Southeast Region Celebrates the Holidays

For over 10 years, William (Bill) Shea has been procuring donations of toys for group homes and gift cards for individuals of limited income who reside in supported living.  This year he received donations from the Knights of Columbus, The Palm Beach “Last Dream” Soccer Club, and Cardinal Newman “Class of 65”.  He has a personal connection with these three groups and he has always advocated for the needs of the APD customers who may not have a strong family support system and may not receive gifts during the Holiday season.  We are lucky that all these years, these groups have chosen to donate gifts and gift cards to APD customers.

The licensing staff sorted the gifts by gender and age groups and delivered to several UCP group homes, York group homes I and II, Just for Kids I, II & III, East Park/JACTO, Inc. and six $50 Walmart cards to six individuals in Supported Living.  We also delivered toys which were for infants and children under 5 years old to the DCF toy drive.  Everyone who received the donations was extremely happy and some stated that without these donations, some of the children in the group home would not have any gifts at all!

We are very grateful to Bill Shea (who retired from APD after 35 years of service) and to the groups donating so generously, we hope this effort continues for years to come!

Pictured left to right: Gertrude Sanchez, Maria Rubin, Ashley Cole, Christina Tookes and Bill Shea.


The United Cerebral Palsy Adult Day Program in Lake Worth held their holiday party on December 23. The program has 70 individuals who received gifts from FCC-09. Pictured are Elaine Scola, FCC-09, Santa, and Rose Taylor, Employment Specialist for APD.