Romeoville Knights of Columbus Donate $1,000 to SRA

The Knights of Columbus Bishop Roger Kaffer Council #10944 hosted a pancake breakfast Saturday, April 21, at the Springtide Craft Show. At the event, representatives of the Tri-County Special Recreation Association were presented with a donation for $1,000 from the local Knights.

The monies were raised at the Knights' annual Intellectual Disabilities Tootsie Roll fundraiser held last September. Over the past 40 years, the Knights of Columbus, nationally, have raised and donated more than $382 million to programs for people with intellectual and physical disabilities.

Tri-County SRA consists of members from the communities of Romeoville, Lemont and Lockport Township. The organization’s goal is to provide an array of recreational opportunities to children, teens and adults with special needs and abilities year round. Last year, 665 individuals participated in Tri-County SRA Programs.

Each year, Tri-County’s teams compete at the area Special Olympics competition. Recently, two teams teams had the opportunity to compete at the state level. Tri-County has never charged athletes any additional fees for Special Olympic State Tournaments.

“We certainly appreciate the support the Romeoville Knights of Columbus has provided to Tri-County SRA and so many special individuals," Program Coordinator Kathy Ochromowicz said. 

Scott Wells, A Tri-County member who has played volleyball against the Knights for the last three years, came to thank the Knights for their support. Wells spoke of some of his experiences at the Special Olympics over the past 27 years, and shared how donations fund the ability for Tri-County participants to go to the Special Olympics at no additional charge. Wells shared his experiences of being chosen for volleyball team competition and participating in softball and basketball competitions, including one in Ireland.

In his years of competing, Wells has won countless medals, trophies, awards and ribbons.

Last year, the donation from the Bishop Roger Kaffer Council #10944 allowed the Tri-County SRA Junior Sharks team and Adult Wolves team to spend the weekend in Bloomington and compete in the games at no charge to their families. The Sharks placed second in their division and the Wolves Adult white team took home the Gold.