A Reason to Celebrate!
Posted On:December 5, 2023
As we head into the new year, we are also heading into our 75th year in operation!
What began in 1949 as the “Help-Self School” with two women and two kids, eventually grew into a full fledged “special education” facility known as the Child Development Center, and a few years later became what we are now: the Occupational Development Center.
For most of those years we have been in this same building, doing the work of providing individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) with vocational skills training and the ability to earn a paycheck. And the ability to work AND earn an income, helps put our Program Participants on a path toward independence.
And this just happens to be our slogan for our 75th anniversary: “75 Years on the road to independence.”
In order to celebrate, we have a number of events planned for 2024, on top of the events we already do every year, like our Annual ODC Food Truck Fest.
First up, is ODC Founders Day. This will be held on February 1, 2024, exactly 75 years from the day we opened our doors, with just those 2 adults and 2 kids. We will be hosting an open-house event at the ODC that day, including proclamations from elected officials, a brief ceremony, some tours, light refreshments, and perhaps a few surprises. Stay tune for more information on this, including a start time.
Second, our biggest event of the year will be our 75th Anniversary Banquet. This will be held at The Willows at Historic Strasburg, on Friday, April 5, 2024 at 6 p.m. And we want you all to attend!
Our goal is to have 30 sponsored tables, and 240 people in attendance. This will include all of our Program Participants and staff, as we truly celebrate 75 wonderful years that have brought us to where we are now, while looking forward to the next 75 years!
If you or your business is interested in sponsoring a table or one of our other sponsorship opportunities, now is your chance. Or you can just purchase tickets to attend this event. You can view the sponsorship opportunities and tickets on our online banquet portal. We really hope that you will join us for this, and some of the other events that we are still working on. So stay tuned!
Let us know if you’ll be there!
75 Years on the Road to Independence is certainly something worth celebrating.