Sister's celebrate father's legacy and local non-profit

After watching their father spend countless hours volunteering with the Evanston-based non-profit Over the Rainbow Association, Glen Ellyn Lindsey Griffin and her sister Kory Kozlowski are now following in his footsteps.

Earlier in the year, the sisters were appointed as junior board members of the Evanston-based organization that provides housing and employment opportunities to individuals with physical disabilities which was partly founded by their father in 1974.

“The Over the Rainbow Association was really important to him,” Griffin said. “He saw people who deserved to have a wonderful place to live and be independent but couldn’t because of their disabilities. He wanted to help them if he could.”

The Over the Rainbow Association began nearly 40 years ago with a small building in Chicago and has since expanded into seven residential complexes in Chicago, Waukegan, Matteson, Rockford, Harvard and Freeport.

Griffin said their father, who died of leukemia in 2005, became involved with the disability movement due to a close friend who had a physically-disabled son. The son desperately wanted to live on his own but couldn’t, she said. As a result, Griffin’s father decided to help found the organization that addressed this issue.

Now, the sister’s will celebrate their father’s legacy as well as the Over the Rainbow Organization on December 1st as part of the organization’s annual Celebration concert. Taking the stage at the legendary Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Broadway legend Mandy Patinkin and opera superstar Nathan Gunn will be combining their musical talents to present a unique and powerful evening of music and merriment. To purchase tickets, please visit http://www.pickstaiger.org/event/evening-mandy-patinkin-nathan-gunn.

More information on the Over the Rainbow Association and its 23rd annual Celebration event, please visit www.otrassn.org.