Will County officials accepted the keys to a new bus recently to transport residents of its Sunny Hill Nursing Home, but in the driver’s seat, raising money for this bus and two previous vehicles is a small non-profit organization — Friends of Sunny Hill.
“We could not ask for a better organization, I don’t know what we would do without them,” administrator Becky Haldorson said of the Friends group.
“Our residents are able to be part of the community because of that bus. It’s extremely popular,” she said.
With its larger windows and additional wheelchair spaces, the new bus “is so much better than our last bus,” said Jamie Wesley, president of the resident’s council and Friends board member. “They work so hard and so diligently for us.”
The Friends was founded in 1989 by then-administrator Vicki Tomer and Karen Sorbero, who worked in the activity department at that time and later became administrator.
According to Sorbero, they began with a used step van with 150,000 miles that leaked oil.
Not only did it spend a lot of time in the shop, but it was difficult for residents to board.
“We decided we had to do something,” Sorbero said. That “something” was fundraising, and the birth of Friends.
Through dinners, raffles, and sales of produce donated by local farmers, the group raised enough money for its first bus and two large screen TVs in 10 months, Sorbero recalled.
“This group had such a good time, they stayed together,” she said. With staff, family members and community volunteers, it created a board, with bylaws and monthly meetings.
“This group has quite a history. We have been very blessed,” Sorbero said .
Haldorson said it took the group a little more than a year to raise the $76,000 for this newest bus.
Walmart is a popular weekly destination, but there also are trips for lunch, the zoo, parades, community events, and a field trip to the holocaust museum in Skokie.
“They are part of the community because of that bus,” she said.
The purpose of Friends is to raise funds to provide a “higher quality of life” for residents,” Sorbero said.
Over the years, the organization purchased 168 TVs for each resident’s room and the common areas, hired entertainment, constructed and staffed the Sweet Shop, which sells ice cream and treats, and created three outdoor handicapped-accessible patios – which it also furnished, landscaped and has maintained.
“The residents live for the Sweet Shop to open, and take their ice cream out to the patio. It’s the little things that make them happy,” Sorbero said.
There are also things that pop up – a TV or piece of patio furniture needs to be replaced, and “they are always there,” Haldorson said.
She and some residents are part of the Friends’ board of 22 volunteers that plan fundraising events and determine how to use the funds.
“We run ideas past them to see if it’s a good idea, and residents vote on what we do,” said Friends president Claudia Green. “We try to make it their home.”
Sorbero said Friends also tries to fulfill special wishes. If someone wants to go to a White Sox game, or to a show at the Rialto, Friends will buy the tickets. Since many are on public aid, Friends may also pick up the tab for those who want to go out for lunch, she said.
Sorbero estimated that Friends has easily raised $700,000 over time, through its events, donations, memorials from families, remembrances in wills, and investments.
Currently its biggest fundraising efforts are a mailing campaign and its annual Holiday Bazaar.
“All these little things add up,” Green said.
Sorbero also said one generous donation came from the late Jacqueline Bellizzi, who worked as a physical therapist in the Joliet schools and was involved in many local charitable organizations, including Friends.
She had insurance policies on her favorite groups which provided funds for them upon her death. “We took her gift and invested it well,” said Sorbero.
This year, Sunny Hill and its Friends are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Nov. 5, 1968 referendum for a tax rate increase that voters approved to build the nursing home.
Sunny Hill residents will have a carnival on June 23, and Friends are hosting a brunch Oct. 28 at the Renaissance Center in downtown Joliet.
Green said they are now selling tickets and sponsorships and advertising for that event.
“They have done amazing things,” Sorbero said of the all-volunteer effort. But if you ask any of the Friends, they don’t think they do anything special, she said.
Green began volunteering in 2004, bringing her therapy dog, Sophie, to visit a friend’s father and other residents at Sunny Hill.
“So many don’t have a family, or anyone to visit them. I really liked doing it and I got more involved. It’s a wonderful way to give back,” she said.
