GODFREY – Beverly Farm resident Kathleen Gastler has been selected to be on Team Illinois and compete in bocce at the Special Olympics USA Games, June 5-12, 2022, in Orlando, Florida.
Kathleen lives in Group Home 5, one of Beverly Farm’s six group homes, and she has been a Beverly Farm resident since 2011, which is when she first moved into Group Home 5. She enjoys bocce and has been playing the sport for about 10 years.
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“We will all be cheering for Kathleen when she is down in Orlando competing in the USA Games in just four short months,” said Crystal Officer, CEO of Beverly Farm Foundation. “Kathleen is the first Beverly Farm athlete to be selected to compete at any national competition. She makes us proud.”
Bocce is a game that originated in Italy. The basic principle of the sport is to roll a bocce ball closest to the target ball, which is called a “palina.” Bocce as a Special Olympics sport provides people with special needs the opportunity to have social contact, develop physically and gain self-confidence. One of the most popular sports in Special Olympics, bocce features a wide variety of athletes. For the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, bocce will involve more than 300 athletes from around the country and include events such as singles, doubles, team, and unified competitions. The venue for bocce at this year’s USA Games will be at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando.
About Beverly Farm
Beverly Farm was founded in 1897 by Dr. William H.C. Smith and his wife, Elizabeth to establish a caring home, socialization, proper medical care, healthy diet, physical exercise, education, recreation and meaningful work for people living with developmental disabilities. Today it is a planned community that looks and feels like a neighborhood. There are homes; a recreation center with a pool; an equestrian center; medical services; therapies, and much more. More than 300 individuals who live with intellectual or developmental disabilities call Beverly Farm home.
The mission of Beverly Farm is to provide a loving, caring home for adults with developmental disabilities, providing each individual with physical and emotional security and a dignified quality of life, with opportunities and challenges, within each individual’s functional capabilities.
