Christmas  2022
Our Christmas tree is up and looks beautiful.  Thank you  to the Kiwanis Club of Eau Claire and Lowes Creek Tree Farm for the tree.  Eddie, Tonya and Robert did a great job decorating it.  Thank you also to Connie Werlein for donating the lights.  

Thanks to the Kiwanis of Eau Claire and the Eau Claire Memorial Key Club our Christmas gifts were wrapped in no time! 

​The theme of this year's gifts is letting people know we care about them from their head to their toes.

We would like to thank Presto for their generous gift of the fire extinguisher. The Krabby Patties gummy candy was donated to us by Choice Transportation/Clubs Choice Fundraising and attached to the candy cane is taped to an Avon flavored lip balm that Avon Rep Tina Wolfgram sold to us at her discounted amount.
Everyone was given a CDC hat, a microwavable heating pad with washable cover (made here at CDC), socks, a travel blanket and a wonderful bag along with their water bottle. 

This month we participated in the Prestige Auto Corporation in Eau Claire Prestige of Art & Community to showcase local talent while benefitting Chippewa Valley non-profits.  We had five artists from CDC participate. While we were not the winner, we did have a good time and enjoyed showing off our skills 

We completed our shoe shopping; 212 pairs of shoes were purchased!  That was a lot of feet!   People are already talking about how much fun they had going to Scheels and picking out their own shoes and excited for next year! 

The Halloween party was a great success!  We had lunch with monster wraps, bats and cobwebs along with dirt cake and worms.  The cafeteria was all decorated up and we looked marvelous in our costumes!  We had games, candy and comradery! 

We have had water filtration systems put in place of our water fountains in the Briefs, Woodshop and near the cafeteria.  We are looking forward to having cold, hot and ice available at our touch.  We want to encourage healthy choices (water over soda) as well as eliminate the need for as many disposable cups.  Water bottles have been ordered for everyone in case they do not have one already. 

We have put up a tv/DVD player up in the cafeteria so we can watch the past summer bash DVD's as well as other assorted DVD's during lunch and breaks.  Bring on the holiday movies! 

As fast as September rolled it in rolled out too!  This month we continued with partnering with Scheels for shoes and tried something different that was a bit hit-everyone got to go to Scheels and pick out their own shoes rather than Scheels bringing shoes to us.   This has been a lot of fun and it amazing how diverse everyone's choices are.  

We also had a rock decorating contest to try something different also, this was also a hit.  The creativity here is never ending! 

​Our 33rd annual golf outing was a perfect day!  We had a record number of golfers and the comradery, networking and support was great.  Thank you to everyone who helped in every sort of way.  

Our next event was our Summer Bash!  As Chris Kroeze entertained us with his music we danced,  ate lunch and enjoyed a fun afternoon. 

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​We attended the Eau Claire Airshow.   It was an absolutely beautiful day and we could not have asked for a better time.  

Another highlight was going having the Eau Claire Express baseball team came and had lunch with us and that evening we attended the game.  About 135 of us at CDC and their families/friends attended.    It has been a start of summer fun!
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​​At the L.E. Phillips Career Development Center, it takes a lot of community support from partners like you to achieve our mission. The Career Development Center helps provide meaningful and appropriate vocational services and employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities or disadvantages. Nearly 1,500 individuals are served each year throughout 8 Wisconsin counties.
 
In addition to vocational services and employment opportunities, the Career Development Center also operates an Outreach Center in Chippewa County that specializes in homelessness prevention and helping those who may be in a crisis.
 
We are hosting our 33rd Annual Charity Golf Outing on Friday, August 5, 2022 at Hickory Hills Golf Course in Eau Claire. The event is expected to draw over 300 supporters from throughout the Chippewa Valley. Funds raised at this event will directly support local individuals with disabilities and disadvantages.

You can help support the Charity Golf Outing in a variety of ways.

Be a sponsor for the event and golf at the outing.

​Donate items for the silent auction. Donation recommendations include gift certificates, services, merchandise, or themed baskets. Please free to call or email us to make arrangements for pick-up of your donation.

Volunteer: many hands are needed during the event. If you are interested in volunteering at the golf outing, please let us know.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call Connie Werlein, Marketing Coordinator at (715) 834-2771, ext. 118 or email werleinc@lecdc.org .

Raffle Tickets are also being sold! Enter to win a $2,500 cash prize! 
$20 for one ticket 
$100 for six tickets 
We are selling out at 1000 tickets, get yours now before they are gone! ​

To all of our Friends and Community Partners:
We had an unexpectedly active April at the Career Development Center! 

We all know that during the past few years, there have been some barriers when it comes to supply and demand. This month, we ended up with a couple of days without product for some of our employees to work with. This lead to some quick brainstorming and problem solving, resulting in a quick trip to the movies! Some employees were given the opportunity to see Sonic 2 at Micon Cinemas (who opened early for us) while enjoying a ride from Cody Limousine's. Employees enjoyed the movie while eating popcorn and drinking soda

Another unexpected event happened on April 14, the Career Development Center was given the unfortunate news that the building that makes our pizzas had a small electrical fire. With the help of our community and employees, the tasks of clean up and inspections were all done by the end of April. We are happy to say we are up and running once again. We are grateful to work with dedicated staff and a loyal community. Thank you for your hard work! ​

The month of March brought us festive fun at the Career Development Center! We had a Shamrock Surprise on St. Patrick's Day, while also getting down to business at our March Business After Hours! 

February was short, and certainly sweet! 
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In the short amount of days we have in February, we were able to have two small celebrations at the Career Development Center. 

Earlier this month, our dear friend and colleague Nina had her 60th birthday. 60th birthdays are quite special and we were able to surprise her with a Johnny Cash tribute band. We had some people dancing, some people signing along and some people doing both. It was nice to have a lunch break with some tunes and cake. 

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During February we were also given the opportunity to celebrate Valentine's Day! During lunch, employees were given Valentine's Day cards with one dollar coins to take home. Valentine's Day was also Free Lunch Day this month. What better way than to celebrate by eating spaghetti and heart shaped cookies? It was a nice treat! 
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