St. Mary’s Hall in Maidstone welcomed municipal leaders from around the county along with public and private stakeholders for the 20th Annual Community Living Essex County Luncheon with the Mayors on the afternoon of May 15.
Tony DeSantis, Manager of Community Relations and Resource Development served as the Master of Ceremonies for the luncheon, while greetings were offered by Chad Sutherland, First Vice Chair for Community Living Essex County Board of Directors, County Warden/Mayor of Leamington Hilda MacDonald and Karen Bolger, Executive Director of Community Living Essex County.
Following the opening remarks, presentations were then made by three of the guests. Lakeshore’s Mayor Tracey Bailey described the many ways that clients of Community Living are making contributions in her municipality, especially their impacts at both the Belle River Marina and the Atlas Tube Recreation Centre.
Next up was Past President of Leamington’s Roma Club Ron Ricci whose address focused on an exemplary employee that works at the Roma Club, namely Special Olympian Tom Mackenzie.
“Tom brings heart and enthusiasm to every task and a sense of pride to everything he does,” said Ricci. “Tom’s contributions go far beyond the job description, as he demonstrates that ability is not defined by limitations, but by potential, effort and the spirit that one brings to their work.”
Multimedia Journalist/Motivational Speaker Kevin McShan was the final speaker and spoke about the importance of work in the lives of those that have a disability. Despite being born three months premature with cerebral palsy, McShan is truly an example of how one can overcome a setback by letting their strengths shine through.
His powerpoint presentation titled Building Bridges of Inclusion discussed how leaders can collaborate with businesses to create opportunities for those with disabilities and how productivity and customer satisfaction in fact rise within an organization with the new hires.
McShan went on to describe how difficult it is for those with disabilities to live on the inadequate funding from the Ontario Disability Support Program and said, “The best way to include all members of society is by giving them a job.”
McShan added, “We need to rethink and reinvent how we go about hiring. Barriers need to be broken down and there needs to be more access to equitable opportunities. The majority of organizations of all kinds are seeking to hire those with a disability, but simply don’t know how to go about doing it.”
The luncheon ended with closing remarks from Executive Director Bolger, while Desantis encouraged audience members and the public to attend an upcoming award-winning play that Community Living Essex County is presenting titled The Downs, which will play at Leamington’s Bank Theatre on May 24 at 2:30 pm.
Leaders attending the Community Living Essex County Luncheon with the Mayors included, front row, from the left, Roma Club’s Past President Ron Ricci, Community Advocate Kevin McShan, Lakeshore Mayor Tracey Bailey, County Warden/Mayor of Leamington Hilda MacDonald, Amherstburg Councillor Molly Allaire and Community Living Essex County Executive Director Karen Bolger. Back row, from the left, Community Living Essex County Manager of Community Relations and Resource Development Tony DeSantis, Community Living Essex County Board of Directors First Vice Chair Chad Sutherland, LaSalle Councillor Anita Riccio-Spagnuolo, County Deputy Warden/Tecumseh Deputy Mayor Joe Bachetti, Amherstburg Councillor Don McArthur, Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy, Deputy Mayor of Lakeshore Kirk Walstedt, Deputy Mayor of Amherstburg Chris Gibb, Mayor of LaSalle Crystal Meloche and Kingsville Councillor Sheri Lowrie.
SUN photo by Paul Forman
