Marist Alumni Plan Second DisABILITY Day Fest

CHICAGO, IL -- Alex Lyons still remembers his first day volunteering at Park Lawn Services as part of his senior service at Marist High School.

“I ran into a woman named Lee,” Lyons recalled. “The first thing she said to me was, ‘I love chainsaws.’ I started laughing hysterically.”

The meeting proved to be life changing for the high schooler, then considering a career in business. The two hours he spent every day with the men and women at Park Lawn during his senior year made quite an impression on him.

“I formed really cool friendships,” the Palos Heights college student said. “They are the happiest people you’re ever going to meet. Going there during their lunch hour and seeing the difficulties some of them were having. Some suffered from cases of Down Syndrome so severe they couldn’t hold a fork or straw. Something that is so simple to most of us, it blew my mind that they couldn’t eat.”

Lyons was so moved by his experience at Park Lawn that he and some Marist friends were compelled to start a student run organization in January 2016.

“We were sitting down with the president [Brother Hank Hammer] and the principal of Marist [Larry Tucker],” Lyons said. “The president told me a lot of times you have to defend the disabled community.”

Dubbing themselves the “Disability Defenders,” the Marist seniors looked for a project where they could to raise awareness of local organizations serving the developmentally disabled community.

“In the summer there are not a lot of indoor events for developmentally disabled persons,” Lyons said, “A lot them need to be indoors in air conditioning.”

Availing themselves of Marist’s facilities, the group created DisAbility Day Festival in 2016. The first event drew 420 attendees, and featured bands, food, magicians, stilt walkers and balloon artists. No detail was overlooked. There was a quiet room for noise-sensitive individuals.

Now, the Marist alumni, including Lyons, Elizabeth Seip, Julia Linares, Tara Carson and Ellie Marino, back from their first year of college, are busy planning the second DisAbility Day. In addition to Park Lawn, Burbank’s Garden Center Services, Blue CAP in Blue Island, Sertoma in Alsip and Elim Christian Services in Palos Heights, have been invited.

The event will run from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, July 15, on the Marist High School campus at 4200 W 115th St., Chicago. Admission is free, but the group hopes to raise money through raffles to divide between the invited organizations. The 2017 edition will feature two live bands, free food for all attending, raffle baskets and split-the-pot, and possibly a petting zoo. Community members are invited.

“We’re taking what we did right last year and trying to do more,” Lyons said. “Right now we’re focusing on getting a couple of big sponsors on board. We’re also looking for food donations. The more donations we get, the more we can donate to the organizations. Volunteers are always needed.”

This Thursday, June 15, the Disability Defenders will be hosting an eat-and-earn event at Leona’s Pizza, 11060 S. Western Ave., Chicago. Bring in the flier included with this story and 20 percent of lunch and dinner proceeds will go to the Disability Defenders.

Lyons says his experience at Park Lawn and the Disability Defenders has changed his whole life’s direction. Having completed his first year of college at Lewis University, he is poised to transfer to Loyola University in the fall, where he plans to major in education and business.

“I want to open my own day program maybe ten years down the road,” he said. “I want to offer job training and a sheltered workshop.”

For more information about donations and volunteering, reach out to Disability Defenders at disabilitydefenders@gmail.com. You can also follow the group’s happenings on Facebook.

PHOTO: Alex Lyons and fellow Disability Defender Ellie Marino.