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From
The Kansas City Star:
Two years ago Taylor Baker (pictured) , then 15, was a Girl Scout with a dream.
She wanted to organize an event for Olathe’s Disabilities Awareness Week that would let people focus on the disabilities that affect more than 12,000 Olathe residents each day.
Baker, now a senior at Olathe North High School, thought that would be a great project for her Gold Award, the highest Girl Scout honor.
With the help of the city and the United Access company, Baker’s efforts are about to pay off.
The disAbility Information Expo will be held from noon to 4 p.m. today in the food court of the Great Mall of the Great Plains in Olathe.
“We thought it was real important to be a part of this,” said Victor Glover, the city’s liaison to the Persons with Disabilities Advisory Board.
More than 40 organizations will have displays and hand out literature. They include the American Cancer Society, the American Stroke Foundation, the Community Disability Network, Johnson County Developmental Supports, the Epilepsy Foundation, Kansas Special Olympics and United Way.
People with disabilities will be able to sign up for the city’s confidential emergency registry, which informs police and fire in an emergency that a disabled person could be inside a home or building.
“It just gives information about different disabilities and you can sign up if you have a disability,” Baker said. “And you could learn how to volunteer with those organizations.”
The event also includes a drawing for prizes donated to the event and entertainment.
Baker has a disability, attention deficit disorder, which was one of the motivations behind her project.
“I know a lot of people who have disabilities,” she said.
Baker presented her project in April to the city’s disabilities advisory board, which approved the plan and wants to make the expo an annual event.
Also at the presentation was Tony Cruise, general manager of United Access in Lenexa, which converts vehicles for people with disabilities. Chris Baker, Taylor’s mother, said Cruise jumped at the opportunity to help and is a major sponsor of the event.
“They’ve helped a lot,” Taylor said.
