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DONKA DIGEST
SUMMER 2017 - ISSUE XLII
Donka Celebrates 30 Years 1987-2017!
Thanks to Don Van Haveren and his
vision, Donka is celebrating 30 years of
service. Don started Donka in 1987
with 2 computers and a graduating
class of 4 students. Today, Donka’s
Wheaton lab has 14 computer stations,
2 stations at the satellite office in Auro-
ra, and several tablets and IPads for
train-the-trainer workshops. Donka
features various Assistive Technology
(AT) on its computers to train between
35-40 persons each year who have
physical, visual, or limited learning
disabilities.
Our dedicated staff includes 4 instruc-
tors, a job readiness counselor, pro-
gram manager, development director,
executive director, and many volun-
teers. To date, hundreds of persons
have graduated from Donka’s comput-
er training program and each year over
150 professionals/educators have
learned about AT through our outreach
programs.
To celebrate this year, Donka is honor-
ing our Founder Don Van Haveren
through various events. Throughout
the year we are inviting groups to tour
our lab and giving presentations to
showcase assistive technology (AT)
and meet our amazing students and
graduates. We are gearing up for
Founder’s Race in October, Giving
Tuesday Challenge in November, and
Open House in December. We hope
you, as a friend and supporter, will
join us in celebrating our 30 years of
service. Please look for our events on
our Donkainc Facebook page or web-
site (www.donkainc.org). We look
forward to achieving our future goals
with your support!
Lynn Van Haveren
Remembers Her Dad... Although Lynn Van Haveren hasn’t lived
in Wheaton since going off to college in
1969, she has fond memories of Donka
as a lasting tribute to her dad’s legacy.
Donka’s founder, Don Van Haveren and
his wife raised 4 children, all of whom are
cheerleaders and big supporters of
Donka. Lynn has lived in Grand Rapids,
Michigan since college and, following in
her dad’s footsteps, has served on non-
profit boards and volunteers in her com-
munity. Lynn’s brothers, Bryan and
Bruce, and their wives Gaye and Pearl,
respectively, live in Colorado while her
sister, Jacki, lives in Quebec, Canada.
Lynn remembers moving around a lot and
living in different parts of the country while
she was growing up because of her dad’s
job. She recalls all the fun camping trips
they took as a family, and especially, the
last one near Mt. Hood in Oregon. Her
parents were very active and her dad was
an avid tennis player all his life.
Lynn revealed for the Donka Digest that
Donka might not have ever been created,
if her Dad had taken the position at his
company’s headquarters in California in
the mid 1980’s. As Lynn tells it, he was
offered a position in San Francisco after
her mom passed away and was seriously
considering it. But he decided to stay in
Wheaton because of his wonderful friends
and neighbors who were so supportive
after Mrs. Van Haveren passed away.
Lynn believes it was because of her mom
that Don became involved with volunteer-
ing at DPCC (now the Kenneth Moy
DuPage Care Center). Mrs Van Haveren
was in nurse’s training and worked at
DPCC and she and Don would visit her
patients on Sundays. (Cont. on page 3)
Also in this issue:
Our Founder’s Story—P.1
Donka is a Charity Partner for Naperville
Marathon Races—P.2
Donka offers First College to Career—P.2
Meet a Donka Graduate: Amy Chally –P. 3
From the Executive Director –P. 4
Donka Offers First ‘College to
Career’ Workshop this Summer.
We’re excited to host our first College to Career Workshop this summer. It is designed for teens and young adults with disabilities who are looking to prepare for college, explore future employ-ment opportunities and increase their computer skills.
The workshop will be conducted by our job readiness counselor, Giana. She brings tremendous experience and insight from her work in educational settings as a college instructor, vocational counselor and disability advisor.
Students attending the summer workshop will learn about the col-lege enrollment process, explore course offerings, discuss academic accommodation opportunities and learn to make the most of college resources. They will also learn about the job search process, in-cluding creating professional emails, practicing interviewing skills and much more.
This workshop, offered in June and
July, includes a trip to a local com-
munity college. If you are interested
in enrolling or learning more, about
our upcoming fall workshops, please
contact Samantha Moore, our pro-
gram manager at (630)665-8169 x10
or send an email to
Upcoming Events
Summer Workshops / Fall Marathon
FOUNDER’S RACE
Naperville Marathon Races
Do you like to run? How about for a
cause? Apparently, many people do,
including one of our newest board mem-
bers, Kathy Mueller. She has been par-
ticipating in the Naperville Half Mara-
thon for years and now she’s including
us in the fun.
To help celebrate our 30th anniversary
and to honor all of those running with
their dreams, we’ve started TEAM
DONKA and are a Charity Partner for
the 2017 Healthy Driven Naperville
Half Marathon and 5K. If you’d like to
join TEAM DONKA as a runner or
walker on October 22, we can get you
a discount, set you up with some run-
ner goodies and treat you to a pre-run
pasta dinner. Just call Andrea at 630-
665-8169 x14 for the details.
Being a part of this event will help in-
crease awareness of Donka and hope-
fully donations. Thousands of people
participate each year.
We’re referring to this as our
FOUNDER’S RACE and dedicating it to
the memory of our founder, Don Van
Haveren. Don ran with his vision of
making the world more accessible to
everyone especially those with disabili-
ties through assistive technology (AT).
Today, thanks to Don, and generous
supporters like you, we are able to con-
tinue his vision of changing the lives of
persons with disabilities through
technology.
Each runner who commits to being a Charity Hero is tasked with raising funds for the charity they support. If you’d like to support a runner for TEAM DONKA, please visit www.facebook.com/groups/674188092752934/
Runners Wanted for TEAM DONKA: The 2017 Healthy Driven Naperville Half Marathon and 5K is on Sunday, October 22. Registration is now open. Please help spread the word. Find more infor-mation on the Donka website at http://www.donkainc.org/2017-healthy-driven-naperville-half-marathon-5k/.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President—Mary Beth Marshall
Wheaton, IL
Vice-President – Robert Stewart
Winfield, IL
Treasurer – Greg Kunkel Wheaton, IL
Secretary – Flory Hoving Elmhurst, IL
Beth Hovious, Bartlett, IL
Kathleen Mueller, Naperville, IL
Rhonda Pavicich, Wheaton, IL
Jennifer Ulmer, Aurora, IL
Beth Welch, Winfield, IL
John Westra, Carol Stream, IL
STAFF
Leanne Stavenger-Vos, Executive Director
Samantha Moore, Program Manager
Andrea Wassel, Director of Development
Marc Grobe, IT Support
Ann Byrne, Instructor
Rick Schopp, Instructor
Linda Yurka, Instructor
Val Ulett, Instructor
Giana Ayers, Job Readiness Counselor
DONKA DIGEST IS
PUBLISHED BY:
Donka, Inc. 400 N County Farm Rd. Wheaton, IL 60187 Ph. 630.665.8169 www.donkainc.org
Page 2
(cont. from page 1) Don was very proud of his wife becoming a
nurse. Lynn says both of her par-
ents were very giving and com-passionate.
Lynn is thrilled Donka is celebrating
30 years, and said her dad would be very proud of Leanne and all the work she has done as Donka’s
Executive Director since 1993, in helping Donka grow and become a critical resource for persons with
disabilities.
Make your Donation Today in
support of our
30th Anniversary!
Your donation keeps Donka’s pro-
gram secure for those who benefit
from our services. Persons with
disabilities need adequate support
and resources so they can live
with greater independence.
Our goal is to help each person
who needs Donka services. With
supporters like you we can achieve
our goals.
Your gift of $3,000 provides
the cost of a new computer
workstation with assistive soft-
ware and adaptive hardware.
Your gift of $300 covers 7
hours of job readiness skills
training for a student or gradu-
ate.
Your gift of $30 covers the
cost of an educator to attend
our Train the Trainer, Assistive
Technology I workshop.
Your gift of any amount pro-
vides for MS Office skills train-
ing with needed AT for our
students we serve every day.
Please, make your donation to
Donka: www.donkainc.org/donate!
Donka means “thank you” in Dutch.
So, Donka from our board, staff,
students, and graduates!
Meet a Donka Graduate: Amy Chally
Successful Author Using AT
Everyone has trials they must choose
to overcome if they want to have hap-
piness and joy in life. This is Amy
Chally’s motto and it should inspire us
all. Amy is a Donka Graduate which is
praise enough, but she has also au-
thored a book entitled, “Making Inde-
pendence Happen”. With the help of
Donka instructor, Rick Schopp, who
taught her to use “Dragon Naturally
Speaking” and her beloved service
dog, Yazzen, she learned to become
more independent soon after graduat-
ing high school.
Amy is a licensed social worker with
spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, a
condition caused by trauma to the
brain usually during or shortly after
birth. All four of her limbs are affected
by this condition, and because of high
muscle tone (muscles that are con-
stantly tight and contracted), she strug-
gles to move and control the muscles
in her arms and legs. As a result, her
limbs are often stiff, and they don’t
always do what she wants them to do.
She can walk with a walker, but utilizes
a power chair and a service dog for
independence and mobility in daily life.
There was a turning point in Amy’s life
at the young age of 13. She was going
in for yet another routine surgery when
she had an encounter with the social
worker that changed her life. The so-
cial worker asked if Amy needed to
talk to her regarding an upcoming
surgery. Amy remembers telling her
no, and stated that she had been
through it before. Then the social
worker told Amy that she could talk
to her any time because she knew
what it was like to be Amy. This
woman appeared to have no visible
signs of disability, and Amy remem-
bers thinking to herself, no one
knows what it's like to be me.
After that encounter, Amy knew she
wanted to help other individuals with
disabilities and their families who
might experience some of the same
things that she has.
It took Amy a few years to write her book and it is now available at Amazon, CreateSpace, and Barnes & Noble. Signed copies are availa-ble through her website: www.amychally.com. Amy’s new service dog, Portland, is her con-stant companion when she speaks to community groups about her jour-ney and to let other people with dis-abilities know that they are not alone. Amy believes she became a social worker to help others over-come their obstacles and they could, in turn, also teach her something new and help her become a better social worker.
Congratulations, Amy!
From all of your friends at Donka.
What is Assistive Technology (AT)?
Assistive Technology (often
abbreviated as AT) is any item,
piece of equipment, software or
product system that is used to in-
crease, maintain, or improve the
functional capabilities of individuals
with disabilities.
Donka provides computer AT like
alternative keyboards, head mouse,
switches, touch screen, literacy
software, voice activation software,
screen reading and screen magnifi-
cation software for our students to
access a computer independently.
Page 3
From the Executive Director:
Looking Back, Forward Momentum
Don Van Haveren started Donka with a vision and conviction. A vision to create a program to help persons with disabilities have a better future, and a conviction that people with disabilities deserve to have the same goals as their able bodied peers. Donka was established in 1987, with its mission to
“changing lives of persons with disabilities through technology”.
My first encounter with Donka was in 1989. I walked into the first Donka computer lab that had two comput-ers, two students, and two dedicated teachers --- Don Van Haveren and Judy Lampa. Although Don was
very low key, I felt the energy in the room was exploding. Don and Judy were teaching Tony a typing pro-gram, and Willie, a word processing program. The computers were IBM 286’s, and assistive technology (AT) was just emerging as a resource and tool. Tony, who was blind, used a screen reading program, a voice
synthesizer to hear the keys he typed. Willie, a quadriplegic, used a head wand to hit the keys one-at-a-time.
Don invited me to come to Donka with my sister Heidi Stavenger who survived a severe head trauma from an automobile accident. It was a challenge to teach Heidi. She could only use one hand to type and had a
visual impairment. But when Don put his mind to it, he could come up with a way to make it possible. He taught Heidi to type; using a key guard over the keyboard to guide her hand and a voice synthesizer to hear
the letters and words. She began writing short letters to her friends.
I had many conversations with Don over coffee, talking about life and Donka. In 1990, I became an instruc-tor, not because I was a computer whiz, but because I believed in Don and realized that Donka was a “one of a
kind” program that was truly making a difference in the lives of persons with disabilities. As Don persevered with moving Donka forward, others joined in. Don believed in people helping people, whether as a prospective volunteer, donor, or student, Don had a respectful and friendly way that you couldn’t resist helping him. The administrator at DuPage Care Center believed in Don’s
innovative ideas and made certain that Donka was included in the center’s 1993 east wing addition, where it still is today.
I had the privilege of working with Don for almost 4 years. If he wasn’t teaching, he was researching technology, working with me on fund raising, or planning for Donka’s future. He would occasionally take a day to go fishing, or visit his children, but he always had Donka in
the forefront. His vision and conviction continues today, with more innovative technology and with people who believe in this great cause – to provide a path, the tools, skills and empowerment to break down the barriers to inclusion, employment, and education. We provide access to an improved quality of life for persons with visual, physical or other disabilities, who we know, as our students and graduates.
Join us in this great cause by donating to the Don Van Haveren Endowment Fund, our upcoming Founder’s Race, or computer classes.
On behalf of all of our current and future students, Thank You!, Leanne
Donka, Inc.
400 N County farm Rd
Wheaton, IL 60187
PLACE STAMP HERE
Leanne Stavenger-Vos
Executive Director
