Disabilities group vital to community

By Laurie Gordon
SUSSEX COUNTY — Donny Erb, of Newton, has autism. He has one of the kindest hearts you'll ever find. He loves watching Looney Toons and talking about The Special Olympics. He used to like Sponge Bob, but now he thinks he's “too bossy.” Donny wears his trademark cap and his orange earplugs protrude from his ears. He just turned 23, and attends a group at SCARC where he dances and has a lot of fun while also learning.
Donny is part of SCARC's Recreation & Community Inclusion Program. This program allows participants to engage in programs which not only foster their participation and assimilation in the communities in which they live, but also cater to individual interests and abilities. Activities include swimming, bowling, basketball and dances as well as cooking, bingo, weaving, dining out and other activities. n addition, SCARC supports individuals participating in Special Olympics and offers Summer Experience, a two week summer program.
“Donny has a place to go during the day and get great stimulation and thrive and have fun,” said his mother, Ruth Ann Erb, “SCARC is so important to our family.”
Donny said some of his favorite things to do with his SCARC program include going to the park when it's warm.
“We go to the park and sometimes the Y and I have a friend I really like named Tori from SCARC,” he said.
In 1957, a group of Sussex County parents, unable to find services to meet the needs of their children with developmental disabilities, formed SCARC, Inc. In order to serve these children, a preschool program, recreation programs, and a day training program were developed. Over the next few years, the demand for a wider range of services grew and SCARC expanded in order to meet that appeal.
Carmine Lencsak is the Chief Operating Officer at Thorlabs. The highly acclaimed international company has its headquarters in Newton.
He said, “SCARC provides a community for people with all abilities, aptitudes, capabilities and talents. With both respect and dignity, SCARC affords an opportunity for each member to be contributing partners in our society by providing support to attain success in competitive employment.”
Of Thor's employees through SCARC, Lencsak said, “We are enriched to provide employment with our associates from SCARC. We are able to connect with the skills and proficiencies of each of our team to help further our customer centric strategy.”
He added, “Currently we are employing teammates in our assembly departments. This work requires dexterity in the building or packaging of our products. For each individual, I believe that working independently provides confidence, increased skill sets, and self-reliance.”
Thorlabs also collaborates with SCARC in a packaging operation of their "Lab Snacks."
“Many of our customers are physics students in University Labs around the world,” Lencsak said. “These students generally work long hours with little time to eat. For every single customer order we ship, we send a Lab Snack box filled with 6 healthy food snacks such as granola bars. Our customers love them and we value and have so much fun with the team who makes them.”
He said, “SCARC provides Thorlabs with a gift, an opportunity for us to work alongside individuals with developmental disabilities who are pursuing meaningful and purposeful lives and careers in our community. For Thorlabs, the diversified talents and offerings the team brings makes us a better company.”
SCARC's mission statement is to “enable individuals to live lives of dignity and value is of primary importance in the design of SCARC services which include residential options, day habilitation, prevocational training, employment supports, family support services and recreation programs. SCARC recognizes and protects the rights of individuals to make choices about how they wish to live their lives.” It goes on, “Our over sixty years of experience, combined with an understanding of the flexibility and sensitivity required to address diverse needs and abilities, enables SCARC to provide quality supports for the over 500 individuals that it is honored to serve.” The SCARC Foundation is a non-profit organization supporting people with developmental disabilities and their families.
Honors Event
All of the programs run through this incredible non-profit take funding, and on Thursday, March 22nd, SCARC Foundation Honors Event will recognize those members of the community who have helped them keep their vital programs going. The Alley Cats, America’s Doo-Wop group, have been announced as this year’s entertainment for the event which will be held at Perona Farms in Lafayette. They will take the stage alongside emcee Heather Childers, co-host of “Fox & Friends First.”
The event will begin with registration, a silent auction and reception at 6 pm followed by a dinner and awards ceremony at 7 pm. The 2018 honorees include: Carmine Lencsak, chief operating officer of Thorlabs; Gallagher Inc.; and The Chatterbox — Don Hall.
Said Chris Hemmer, chief development officer for The SCARC Foundation, “The SCARC Foundation Honors Auction is a way that The SCARC Foundation is raising funds for SCARC's vital programs. The online portion of 2018 SCARC Foundation Honors is now open. The auction will run from until March 22, 2018, Auction items range from exotic vacation getaways to donated items guaranteed to delight and surprise. So, tell your friends, family, community. Let the bidding begin."
Various items are up for bid at: <URL destination="http://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/browse.action?auctionId=306776556&ctemail=lauriegordonrun@aol.com&ctmid=230187878 ">www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/browse.action?auctionId=306776556&ctemail=lauriegordonrun@aol.com&ctmid=230187878
</URL>All are welcome to attend The Honors Event. To attend this event or for more information please call (973) 383-7442 Ext. 260 or or e-mail Chris Hemmer at chemmer@scarc.org. Cost is $175 per person or $300 per couple.
SCARC is Sussex County's installment of ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens), and there is an ARC in every county in New Jersey. ARC promotes and protects the human rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes; and is committed to enhancing the quality of life of those individuals and their families through advocacy, empowerment, education and prevention.