Rebeca Salazar no longer is cooped up in her North Riverside home.
Thanks to volunteers who installed a wooden ramp last weekend, Salazar, 83, has regained some of her independence and can once again visit the garden she loves.
“Before, she couldn’t go downstairs unless there were two people there to support and help her,” said her daughter, Maria Bazaldua of Westchester. Now, Salazar, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and has arthritis, can use her walker or wheelchair to go into her front yard on her own or get to the car to go to doctor’s appointments.
And she can keep a closer eye on one of her favorite things — her garden, Bazaldua said. “She can go out there and make sure everything is watered and kept up.”
Chris Ricketts of Clarendon Hills, along with Phil White of Downers Grove, led about 32 volunteers who worked on the ramp, which is 44 feet long and about 42 inches wide. It leads from the front door, where volunteers also built a small deck.
“We did that just so she could be outside and so she doesn’t feel like she’s going down the ramp right outside her door,” said Ricketts. The work was done as part of a volunteer effort of Christ Church of Oak Brook.
The project, which began in April, involved getting village permits, donated materials and approval for ramp designs. Building a ramp without the donations or volunteer labor would have cost about $9,000.
“It was huge. There are certain specifications for the slope and how far out it goes from the house. And then it takes a turn and goes out to the sidewalk,” said Niki Chibucos, director of development for the Southwest Suburban Center on Aging, an agency that enables older adults to remain independent. The group serves about 8,000 senior citizens in 22 communities each year.
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Fundraisers
*The Naper Days Executive Committee is seeking competitors for its fifth annual bed race. The race kicks off Naper Days’ Saturday festivities and will start at 11 a.m. June 14. Participants must assemble a five-member team consisting of four pushers and one rider. Awards will be presented to the top finishing racers, in addition to awards for creativity and team spirit. Rules and regulations, as well as registration forms, can be downloaded at www.naperdays.org. Registrations should be mailed to Naper Days Bed Race, Naperville Heritage Society, 523 S. Webster St., Naperville, IL 60540. The entrance fee is $100. Proceeds will benefit the heritage society.
*The Naperville Tennis Club will hold a charity event to benefit the American Cancer Society from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. May 29 and 30 at the club, 1011 E. Benton Ave. Dee and John Bigenwald of MyMVPpix will take action photos and donate half of the proceeds to support the society. Action photo sessions are available for a $20 sitting fee. Appointments are available. Adults, juniors, doubles partners and teams are welcome. Team photos are posed, while action sequences are shot for individuals. To donate directly, send a check to the American Cancer Society at 1801 Meyers Rd., Suite 100, Oak Brook Terrace, IL 60181, or visit www. cancer.org. Call 630-200-8754 or e-mail jb2@myMVPpix.com.
*The Claddagh Irish Pub in Geneva will hold a fundraiser for the Association for Individual Development, a local non-profit organization, on June 8. Claddagh will donate 20 percent of all sales that day to AID to help fund the renovation of its newest group home in Geneva, Bethany House. Bethany House will be home to five developmentally disabled people. To make the house accessible for them, AID must raise $264,000 for renovations. The event will include a raffle for a trip to Ireland. Raffle tickets cost $25 each. Only 500 tickets will be sold. For more information about this event or to buy raffle tickets, call Ann Gerardo at 847-931-2293.
*The Fox Valley Wildlife Center’s second annual Critter Classic golf outing is scheduled to take place on June 6 at Settler’s Hill Golf Course, 919 E. Fabyan Pkwy. in Batavia. The outing will begin at 9 a.m., with tee times every ten minutes until 11:30 a.m., and will end with a barbecue around 3 p.m. The fee is $75, which includes 18 holes of golf, a cart and the barbecue dinner. Non-golfers are invited to participate in the catered cookout for $20. The Fox Valley Wildlife Center is a not-for-profit, volunteer organization. All proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the center’s injured, orphaned and displaced wildlife. Visit www.FoxValleyWild life.org for more information or call 630-365-3800.
*Kidz Kabaret’s Teen Kidz will perform John Steinbeck’s classic drama “Of Mice and Men” at 2 and 5 p.m. June 1 and at 7 p.m. June 2 in The Comedy Shrine, 22 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. Profits from the shows will be donated to Mike Deely, a graduating Naperville North senior who has just been accepted to study acting at the Academy of Musical and Dramatic Arts in New York City. Deely has served for the past year as president of Naperville North High School’s Theater Club. Deely joined Kidz Kabaret last summer. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors, and $6 for children age 10 and younger. Call 630-355-9212.
*A benefit for West Suburban PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. June 1 at Kevil’s, 7228 Circle Ave., Forest Park. The organization was founded in 1992 to provide emergency food and shelter in west suburban Cook County. Four local bands will perform. A $20 cover charge will include all-you-can-eat hot dogs, hamburgers and chips. Call 708-338-1724, ext. 262.
Those making a difference
*The 46th annual Salute to Youth Dinner, Marmion Academy’s annual black-tie benefit, recently raised $216,800 to benefit educational programs of the Aurora academy’s college-preparatory curriculum. As a private Catholic school, Marmion’s tuition income supports 82 percent of the actual educational costs, with the rest coming from personal donations and Marmion’s one major fundraiser, the Salute to Youth.
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amannion@tribune.com
