It’s almost Halloween, but the Bradley Fellows have Easter on their mind.
Fellows planned a Halloween party for the Easter Seals of Central Illinois from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. tonight at OSF Saint Francis hospital.
The Halloween Party is specifically geared towards their younger clients.
“All of the children at Easter Seals are welcome to attend,” Jenna Dellaria, Fellows planning committee chair, said. “We dress up in costumes, play games, have snacks, face paint and do lots of crafts.”
The Halloween party is entirely managed by Fellows members, from beginning to end.
“We plan the games and activities, purchase all necessary supplies, set up the event and clean it up,” Dellaria, a sophomore early childhood and elementary education double major, said.
Fellows is a leadership and community service program associated with the Lewis J. Burger Center for Leadership and Public Service. Each student participating in the program is required to complete 40 hours of community service per semester and receives a $1,000 scholarship annually for their participation.
Since its conception almost 20 years ago, the Fellows program has worked closely with Easter Seals.
“Fellows started in 1996 as ambassadors to the Peoria and campus community,” Jessica Chandler, director of the Lewis J. Burger Center for Leadership and Public Service and Fellows adviser, said. “Easter Seals used to be the all-campus philanthropy for Bradley, so when the Fellows program was created, it made sense for Easter Seals to fall under the Fellows program and the LJB Center.”
Easter Seals is an organization that provides services to people with disabilities and their families. They help a wide range of people: children and adults, veterans and seniors, individuals with autism and individuals with cerebral palsy. The Fellows program has provided aid to this organization in a number of ways in the past and continues to help.
“Fellows did the pancake breakfast over Family Weekend to [raise money for] Easter Seals,” Chandler said. “Next semester, Fellows will also help at their Black and Blue Ball in February and their telethon in March. A few Fellows also go to their Respite Nights to volunteer with their clients.”
For more information about the Fellows program or about volunteering through Bradley, students can email Chandler at jchandler@bradley.edu.
