Scottie the ParrotSM Portfolio

Willow Creek Community Church
Special Friends Ministry - Annual Event
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

The Special Friends Ministry of Willow Creek Community Church is a ministry dedicated to serving special-needs children and adults and serving families having a member or members with disabilities.

Special Friends in cooperation with the Inclusion Ministry, put on two major annual indoor events in 2003 and 2004.  In 2006 Scottie was requested for the ministry's annual outdoor Fishing Derby.  The purpose of these events, was to serve our special friends and their families.  It was open to the public (free admission) to individuals and families in the community who were affected by disabilities.

Participating in these events remains one of our proudest moments and treasured performances.  Watching Scottie put smiles on the faces of those (mostly children) far less fortunate and with far less freedom and mobility (most were in wheelchairs) than ourselves created memories that will last a lifetime.

As our special guests and their families arrived, they would have their photo taken with Scottie and be provided with that photo for their memory of this experience.  As was possible and acceptable, Scottie was also available to be held by the special friend if he or she so desired.

Please note: The photos taken by Scottie's staff and shown on this page are of other volunteers of the program or of family members of the special-needs individual.  While Scottie was in contact with our special friends and had many photos taken with them, we intentionally are not presenting any such photos here so as to respect the privacy of our special friends and ensure no disclosure of their disability.  Where they are present in wide view photos, great care was taken to ensure they were masked in background, without detail, so as to obscure their identity.  We thank you for your understanding and for joining us in your compassion for these special friends.

The larger images above came from a Willow Creek news page published shortly after the event.  The images at the bottom of this page include one of the event's MC wearing Scottie as a second hat.