Fundraiser to help non-profit group

Independence of Portage County, an organization that provides assistance to local residents diagnosed with mental retardation, will host its first “Dough Raiser” from 5 to 8 p.m. tonight at CiCi’s Pizza in Streetsboro. The organization will receive 10 percent of all sales and raffle donations earned throughout the evening.

The money raised will help the non-profit organization provide residential, vocational and recreational services to more than 100 mentally retarded individuals, something it has done since 1975. Today, there are 27,000 people in Ohio waiting to be provided services similar to those of Independence, said Michelle Madden, Independence fundraising chairwoman.

Every client has a unique social background, Madden said. Some live in an Intermediate Care Facility group home and are provided opportunities for growth, training and supervision on a 24-hour basis, while others reside in community living with minimal support.

“It all depends what their skill set is,” Madden said. “Maybe something happened to somebody where they have no shoes or they can’t afford them. We’ll help them out with those things.”

Several people from the agency will be attending the fundraiser, including clients, guardians, board members, friends and family, said Madden, who has advertised the benefit on Facebook as well as other Internet sites.

“We’re all wearing Independence apparel to show who and what we’re about,” Madden said. “Our management will actually go and bus tables. We get to keep the tips and put them back into our foundation.”

Contact social services reporter Tony Lange at [email protected].