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KEEN Athletes will love you just as you are! |
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Sessions Scheduled for April to December 2008:
All program sessions are scheduled from 11 AM to 12:30 PM.
Sunday, April 6
Sunday, April 20
Sunday, May 4
Sunday, May 18
Sunday, June 1
Sunday, June 15
No Program, Father's Day
Sunday, July 6
No Program, 4th July Weekend
Sunday, July 20
August, no program
Sunday, September 7
Sunday, September 21
Sunday, October 5
Sunday, October 19
Sunday, November 2
Sunday, November 16
Sunday, December 7
Sunday, December 21
Athlete Holiday Party |
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KEEN is a national, nonprofit volunteer-led organization that provides one-to-one recreational opportunities for children and young adults with mental and physical disabilities at no cost to their families and caregivers. KEEN's mission is to foster the self-esteem, confidence, skills and talents of its athletes through non-competitive activities, allowing young people facing even the most significant challenges to meet their individual goals.
KEEN LA’s Third Annual Spring Festival
Celebrating KEEN LA’s Athletes, Volunteers, Sponsors and Community
By Jack Gilbertson*
March 16, 2008, Los Angeles, California: Today marks our celebration of the third annual spring festival for KEEN LA. The spring festival was originally created in 2006 by Marjorie Heller, KEEN LA’s Executive Director, to promote awareness of KEEN LA’s athletic programs for developmentally disabled athletes. Under Ms. Heller’s leadership, however, KEEN LA’s spring festival soon transformed from an outreach program into a broad celebration for KEEN LA’s athletes, volunteers, sponsors and the entire Los Angeles community. Following this year’s event, the festivals are expected to have involved over 750 athletes, volunteers, sponsors and community participants.
This spring festival is particularly noteworthy for the KEEN LA community because it also marks the last spring festival during Ms. Heller’s tenure as the Executive Director for KEEN LA. Ms. Heller announced earlier this year that she will be stepping down as Executive Director effective as of March 31, 2008. Ms. Heller plans to return full time to her role as one of the leading advocates in California for developmentally disabled children.
In addition to celebrating our athletes, volunteers, sponsors and community representatives, KEEN LA also is using the spring festival to honor Ms. Heller’s role as the founding Executive Director of KEEN LA. In order to recognize her contributions to the development of KEEN LA, a brief overview of certain significant milestones in KEEN LA’s history is set forth as follows:
KEEN History: KEEN USA’s tax-exempt affiliates in London, Washington D.C, Chicago and other cities offer unique athletic programs for developmentally disabled athletes that provide personal coaches for each athlete. In spring of 2005, Portnoy, founder of KEEN USA, engaged its pro bono legal counsel, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, to evaluate the Los Angeles community’s need for KEEN program services. The community needs assessment identified a significant need for KEEN program services in the Los Angeles area.
Community Meetings: Beginning in June, 2005, KEEN USA conducted a series of community meetings to discuss KEEN USA’s model for specialized one-on-one athletic programs for developmentally disabled athletes. The meetings were attended by numerous representatives of the developmentally disabled community in Los Angeles, including, the Lanterman Regional Center, The City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Committee, Goodwill Industries of Southern California, Sonnenschein, Ability First and the Western Center for Disability Rights.
Sponsorship: Based on (i) the community needs assessment, (ii) the enthusiastic response from the community to KEEN USA’s programs, and (iii) a three-year grant from Sonnenschein, KEEN USA founder Elliott Portnoy authorized the formation of KEEN LA in July, 2005. .
Leadership: In July, 2005, Ms. Heller agreed to serve as the Executive Director of KEEN LA on an interim and volunteer basis in order to oversee the development and implementation of KEEN LA’s programs. Prior to joining KEEN LA, Ms. Heller served on the board of directors of the Lanterman Regional Center, the agency responsible for the coordination and funding of services to developmentally disabled children in central Los Angeles. Following a successful career in the business world, Ms. Heller also served on the boards of other public and private organizations, including Ability First, one of the leading nonprofit entities serving the developmentally disabled children. Her experience with issues relating to the provision of services to developmentally disabled children proved to be critical to the successful launch of KEEN LA.
Development: After leading the successful implementation of KEEN LA’s programs in September, 2005, Ms. Heller agreed to assume the role of Executive Director on a permanent basis. Her originally conceived part-time, interim role soon grew into a full-time role to oversee KEEN LA’s significant developments, including, the following:
Facilities: Working with Mark Mariscal and other government representatives, Ms. Heller arranged with the City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreations Committee to obtain the free use of the City’s Elysian Park Therapeutic Recreation Center for KEEN LA’s programs. The arrangement also provided for public transportation from the bus lines to the Elysian Park Recreation Center.
Partnering: In addition to establishing the affiliation with the LA City Parks and Recreation Department, Ms. Heller has successfully developed numerous affiliation, sponsorship or other support arrangements with other leading government, civic and private sources, including, without limitation, the following:
- Autism Speaks
- Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
- Frank D. Lanterman Regional Center
- Lawry’s
- New Otani of America
- Rotary Club of Los Angeles
- Starbucks of Downtown Los Angeles District
- Numerous other volunteers, sponsors and participants,
each of whom KEEN LA would like to thank.
Programs: During the community meetings conducted in 2005, representatives from the developmentally disabled community expressed a strong need for KEEN LA
to further California’s policy of mainstreaming developmentally disabled children into the general population for their peer group. In order to achieve the mainstreaming goal, Ms. Heller successfully adapted KEEN USA’s standardized programs to include other children in the same age group as KEEN LA’s athletes to serve as assistant coaches with the adult coaches assigned by KEEN LA to each athlete.
Operations: In addition to establishing KEEN LA’s relationships with government, community and private organizations, Ms. Heller also played the key role in developing and maintaining the other critical functions essential to the operation of KEEN LA, including: (i) the volunteer network, (ii) advisory bodies, including committees of coaches and parents who played a key role in advising and assisting KEEN LA in the development and operational phase, (iii) the KEEN LA sporting equipment, (iv) policies and procedures, and (v) under the direction of KEEN USA, the books and records of KEEN LA.
Once again, KEEN LA would like to dedicate the spring festival celebration to Ms. Heller in recognition of her tremendous contribution to KEEN LA and the Los Angeles community. KEEN LA would also like to thank each of its athletes, coaches, sponsors and all of the other persons sharing the spring festival with us today or otherwise participating in the KEEN LA programs over the past several years. We hope you enjoy the festival and look forward to your continuing role as part of the KEEN LA community.
*Jack Gilbertson, a member of Board of Directors and the Immediately Past Chairperson of the Board of Directors.
 
- be a volunteer serving in variety capacities
- make a donation or be a program sponsor
- make an in-kind contribution
There are many ways you can help keep the joy and laugher alive in children with special challenges. Learn more about how can you help!
213-892-2935
info@keenlosangeles.org |
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