Easterseals baseball event celebrates launch of a new children’s book series

SOUTHFIELD — On Aug. 27, Easterseals gathered with local families and Ann Arbor-based Cherry Lake Publishing at the Easterseals MORC Miracle League Field on Evergreen Road to celebrate the release of “Making a Difference with Easterseals,” by Beth Finke.

The children’s book is part of a new series that Cherry Lake Publishing is launching with the Easterseals. It focuses on the life-changing work Easterseals and its affiliates have done across the country and outlines ways that communities can promote inclusive environments for people with disabilities.

The Easterseals MORC, which stands for Macomb Oakland Regional Center, is a nonprofit that has over 100 years of experience helping enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities, and strengthening access to health care, education and employment.

Currently, there are two other such book series, “Understanding Disability” and “Itty Bitty Bio Series.” The series serves as tools for parents, grandparents, educators and others to teach children about disabilities, reduce stigma and raise awareness about the talents and activism that those with special needs have made throughout history. Finke became blind at the age of 26 due to diabetes and later had a son with multiple disabilities.

The collaboration between Easterseals and Cherry Lake Publishing began in 2022, when the CEO of Cherry Lake Publishing and Easterseals board member Ben Mondloch was approached with the idea of creating a book series for children focusing on disabilities.

Together, Cherry Lake Publishing and the Easterseals have collaborated on 17 books that amplify the voices of disabled people and activists while using authors with disabilities to do so through the three different book series. Amanda Gebhardt, the editorial director of Cherry Lake Publishing, remembered a conversation between Finke and Jason Benetti, who has cerebral palsy and is a play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Tigers and formerly the voice of the Chicago White Sox, while Finke was interviewing him for an Itty Bitty Bio Series book. “They had just this fantastic conversation about their everyday experiences, of these conversations that they had over and over and over again and all the people that might think that they’re being cute or being clever, but it’s the same comments every day, so it’s the exact same thing. And so one of my favorite things that Jason Benetti had said to Beth was that he’s focused on trying to respond to people in ways they don’t expect and keeping people on their toes, making sure that if he’s underestimated, it’s only for a short amount of time.”

The book also includes photos of real families who have benefited from Easterseals MORC’s services and their personal stories of receiving services, including the family of 22-year-old Zander Schons, from Lake Orion. Zander has cerebral palsy with a seizure disorder, and is non ambulatory, nonverbal and blind. Kristi Schons, Zander’s mother, described her son as an “easygoing people person who loves to smile and play the keyboard.” She added, “He loves to play baseball and bowling. That’s the contribution from Easterseals MORC that’s, like, mostly our connection with them.”

Kristi Schons is the president of a nonprofit called the Daisy Project, which is how her family came to be involved with Easterseals MORC in 2019, when she was looking for resources to help create more inclusive spaces. “Originally, it was just we wanted him to be able to swing on a swing,” she said. “So we helped raise money at Friendship Park in Lake Orion, which is where the Miracle League of North Oakland is, which is through Easterseals. We made a playground called ‘Let Them Play,’ and it has wheelchair swings, and it’s an accessible playground. And then we wanted a baseball field, and that’s how the relationship started with my family and Easterseals.”

The city of Southfield is home to Michigan’s first Miracle League, which opened in 2003. It is a baseball field for children with any physical or cognitive disability and uses a buddy system to assist the players.

The Daisy Project is based in Shelby Township and each year hosts a fundraising event called LO Palooza, which features music, food trucks and other vendors to help raise funds for the nonprofit’s mission of creating more inclusive recreational spaces for individuals with disabilities to enjoy.

The books in all three series can be found in schools and libraries nationwide and can also be purchased online at cherrylakepublishing.com; 10% of sales from “Making a Difference with Easterseals” will go towards Easterseals MORC to provide care to those in Michigan.

For more information on Easterseals MORC, visit www.easterseals.com/MORC/.

To learn more about the Daisy Project and LO Palooza, visit thedaisyprojectmi.com.