Being able to simply toss a ball in the air and catch it on the way down is something most people take for granted.

For many of the residents and clients of Marklund, it’s an activity they may never know.

Yet the many workers and volunteers associated with Marklund, which provides care for those with the most severe of developmental disabilities, won’t let that stop them.

For nearly two decades, the Marklund clients, staff and volunteers have been gathering late each spring for the Marklund Summer Games. The clients, assisted by staff and volunteers, participate in activities ranging from baseball and basketball to bocce, bowling, soccer and nearly a dozen others.

“It brings out the best in our clients,” said Wes Kochan, a Bartlett resident and recreational therapist who, with the exception of six months, has been with Marklund since 1997. “They play the same sports and games as everyone else does, we’ve just adapted it to where it’s a good fit for our clients.

“It’s pretty cool to see people playing these sports screaming and having a great time.”

Mary O’Malley of Geneva has volunteered with Marklund for four years.

“The atmosphere is like a big party,” she said. “It’s like a big carnival, and it’s fun. The atmosphere is almost electric.”

The overriding goal at both Marklund facilities (located in Bloomingdale and Geneva) is to help the developmentally disabled live a normal life while receiving top-notch care. The annual Summer Games are just another way Marklund achieves that goal.

“There’s a therapeutic aspect to everything we do at Marklund,” Kochan said. “The clients get other different forms of therapy, but when you’re talking about a big event like this, they love it.

“They think it’s so fun.”

Since Kochan started at Marklund, the Summer Games have grown and evolved. Soon after he joined Marklund, he and Marklund administrator Lois Kramer went about retooling the Summer Games, making it bigger and better.

“It used to be where we might have a few games going on,” Kochan said. “Now there’s 13, 14 or 15 games going on.”

“It’s really grown and evolved in how it benefits our clients,” said Vicki Krystof, a Westmont resident and Marklund’s communications manager who volunteered there as a teenager. “Our whole staff does such a great job. They’re all involved. They come up with some great games.”

One of the new entries at this year’s Games (which are themed “Down on the Farm”) is goat horn bowling, in which the clients roll a Wiffle bat down a ramp in an attempt to knock over the pins. It’s those kind of creatively fun activities that have Marklund clients talking about the Summer Games weeks before and after the actual event.

“It’s something they look forward to,” Krystof said. “They light up. They smile and get really excited for it. Some of those who can talk ask us when the games are going to happen.

“They like for us to talk about it for a couple of days after, too.”

That kind of memorable event doesn’t happen without help from a large volunteer staff, something Christ Community Church in St. Charles has been helping with for several years. This year the church will bring over 100 volunteers to assist in all facets of the games.

O’Malley and a host of Christ Community parishioners help Marklund throughout the year, but the Summer Games are the big event everyone — clients, staff and volunteers — looks forward to.

“The first time I volunteered it was fantastic,” O’Malley said. “It was a blast supporting Marklund.”

Marklund Summer Games
WHAT Olympic-style activities for developmentally disabled clients of Marklund

WHEN 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 6 and Saturday, June 13

WHERE (June 6) Marklund Philip Center for Children, 164 S. Prairie Ave., Bloomingdale; (June 13) Marklund Hyde Center, 1S450 Wyatt Dr., Geneva

WHY The Summer Games provide Marklund’s clients, who often are not able to participate in the Special Olympics, a chance to compete in the athletic arena

INFO More info on Marklund can be found at marklund.org


Volunteers wanted
Those wishing to volunteer to help with the games may do so through Christ Community Church of St. Charles. For information, click “The Great Day of Serving” at ccclife.org.