EVENT PURPOSE & PHILOSOPHY

At Opportunity Knocks, we envision an inclusive community where all individuals experience access, presence and support. We believe that softball is not just a sport, but an opportunity for community. We welcome everyone to that community. 

The OK Classic is a full-on, fun, and competitive, yet friendly, co-ed, 14-inch single-day softball tournament with a focus on inclusion. Leading up to the event, we host a peer-to-peer fundraising competition that asks registered players to reach out to their network of friends, family and co-workers to support their effort and their team's effort to collectively raise funds for the OK Mission.

In addition to the pre-event activity, on gameday we also host a festival featuring great local food and beverages and an atmosphere designed to offer fun, interaction, and entertainment for everyone.

QUICK SITE LINKS


REGISTRATION MESSAGE

Team registration will open at 7:00 pm on Monday, July 24th. Registration is limited and based on a first come, first served format. Teams that raise $5,000 or more from the 2022 event guarantee a team reservation. Sponsors that commit at +$5K are also reserved a team slot.

The team fee is $1500. Teams are NOT required to satisfy the fee at time of registration. Teams are afforded the option of raising funds via the peer-to-peer fundraising platform hosted on this site to meet the fee.

Traditionally, teams and players work together to reach out to friends and family to raise funds toward the overall team goal and the greater organizational goal of $75,000 for the event. Recently, we have seen teams exercise their creativity by reaching out to sponsors to help support team fundraising, host events and do all other sorts of things to reach the team fee. Got a new idea!? Run it by us and we'll do what we can to support your efforts or collaborate.

IMPORTANT DATES

  • TEAM REGISTRATION BEGINS | Monday, July 24th at 7:00 pm
  • TEAM ROSTER & FEE DEADLINE | Friday, September 6th
  • CAPTAIN'S MEETING | Monday, September 18th at 6:00pm
  • FUNDRAISING DEADLINE | Friday, September 22nd at 10:00pm
  • EVENT DATE | Saturday, Sep 23, 2023

QUICK SITE LINKS

 

FUNDRAISING GOAL & DEADLINE

This event is a softball tournament and a festival, but it is most importantly an important fundraiser for OK. We need your help to hit our goal, so that we can keep creating great opportunities for Warriors! We are working all the way toward 10PM on Friday, September 22nd to hit our goal of raising $60,000! The team fee only gets us halfway to our goal, so we are counting on our teams, players and community to come in with us and go above and beyond to reach the goal!

Your donation is vital ...
  • Because there are more than 29,100 people with an intellectual or developmental disability in Illinois
  • Because more than 23,000 people with an intellectual or developmental disability in Illinois are STILL on a waiting list for services.
  • Because the employment rate for Warriors in our community is STILL an abysmal 38%.
  • Because we don't accept the above!
  • Because we are still 95% privately funded and we count on our events to support nearly 40% of our operating budget.



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THE OK MISSION

 

Opportunity Knocks (OK) is a 501c3 non-profit organization serving communities in the near west suburbs of Chicago since 2009. OK was founded by families and embraced by a community that recognized significant opportunities to develop more substantial and responsive programs, support and partnerships that would build a community where people with different abilities would be more present with interdependent connections.

Our mission is to innovate and collaborate as a co-creator of programs, enterprise, and partnerships that contribute to developing a community where people with different abilities are fully included and able to live, work, learn, grow and play in a life of their design. We believe that communities are at their best when they are fully inclusive of every body.


 

Darius Colin Karisa
Lena Johno Sonya

 

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