Michael and Julie Fisher`s back yard in Highland Park overflowed last weekend with people and goodwill. Youngsters bounced on the trampoline. Parents chatted. A group of young adults, some of whom were developmentally disabled, socialized. And everyone scrunched into the small rec room off the yard for deli food.
For the eighth year running, the Fishers were opening their back yard to benefit the Center For Enriched Living.
But the party was not a fundraiser. CEL, which has been providing living- skills classes and arts and recreational activities to mentally handicapped pre-teens, teenagers and adults for more than 26 years, had realized $115,000 from its annual auction in May.
Board members thought another $2,000 might be made at the party from selling leftover auction items. The figure turned out to be $2,700. But with tickets at $7 per adult and $5 per child, profit was not the point.
Tables groaned under the weight of cold cuts, salads and sweets. The laughter of children enjoying the pony rides, the balloon person, clowns and face painter could be heard blocks away.
The party was for fun and information. Not money. ”This is just the best party,” said neighbor girl Stephanie Biegel, 8, who was making the rounds of food and activities with friend Michelle Popke.
”It`s not as much a fundraiser as a social event,” said host and a former president of the center Michael Fisher. ”People leave with more than they spend. People who come can find out what the organization is about. And they don`t have to shell out $150,” Fisher said. To him, CEL is about happiness.
”My brother Billy (age 29) is retarded. Billy never had friends until he joined CEL. For the first time when he got a call it wasn`t someone teasing him. I`ll never forget when he got a call asking if he wanted to go to the movies. I was highly suspect. But mom said it was okay. It was someone from CEL. It has changed our whole family.”
