DWI 2026 Annual Dinner
DWI held it's Annual Dinner for 2026 at the Westbank on Tuesday October 20th and welcomed around 180 community members to hear about our successes and challenges for the past year.
CEO McKayla Matlack presented the Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2026 and highlighted program and departmental outcomes and future needs.
Client Speaker Dalon Atkinson from the LIFE Program talked about her time being a part of the DWI program and how it has helped her reach greater independence both vocationally and personally.
Client Speaker Jarrod Widerburg told the crowd about his struggles with getting a job in the community and how he learned to alter his expectations and adapt to a new environment. Now he has successfully found a new job and is progressing in learning new roles at Arby's.
DWI Champion Lori Gentillon spoke about her experiences over the 48 years of her service to DWI and pointed to her moments of highlights and some of the obstacles that DWI has and will continue to face in accomplishing our mission
Awards were presented to outstanding individuals in the community for their service and commitment to individuals with a disability
Advocate Award: Hannah O'Conner, Human Dynamics
Humanitarian Award: Rocky Deschamps, Hearts and Hands Service Club
Distinguished Service Award: Mark Taylor
Employer of the Year (IF): Doug's Wholesale Meats
Employer of the Year (Rex): Arby's of Rigby
Employee of the Year: Krisse Fells
Courage Award: Janelle Huston
Another highlight was during the Courage Award presentation; we were able to link Janelle over TEAMS so that we could present her award live and over video conference. (Technology that actually worked!)
We thank all of our Raffle Prize Donors: Including Teton Toyota, Elite Comfort Systems, Pony Express Carwash, Frontier Credit Union, Tom Zahn, Lynne Morgan, Carol Holiday, McKayla Matlack, Kim Donnelly O'Neil, Kendall and Cheryl Kincaid, Krisse Fells
The Dinner was catered by Dixie's Diner, and the venue host was the Westbank.
We appreciated all who came out and shared our successes and we hope to move forward with everyone's support.
