Christmas Cheer With A Cause: CHARGE Christmas Set For Thursday

FRANKFORT, IL — It's hard to miss the more than 100 inflatable holiday decorations at 23047 Lakeview Estates Boulevard in Frankfort. What may be easier to miss is the reason why the family has been putting so many decorations in their yard year after year.

It's all a part of Bill and Deanna Steinhauser's CHARGE Christmas. CHARGE Christmas is held on the Thursday before Christmas. This year's event is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 23. The Steinhausers are again inviting anyone, not just those who live on their block, to come and celebrate the holidays with Dominic's inflatable decorations, as well as music, food and all around Christmas cheer.

So what is CHARGE Christmas, and why does it involve so many inflatable decorations?

The Steinhausers have a son named Dominic. He's 13 years old. He loves — and that might be an understatement — inflatable holiday decorations. He also has CHARGE syndrome, an extremely rare and complex genetic disorder that affects children from birth and into their later stages of life.

Children afflicted with CHARGE syndrome can experience swallowing and breathing problems, hearing loss, vision loss, and balance problems that delay their development and communication, according to information on the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation website.

"Dominic does have hearing and vision loss, but his major things that are affected are his breathing and his lungs," Deanna said. "He is fed through a feeding tube so he doesn't get food into his lungs. And if he gets the smallest virus we end up in the hospital because it immediately goes to his lungs."

In 2018, Dominic had a procedure done at a hospital. Deanna told Dominic that, if he did a good job, then he could get an inflatable decoration. Well, Dominic did pretty well and Deanna kept her end of the bargain. Deanna shared Dominic's excitement with her Facebook friends and told them that Dominic wished he could have 100 inflatables for Christmas. Sometimes wishes do come true.

"I kind of said it tongue-in-cheek, not thinking anything of it," Deanna said. "And, next thing you know, our doorbell is ringing — and ringing, and ringing. And by 2019 we ended up with over 100 inflatables."

With an inflatable holiday army on their lawn, the Steinhausers wondered what they could do to give back to the community that had given so much to them. The answer: CHARGE Christmas, the outdoor block party where everyone is invited to come and celebrate the holidays in each others, and the inflatable army's, company.

"Everybody comes," Deanna said. "The local doughnut truck comes, the firetruck comes, the police cars, we have Santa. My daughter is in music, so her and her friends are carolers. And it's an outside two-hour event where everyone can see the blow-ups and visit and donate to Do It For Dominic and His Friends With CHARGE Syndrome, which is his foundation."

Those interested in checking out the inflatables and synchronized light show but can't make it to CHARGE Christmas can still check out the display from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 4 p.m. to midnight Friday through Sunday. Be sure to tune your radio to 89.3 FM to hear the music. Those planning on checking it out should be aware that high winds — anything more than 10-15 mph — will prevent the inflatables from operating.

Anyone interested in learning more about CHARGE Syndrome, or to make a donation to the Steinhausers' CHARGE Syndrome fundraiser, can do so by visiting this link.

"We truly appreciate people supporting Dominic through the years, and being such kind humans, making sure that they're supporting him and giving out to everyone else in a time when the world is a little crazy," Deanna said.