Community comes together as Over The Rainbow hosts fundraiser for Disability Awareness

by Matt BradyJuly 12th, 2026

Participants in the “Walk. Run. Roll. For Disability Awareness” event walk the designated route on July 12. Credit: Matt Brady

Over The Rainbow, an Evanston-based disability awareness organization that creates accessible and affordable housing around the Chicago area, hosted a “Walk. Run. Roll. For Disability Awareness” 5K and 2K walk and run on Sunday, drawing a large crowd. Over 300 participants turned out to show their support for people with disabilities during Disability Awareness Month.

The annual event, which started in 2007 as a bike race, was held in honor of Val Nora, a longtime resident of the organization, said Eric Huffman, president and CEO of Over The Rainbow. Nora died this spring.

All of the proceeds from the event will support resident programs at Over The Rainbow, which helps residents live independently.

“Val worked so hard for this event, year after year after year, to get donations and support, everything from bottled water to pop to real sponsorships,” Huffman said. “We miss her incredibly.”

Sami Rahman, vice chairman of Over The Rainbow, who also participated in the walk, said morphing the event from a bike race into a 5K and 2K was due to large community interest.

Rahman said Nora was a “really key” resident in the Over The Rainbow community, and he was excited for everyone who showed up for the event to recognize Disability Awareness Month.

“I think there’s a really special turnout for Val, in addition to everybody else that wants to support Over The Rainbow,” he said.

The event, which took place in the parking lot of Over The Rainbow, began at 9:30 a.m., but a large crowd of eager participants had already congregated before the start time to register and get ready for the event.

About 40 to 45 volunteers were present at the event, Huffman said, and a large part of them were made up of members from Northwestern University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.

The event was also sponsored by numerous local businesses, including Skender, Gym 1801, Senior Care Solutions Chicago, Epic Burger and Whole Foods.

Deven Mitchell, who is a part of the sales team at Gym 1801 and was a participant in the walk, said it’s important to recognize some people don’t have the same abilities as others, and that it shouldn’t be taken for granted.

“When there’s an event like this where there are people who need support because they are not capable or they are not able, I think it’s really important to step out and do your due diligence to support those who need it,” he said.

Four food trucks offered a variety of meals for hungry participants. The Fat Shallot served a small menu of sandwiches and fries, Kona Ice served shaved ice and La Cocinita served pulled pork and chicken tacos. The Misericordia Hearts and Flour Bakery food truck sold a variety of breakfast items like coffee, muffins and croissants. It’s part of Misericordia Home, a large nonprofit organization in Chicago’s Rogers Park that serves and cares for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

At certain points in the walking route, Northwestern basketball players were present to cheer people on as they either ran or walked past. Dylan Williams, Aleksej Kostic and Symon Ghai greeted participants with smiles, high-fives and word of encouragement as they walked past.

The three said they were connected to the event through the Northwestern Athletic Department and were excited to be there.

“It’s nice supporting and giving back to the community and just helping out,” Kostic said.

“And being there for each other as a human,” Ghai added to Kostic’s sentiment. “It’s all that we care about, and all know. In different sports, we gotta be there for each other.”

Patty O’Machel, a participant in the event, wanted to take part in the walk to support the “great cause” which is Over The Rainbow. O’Machel also has a daughter with cerebral palsy who uses a wheelchair, which increases her appreciation for the work that the organization does.

O’Machel is also the founder of Educating Outside The Lines, an organization founded in 2018 that provides disability awareness and inclusion programming in kindergarten through 8th Grade in schools in districts throughout the area.

According to the website, the program has worked with 39 schools, 378 teachers and 10,747 students as of August 2023.

To O’Machel, having Nora as an aspect in the fundraising marathon added a larger feeling to event, and she praised Over The Rainbow for what they do.

“Supporting someone who was a wheelchair user and needed accommodations and accessibility and inclusion is always the most important thing,” she said. “I love the work they do.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the amount of participants who attended the fundraiser.