Community Attends Joe's Kids Dinner, Tailgate, Auction
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
WINONA LAKE – The community participated in the first annual Auction, Tailgate and Dinner for Joe’s Kids Saturday night. The event, attended by 300 people, was presented by Parkview Warsaw at the Winona Lake Trails Meadow. Those who attended wore their favorite National Football League jerseys and had the opportunity to bid on sports items such as a Joe Journeyman book, puzzles and paintings donated by IDNA brands. A dinner also was provided and Tom Roy served as emcee. Joe’s Kids is a 501(c)3 non-profit pediatric rehabilitation clinic that provides physical, occupational and speech therapy for kids with special needs in Kosciusko County and the surrounding area. It provides care to children with a wide variety of diagnoses, including cerebral palsy, stroke, Down Syndrome and many other genetic and development disorders. Rebecca Bazzoni, director of Joe’s Kids, said the event was to raise awareness about the organization and to raise funds. “Joe’s Kids serves approximately 130 children and the organization has been around since February 2014 and our mission is to help each child reach their full potential,” Bazzoni said. Max Kinsey, Warsaw, said his child, Elias, 5, has benefited from Joe’s Kids. Elias receives speech and occupational therapy from the organization. “Joe’s Kids has helped my son in tremendous ways. He went from not being able to pick up items to having dexterity and is working on his speech therapy,” Kinsey said. Jim Connelly, South Bend, was the featured speaker. He spoke about overcoming adversity. He said he grew up in Pennsylvania with an alcoholic and abusive father. He then went to Beverly Hills, Calif, and worked at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. “I left behind all of my problems in western Pennsylvania and took my work ethic,” Connelly said. He became a room clerk at the hotel working from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. He wanted to gain more experience in the hotel industry so he worked in various departments at the hotel from 3 to 7 p.m. He worked his way up to general manager of the hotel. “It doesn’t matter how smart you are. You have to have likability and do the right thing,” Connelly said.
