A message from ODC Executive Director Gregg Robert Richards:
“Robert L. Richards was my Dad. He passed away on November 17th, 2023 due to Pancreatic Cancer. He was one of the hardest working men I have ever known. He loved his job. He loved his family and friends. He was happy.
When I was young, he told me, “I don’t care what you end up doing for a living. Just make sure it makes you happy.”
I was actually worried about what would happen after he decided to stop working. Once he retired… Golf, which had always been another love of his, made him just as happy as his work did. He’d often play 3-4 times a week. He would say, “There is no such thing as a bad day on the golf course.”
The Annual Robert L. Richards Memorial Golf Tournament to Benefit the ODC was created to raise funds that will help Adults with Developmental Disabilities to continue to find jobs that they love.
It will also help us remember and celebrate one of the greatest people I have ever known.”
But more importantly, we are here to provide answers to the two most important questions that everyone is asking:
What is former Eagles Center Jason Kelce doing in his retirement?
What’s new and exciting at this year’s Food Truck Fest?
The best part is that we can answer both of these at once!
We bring you: Kelce’s Kitchen: Purveyors of fine beef and beer.
Jason and his brother, Travis, have teamed up for a great new food truck featuring all the things the Kelce boys enjoy: beef AND beer. And they’ve got some great menu selections. There’s something for everyone. You know All Too Well that you’re gonna love what they have to offer.
Beer selections include the Lavender Haze IPA, Karma Kolsch, and Anti-Hero Ale.
Food items include: the Brotherly Shove Burger, the Taylor Pork Roll Burger, and of course a Philly Special Cheesesteak.
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.
As of this past Wednesday, we are just 75 days away from our 75th anniversary year here at the ODC. What began in the basement of a house on February 1, 1949, with just a few children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has transformed into a much larger organization that has helped thousands of adults on their own personal road to freedom.
As we approach our 75th anniversary, we want to let you know that we are planning several major events to celebrate in 2024, and we would love to have you involved. Here are just a few of the events we are planning, in addition to our regular ODC Nights Out and our 6th Annual ODC Food Truck Fest (June 1). Please put these dates on your calendar now so you won’t forget.
ODC Founders Day – February 1, 2024. We will be having a short ceremony and reception here at our building on the actual 75th Anniversary of the ODC. This will include some local and state government officials with proclamations honoring us, as well as some tours of our building and a meet and greet with our Program Participants, as well as some light refreshments. More information to come!
ODC Anniversary Banquet – April 5, 2024. Save the Date! We are hoping to pack out the room at the Willows at Historic Strasburg as we celebrate the ODC, its founders, and all of our Program Participants. This is about as fancy as we get here, and we will celebrate with a short program, great food, great drinks, music, dancing, and much more. Our hope is to have local businesses sponsor tables to not only pay for the event but to also help us raise much needed funds. If your business is interested in being a part of this, please contact Ken Mueller for details. We would love to have all of you there. More information will be coming as we approach the date, but please plan on being there.
Plus, our theme for the year is “75 Years on the Road to Independence,” because that’s why we are here; to help our Program Participants develop the skills they need to gain independence in their lives. Our founders, Olivia Stoner and Marian Headrick, didn’t like the hand that was dealt to our Participants by society and decided to do something about it. That’s how we got started, and that’s why we continue. It’s been a long but rewarding journey, and we’re not done yet!
So as we approach our anniversary year, we have a goal in mind, and would love for you to help us. We’ve already told you about our Annual Appeal with a goal of raising $40,000 to purchase a new minivan. But in addition to that, we want to bring in an additional $35,000 before the end of this calendar year, so we can start our 75th Anniversary off right with donations totaling $75,000! This will include the money we raise in the Extraordinary Give on November 17, our ODC Nights Out (see below), and any other events that bring in money for us.
The good news is that we are already well on our way. To date, we have already received 18% ($7,200) toward our annual appeal, and 16% ($12,000) of our overall year end goal of $75,000.
So, while there is a lot coming next year, we’d love if you’d partner with us this year and help us reach those goals! Here’s how you can help:
Donate now online. This will go to both of our financial goals and is the fastest way to help. Any size donation helps and makes a difference in the lives of our Program Participants. Of course you can always send us a check made out to the ODC and mailed to us at 640 Martha Ave., Lancaster, PA 17601.
Make an online donation at the Extraordinary Give on November 17th. This is Lancaster County’s one day giving event, and our goal for that day is $15,000. The money you donate will be supplemented by stretch funds from the Lancaster County Community Foundation and its partners, so your money will go further.
Attend our upcoming ODC Night Out Events. These are dining events at area restaurants where we all go out to eat and the restaurant donates back a portion of the proceeds. Scheduled for the rest of the year are:
2023 has been a good year for us here at the ODC. We have been able to welcome back more of our Program Participants and continue the job of providing them with vocational training and opportunities to find competitive, integrated employment in the community. Thanks to your generosity last year, we were able to make the ODC a safer place by fully replacing our aging and dilapidated hydraulic scissor lift, as well as upgrade our fire safety system.
But now it’s time to focus more on the people we serve. You may remember a few years ago you helped us raise money to purchase three Kia Souls, which we use every day to take our Participants out on Community Participation Supports (CPS) trips. They get to visit all sorts of businesses and learn about the potential jobs they might one day want to pursue.
Many of these CPS locations involve actual hands-on work that help our Participants experience a variety of vocational opportunities. From helping pack meals for Meals on Wheels and the St. Anne’s Church brown bag program, to some good ol’ farm work at Homefields and Woerth It Hollow, these CPS visits are invaluable. They help our Participants discover their interests and develop skills that prospective employers might find attractive. For instance:
Through CPS, Jim learned that he enjoyed sorting vegetables at Homefields Farm, as well as cleaning at some of our other locations. He also says he would love to try his hand at waiting tables at a restaurant, or even get into painting houses.
While cleaning at LCBC Lancaster City and the North Museum, Maria discovered that she, too, really enjoys cleaning and would love a job doing just that, perhaps at a restaurant.
Randy loves the jobs we do that involve working with his hands, such as sorting and packing items for shipping. He’d love to find a job at a local manufacturer doing what he has learned here.
And Kristen also loves light assembly tasks found in manufacturing jobs but also wouldn’t mind being in customer service position at a retail store.
As we continue to expand our CPS offerings, it’s also time to take the next step and reignite our Small Group Employment program. This is a program where we collaborate with area businesses to provide an opportunity for our Participants to work alongside their employees, learn the business, and earn bigger paychecks. This is generally a group of four to six participants with a certified supervisor.
But to do this AND expand our CPS program, we need yet another vehicle; one that can transport a larger group of individuals from our facility to a variety of work locations.
Therefore, this year’s Annual Appeal will go toward purchasing a larger minivan that can hold 5 to 7 passengers and get more of our Participants out into the community on a more regular basis.
Our Appeal goal this year is: $40,000
We are amazed at how you have supported us over the past few years, even during uncertain economic times, and we are grateful for all that you have done and continue to do for the ODC.
You can help us meet this goal by donating online with your tax-deductible contribution.
You’ve supported us in huge ways in the past, and we know that you will once again help us provide our Program Participants with services that help put them on a path toward independence in their lives.
On behalf of our program participants, their families, our staff, and the ODC Board of Directors, we thank you for your continued support of our mission.
P.S. One other way you can help us is by connecting us to local businesses that might be interested in hosting a group of our participants for either our Community Participation Supports or Small Group Employment programs. Let us know if your business, or any other business you know, would like to learn more about these programs.
*Also, don’t forget to join us online at the Extraordinary Give at ExtraGive.com on Friday, November 17th.
And stay tuned: 2024 is our 75th Anniversary, and we have so much planned!
