DoodleBug Workshop Receives JCS Arts, Health and Education Fund Grant

The JCS Arts, Health and Education Fund of DuPage Foundation has made a donation of $2500 to DoodleBug Workshop to help them expand their program of teaching people with special needs to create one-of-a-kind, upscale products made of resin and wood.

"We are most grateful for the financial support we have received from The JCS Fund and the validation they provide for our mission," said Sarah Starke, Executive Director of DoodleBug Workshop which is based in downtown Wheaton, but accepts participants from throughout DuPage and beyond.

"We began the Workshop in 2017 to provide a place where people with special needs of different ability levels could learn to use tools to create products of wood and other materials and gain skills, self-esteem and feel part of the community. Our participants make a variety of items for home and garden .

"A few years ago, under the guidance of our expert woodworking volunteers, our vocational students began to do amazing things as they explored various ways to combine colored resins and wood into a variety of products ranging from charcuterie boards to tables and benches," Starke said. "We asked DuPage Foundation to help fund our expansion of this effort since the materials are expensive but the outcomes are pieces of art that have a practical purpose," she said.

The public can visit the store at DoodleBug Workshop at 314 N. Main Street in Wheaton during limited hours and at special promotions (see Facebook.com/TheDoodleBugWorshop). The Perfect Thing upscale furniture consignment shop has partnered with DoodleBug to sell a number of DoodleBug's high-end products at the store at 161 Town Square Wheaton (south of downtown off Naperville Road).

For information about DoodleBug Workshop programs, including their one-time sessions for adult day program and high school transition groups, contact Sarah Starke at sarah@doodlebugworkshop.com or 630-995-1328. The website is www.doodlebugworkshop.com