GODFREY - Lewis and Clark Community College’s College for Life program has received a $10,000 boost.
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The College for Life program offers classes and college experiences for adults with disabilities. On Tuesday, June 10, 2025, Cargill, Inc. presented the program with a $10,000 grant that they will use to start a Special Olympics team.
“Today is a celebration of our shared commitment to inclusion, opportunity, and the power of community,” said Rosie Ellington, director of the program. “College for Life has become more than just a program. It’s a movement towards creating lasting, inclusive pathways for all learners.”
Ellington explained that Joe Fletcher, a College for Life parent who works at Cargill, alerted her to the grant opportunity through Cargill’s Community Cares grant program. Ellington and Emily DeGrand worked together to create a grant proposal.
With the money, they plan to host a summer event with the College for Life students from Godfrey’s LCCC campus and the N.O. Nelson campus in Edwardsville. They also want to buy adaptive sports equipment so they can start a Special Olympics team at LCCC.
Ellington said that many of their students participate in Special Olympics outside of LCCC, and they have been asking for years when the college will create their own team. Ellington and DeGrand are excited to offer this opportunity to their students, hopefully starting sometime next fall. They also want to start an intramural sports program so the College for Life students and the general student population can participate in sports together.
“I think that this fund that we have would really help us in pushing that forward,” Ellington said. “Not only do our College for Life students learn a lot by being on campus, but I feel like the whole campus community also learns a lot from just all being together. Our students are participating in clubs and they’re working jobs at the college, and it’s like we’re learning how to be accepting and loving of each other.”
Joe Fletcher echoed Ellington and noted that Cargill is eager to give back to the community through initiatives like this. His son, Jacob, has participated in the College for Life program for four years, and his wife Debbie serves on the program’s advisory board.
Debbie and Joe Fletcher expressed their appreciation for the program and what it has done for their family. Both of them attended LCCC when they were students, and it makes them proud to know their son is carrying on the tradition.
“This is not just a donation. It’s a commitment to the brighter, more inclusive future we all envision,” Joe said. “What Rosie has done and what they’ve all done here, we feel very confident in them here. We just love that they offer him the schooling, the classes. It’s geared towards what they need and that’s just all I can ask for.”
Joe added that he challenges other corporations and businesses to make a similar donation to a program like College for Life. Ellington asked the community to consider donating to the program’s scholarship fund for students. She also encourages people to talk about College for Life and spread the word, as she believes it’s a vital program offered by LCCC.
“We have probably the biggest program in Illinois at a college for students with disabilities,” Ellington added. “I want people to know that the College for Life program is wonderful and there are a lot of people in the community that support it.”
For more information about College for Life, visit the official webpage.
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