | BairdWarner.com @BairdWarnerFrankfort #BairdWarnerFrankfort
frankfortstation.com news the frankfort station | October 4, 2018 | 11 CD&ME event helps accessible recreation nonprofit Fundraiser in Frankfort helps lift barriers to outdoor activities for people with disabilities Megan Schuller Freelance Reporter Outdoor activities create challenges and barriers for handicapped individuals in wheelchairs that can often keep them being active outdoors. Mokena resident Brian Swift, founder of Swift Outdoor Accessible Recreation, has made it his goal to lessen these barriers and make the outdoors more accessible. Each year since founding SOAR, Swift has put on a fundraiser to help fund his non-profit effort. This year, it was held at CD&ME in Frankfort on Sept. 21 to accommodate the growth of the annual fundraiser. Because of his vocation, local handicapped individuals can go hiking, fishing, cycling and even hunting with accommodations that make it easier for them. “Most people don’t have the ability, support or money for equipment,” Swift said. “There are people out there who don’t know what’s out there, what’s available for them. That’s what we’re trying to change.” Swift started SOAR three years ago because he had been confined to a wheelchair since the age of 17 when he broke his neck. Since then, he has been a quadriplegic paralyzed from the chest down. Swift did not let his injury stop him from continuing an active, full lifestyle. He finished college and law school. He started driving, played wheelchair sports, coached football and basketball, got married, and adopted three children. He said that he hopes SOAR and the motivational books he has authored can inspire others to stay active, despite the obstacles. “Just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean I haven’t been blessed and fortunate. Helping others is just something we should do as people. It gives people a reason to expand their lives,” Swift said. The fundraiser is held annually to help get handicap individuals and their families outdoors, as well as to help them receive grants and equipment that will aid them. Swift said each fundraiser raises more than $10,000 between ticket and raffle sales. Many businesses from throughout the area donated baskets to raffle off. Grace Terbin, of Mokena, dropped several raffle tickets in different baskets. She said that attending and contributing to the fundraiser, even in little ways, allows people to give back to something bigger by helping others in need. “Brian is such an inspiration as he works to make things more accessible for people with disabilities,” Terbin said. “It’s not something that is really serviced a lot, and he takes the time to go out of his way to fundraise for people who need it.” Sabrina Velez, of Frankfort, came with her mother, Jeanette Mark, because they recently found out about Swift’s organization at a Lincoln-Way Area Business Women’s Organization meeting. It hit close to home for her family since her nephew suffered last summer a similar spinal cord injury as Swift’s. “We think it’s a great cause,” Velez said. “My nephew was a really big outdoor enthusiast before his injury. He was 27 years old. He was a huge cyclist. When I heard that Swift was promoting outdoor activities and recreational equipment for people with spinal cord injuries, I thought, ‘How cool would that be if my nephew had something like that.’” Mark said that she likes SOAR’s mission and hopes that SOAR will be able to help her grandson get out more since he has always enjoyed the outdoors. “We’re very close to the cause, so we’re here to support SOAR and learn more about it,” Mark said. Swift has also given back to the commuting by authoring two inspirational books, and co-authoring several others. Trevor Olsen (right), of Frankfort, who volunteers at SOAR chats with the organization’s founder, Brian Swift, at the fundraiser for SOAR Friday, Sept. 21, at CD&ME. Photos by Megan Schuller/22nd Century Media Frankfort residents Jeanette Mark and Sabrina Velez look at the wide variety of raffle baskets available during SOAR’s fundraiser. “I did it to help people so maybe someone can learn from what has helped me,” Swift said. According to Swift, his long term goal is to buy a piece of property and make it 100 percent handicap accessible, with cabins, a fishing pond and trails. “I want it to become somewhere where someone can go any time to just get away. To be able to do that without worrying if their wheelchair can fit through the door. I want to take some of those worries away,” Swift said.
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