School Foundations Help Out in Hard Times

April 14, 2010

From high unemployment to hurricanes, schools today are weathering all types of challenges that impact their ability to meet the needs of students. Some communities are coming to the aid of their schools with educational foundations that support either a specific building or an entire district. Channeling private donations, these organizations provide basics like clothing or food to field trips or innovative programs with a minimum of red tape. Included: A foundation director shares tips for new organizations that are getting off the ground.

For one elementary school in Magnolia, Mississippi, the creation of a foundation to benefit its students was an outcome of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, which struck the area in August 2005.

“Two weeks after the storm, the enrollment of Gloster Elementary increased by 25 percent in just two days,” Susan McGehee recalls. “Many of the new students were from New Orleans or the Gulf Coast and had lost all of their possessions. Needless to say, there was a tremendous need for clothing, school supplies, and other things.”

Gloster Elementary’s school counselor placed the school on a national Web site so it might receive help for those students. In some cases, assistance was offered in the form of monetary donations from nonprofit organizations.

“If those donations had been sent directly to the school district, it would have been very hard for us to legally help individual students,” explained McGehee. “Therefore, I decided to try and create a nonprofit organization that could receive money and dispense money directly to students and their families.”

McGehee’s husband, a CPA, donated his time to complete the necessary paperwork to establish the Gloster Elementary Foundation (GEF). The foundation operates as a separate entity from the district and parent-teacher organization. It has its own governing board and dispenses money received from donations to assist teachers and students of the school. McGehee, the former principal of the school, still serves on the GEF board although she currently works as an instructional strategist for South Pike High School.

“The program has helped to purchase school uniforms, provided funds for field trips, and allotted money for many teacher projects that were not part of the district budget,” says McGehee. “Funding is requested by teachers through a teacher-request form, and the forms are then presented to the GEF board of directors for approval.”

Gloster Elementary is a 100 percent free-lunch school, and the opportunity to travel outside of the area is rare for many students. Because of the GEF, they have been able to go on field trips and experience activities that could not have occurred without it.

AN OBVIOUS NEED

About 1,500 miles to the north, the school budget in Gloucester, Massachusetts, has fallen so far behind its needs that the district has had to lay off more than 60 staff in the past four years, reports Ed Shoucair, president of the Gloucester Education Foundation.

“I started the foundation reluctantly, because public schools should be paid for by the public. And, while many will [not take the step of creating foundations], the reality is the money is not coming in the near future and the schools need partners,” said Shoucair.

The need is so great among schools in Gloucester that it is clear to the community that a major new infusion of money into them is required. In essence, a foundation there operates as a district-wide PTO. In its first year, Shoucair’s organization raised $100,000. Last year, it raised $500,000, and it may reach $700,000 this year. From the start, he was struck by the pent up desire that existed in the community to get involved and lend a hand to the schools.

“Start with your strengths,” advises Ed Shoucair. “Think of programs that excite, then build partnerships with respected organizations and show how, by participating with the schools, all benefit. And look for small successes that you can make happen to build confidence; then go from there.”

“A key element of our strategy is what we call a community asset-based approach,” Shoucair explained. “It’s a business model. In business, you always start with what you’ve got going and move forward from there. In our case, we are the oldest fishing port in the country, we have one of the nation’s oldest art colonies here, and Clarence Birdseye and John Hammond — who holds the second largest number of patents in the world next to Edison — lived and worked here. So, working with school and city leaders, we created a vision of achieving excellence — not just trying to stop the cuts — to create a unique marine studies program, art magnet program, and technology innovations program.”

To accomplish its goals, members of the Gloucester Education Foundation have reached out to partners and then set out to obtain funding. MIT works with the marine studies program, and the endeavor has received a three-year, $1.5 million grant as well as a 5-year NOAA Ocean Literacy grant. A robotics initiative at the high school has been extended to fifth grade, and a new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) lab is under construction in the middle school.

“Children who never thought about going to college are doing so because of the many activities,” he added. “We are also seeing more and more donations from parents who were originally skeptical.”

PEOPLE WHO NEED PEOPLE

“If there is an administrator who thinks he does not need a foundation of his own or a partnership with a community foundation, then he is an administrator who doesn’t understand the value of a foundation,” observes Jim Collogan, interim executive director of the National School Foundation Association (NSFA). “People — alumni, retired staff, corporations, businesses, community members, other foundations, current boards and staff, or former community members — will give to support the education of the children of their communities. To not offer this opportunity is, in my opinion, myopic.”

Laying a
Foundation

Kristine Vanden Heuvel has the rewarding but challenging task of maintaining an organization that supports schools in Wausau, Wisconsin. Based on her experience as volunteer acting director of the Wausau School Foundation, she offers a few tips for those who are just getting started.

  • Strong community and school leadership involvement is essential in spearheading such an organization. District staff support is a barometer as to the success of the school foundation.
  • Marketing and a Web site are crucial to spreading the word about activities, obtaining donations, and more. (Wausau School Foundation recently launched a new Web site that was developed over the course of a year.)
  • Accounting and donor tracking systems for internal operations are valuable and critical for credible records and efficient response to your donors. There are a number of good options.
  • Funding for operations is difficult money to raise, so a clear plan to sustain the work of the foundation must be established early on.

    “For more information, connect with the National School Foundation Association, which provides a wealth of information and support for newly organizing foundations as well as established foundations,” adds Vanden Heuvel. “Its annual conference in March is worth the investment.”

    		•

    As a former school superintendent, Collogan understands firsthand the value of an educational foundation. It can be a strong source of encouragement and help to the local board of education, which often struggles to offer a good education to the children of its community. The NSFA is in the business of helping K-12 foundations get started and improving their performance.

    “Typically, a foundation is a more universal and far reaching fundraising source than a PTO. It operates in far more arenas of fundraising than a PTO does. Planned giving, endowment building, and major donor fundraising are just a few [of those arenas],” said Collgoan. “Colleges and universities have been our model, and we all know where those institutions of higher learning would be without their supporting foundations.”

    As they set out to create a foundation for a school or district, coordinators must focus on their mission and vision for the organization. Too many would-be founders don’t stick to their mission or have no idea where they are going, says Collogan.

    “Additionally, many do not know or understand their fundraising potential,” he added. “People universally are interested in three key areas in their community: education, healthcare and economic development. If prompted properly, they will support those initiatives.”

    In the early 1990s, legislation that imposed revenue caps for schools in Wisconsin resulted in a reduction of discretionary dollars for new and creative programs. There was strong support in the community of Wausau for a school foundation, particularly to maintain a popular science initiative called Dream Flight that required private funding to continue.

    “As an independent nonprofit, the Wausau School Foundation became a vehicle for contributions for district programs that otherwise would not have been possible,” Kristine Vanden Heuvel, the foundation’s volunteer acting director, told Education World. “Leary of school budget practices, certain donors were willing to support a district initiative only if their grant was channeled and managed by the school foundation.”

    The foundation also appeals to the broader community and businesses for district-wide efforts. It provides annual education grants available only to district staff members for creative new programs. An area in which the foundation is growing is in its services to alumni who are organizing reunions and other events.

    “Our foundation provides a district staff recognition program for excellence with yearly awards and celebration,” Vanden Heuvel reports. “It also has created a student assistance fund that provides grants for student needs identified within the schools and classrooms when there are no other resources available.”

    In order for a foundation to move forward, she believes, the board of directors must clearly understand its role in fundraising as a continual activity and the importance of committee participation.

    “People give to people, which provides for a very labor-intensive effort, but it is what works best,” advises Vanden Heuvel.

    “I have the privilege to work with staff that is making a difference every day because of opportunities possible through the work of the foundation. It’s quite rewarding.”

    Article by Cara Bafile

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    Posted by stephanieconlon

    Couple whose infant son died suddenly forms group to reach out to others

    April 13, 2010

    Originally Published: 4/13/2010

    By Bruce R. Posten
    Reading Eagle
    Two years ago, Nicole Moore, 24, Lower Alsace Township, gave birth on her father’s birthday to her daughter, Hannah.

    Last August, Nicole and her husband Chris, 27, celebrated the birth of a son, Jacob, on Chris’ father’s birthday.

    Related Articles

     

    Reading Eagle: Ben Hasty
    Nicole and Chris Moore with their daughter, Hannah, 2, in their Lower Alsace Township home.
     

    It almost seemed too perfect.

    And it was.

    The Moores were devastated in October with the death of their son at 9 weeks old. The cause of death was sudden infant death syndrome, according to the Moores.

    To read the article in full, please go to http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=212270

    Contact Bruce R. Posten: 610-371-5059 or bposten@readingeagle.com

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    Posted by stephanieconlon

    Daniel Boone High School recognizes cancer victims

    April 6, 2010

    Published: Monday, April 05, 2010

    // Relay For Life of Daniel Boone Co-Chair Cody Carr and co-chair elect Mary Flynn stand under signs in Daniel Boone High School that recognize those who lost their battles with cancer and those who are still fighting cancer. The sign for Mrs. Kemp remembers Lori Kemp, a teacher at the school who lost her battle with cancer. News photo by Heather Tassmer

    By Heather Tassmer, News Editor, htassmer@berksmontnews.com

    It’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t know anyone that has been diagnosed with cancer.

    Millions of people have been diagnosed with the disease and some of those people you can find in the local community.

    That idea is evident in Daniel Boone School District. If one walked through the hallways of the high school, he or she could see how many people have lost friends or family members to the disease or know someone who is living with cancer.

    From March 22-26, signs were hung in the hallways with cancer victims’ names and the people who were honoring them printed on them.

    Luminaria Week was organized by the Relay For Life committee which includes students Cody Carr and Mary Flynn. The students are assisted by math teacher and relay event chair Tracy Driehaus. The relay will be held from noon on May 22-6 a.m.  on May 23 at Amity Athletic Club’s field, Amity Park Road.

    Driehaus said students and faculty members had the opportunity to submit names.

    Included in the 200 or 300 names was Lori Kemp, a former Daniel Boone teacher who lost her battle with cancer and is the inspiration behind Daniel Boone’s involvement with Relay For Life.

    Carr said he found the response to the Luminaria Week bittersweet.                                                         “It’s great there is so much support [for Relay For Life,] and it’s very heartfelt,” Carr said.

    He added that it is sad that so many people have been affected by cancer and hopes that a cure can be found for cancer so that there are no signs hanging in the hallway in the future.

    “I think it’s a cool idea,” Flynn said about Luminaria Week. “It makes me feel good to see how the school has responded to the week. Cancer has affected all kinds of kids and it’s great to see the school coming together.”

    Driehaus said that there were many people who saw the signs and wanted a sign to be hung for their family members.

    The high school community participated in Luminaria Week for free and people learned how they could purchase luminaries for Relay For Life.

    Later this month, Flynn and Carr will be traveling to the elementary schools for mini-relays that educate the younger students about cancer.

    For the week of May 17 through May 21, the high school will have a spirit week. Driehaus said a different color will be worn each day to represent the forms of cancer. On the Friday before the event, purple will be worn.

    For more information on the relay,  visit the Web site, www.relayforlife.org/padanielboone, or call ACS, 610-921-2329

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    Posted by stephanieconlon

    ‘WE’VE BEEN BLESSED’ Amity boy will compete in Transplant Games

    March 8, 2010

    Published: Sunday, March 7, 2010

    By Brandie Kessler, bkessler@pottsmerc.com

    //

    AMITY — Jacob Hafer was born on Valentine’s Day 1996 with a broken heart. It’s a story that Jacob, now 14, has heard his mom, Kathy Hafer, tell more times than he can remember.

    When Hafer recounts the details of how her normal pregnancy and Caesarean section delivery of Jacob evolved into a life or death scenario — not knowing the fate of her newborn baby, and the stark reality that he might not live just hours after his birth — Hafer is taken back to that Valentine’s Day 14 years ago.

    Jacob, however, just shrugs his shoulders. The quiet, slender, healthy teenager, sees himself as nothing special. He just wants to be like every other teenager.

    But as Jacob’s mom, his dad, Tom, and siblings, Tyler, 16, and Taylor, 12, know, he’s very special.

    Not only is Hafer Berks County’s youngest heart recipient, he’s a transplant recipient who has beaten the odds doctors had given him.

    As Jacob will tell you, when he was born, “I was missing a little thing in my heart.”

    His mom said that thing Jacob was missing wasn’t so little.

    “He was basically born with a quarter of a heart,” Kathy Hafer said. Jacob was missing the left ventricle and part of his right ventricle, she said. The heart that Jacob was born with also had two holes in it.

    Hafer said the news of what she and her husband were up against with Jacob’s fragile state didn’t come until after his birth.

    There was one small red flag when she had an amniocentesis and was told there was a chance Jacob’s heart didn’t have a fourth chamber. But another test later on in her pregnancy with Jacob showed his heart was healthy, and doctors found the fourth chamber.

    But when Jacob was born, the doctors asked Hafer and her husband whether there were heart murmurs in their family, and notified them Jacob would need to have an echocardiogram done.

    Something wasn’t right.

    Within days, Hafer was talking with doctors about the surgery options for Jacob. Some doctors said he could receive several surgeries on his own heart, but the results with those surgeries weren’t ideal.

    One doctor told Hafer they could operate on Jacob’s heart to repair some of what was wrong, but “he’ll never be able to play any school sports. He might still turn blue climbing a flight of stairs.”

    Hafer and her husband finally spoke to a surgeon at a Philadelphia hospital who recommended a heart transplant surgery, and they agreed that’s what they would do.

    On Sept. 26, 1996, when Jacob was just 7½ months old, he received his life-saving heart transplant. Hafer said she knows that the donor was a 5-year-old boy from Georgia. She said she often thinks of that family, who she has written to but never spoken with.

    “That was one of the first things we asked about, the donor,” when the call came that Jacob needed to go to the hospital because a heart had been found, Hafer said. “Knowing another family somewhere is saying goodbye to their family member forever…”

    She explained that Jacob will have to take medication every day, probably for the rest of his life to prevent rejection. She said that doctors initially gave Jacob until the 10th anniversary of his transplant to live. But seeing other transplant recipients out there who continue to defy the odds, and seeing how well Jacob has done, has given her family more confidence that Jacob will live a completely normal, healthy life.

    “We’ve been blessed,” she said.

    Hafer said there are no words to quite capture her family’s gratitude for Jacob living.

    “I’m so grateful to that family because who knows what his life would have been like otherwise,” Hafer said. “Without an organ donor, my son wouldn’t be here. It means the world to me.”

    And Jacob isn’t just alive because of the heart he received when he was just an infant. He’s really living.

    He plays sports, particularly basketball and baseball. He went out for football a couple years ago. He helps his dad on the family’s dairy farm, and knows how to milk a cow.

    In 2008, Jacob participated in the U.S. Transplant Games in Pittsburgh. He played basketball for Team Philadelphia, and brought home the gold medal for the 15-and-under age group.

    Hafer said going to the game showed her that her family is not alone in their journey.

    “At first you think you’re the only one this is happening to,” Hafer said of learning her child was in a life or death situation and only a heart transplant could save him. “This happens to somebody on ’20/20,’ not somebody from Berks County.”

    But going to the Transplant Games with Jacob in 2008, showed Kathy Hafer she’s not the only mother out there who has gone through this. More importantly, she said, going to the games showed Jacob he’s not alone, either.

    “It opened him up to knowing he’s not the only kid like him out there,” she said.

    This July, Jacob, his parents, and his brother and sister will be going to the Transplant Games once more. This year they are being held in Madison, Wis.

    Jacob said he looks forward to going. The rest of his family does, too, because the atmosphere is amazing.

    “It’s really fun (going to the Transplant Games) but it’s kind of sad to see all the donor families,” Jacob’s 12-year-old sister, Taylor said.

    “But it’s a happy sad,” Kathy Hafer reiterated. “It’s great to know that part of them (the donor) is living on in the athletes at the games.”

    Kathy Hafer said she thinks it’s amazing to go to the games and know there are recipients of transplants there who are running around and being active, all because of the gift of life someone else gave us. Knowing it’s possible both the recipient of an organ and the family of the donor who gave them life could be at the games at the same time, without even knowing it, is mindblowing.

    She said despite Jacob’s desire to just be an average teenager, she knows he’s amazing.

    “I’m proud of all my kids,” she said. “He doesn’t want to be different. He doesn’t want to show it off, but I’m proud he’s a heart transplant recipient. He’s playing basketball with somebody else’s heart.”

    In addition to giving transplant recipients the ability to go and meet other people like them and participate in athletic competitions, Hafer said the Transplant Games provide necessary awareness about the importance of organ donation.

    “If we can get the awareness out there, maybe other people will decide to be organ donors,” she said. “There’s a saying ‘Don’t take your organs to heaven, heaven knows we need them here,’ which is true. Our souls are going to go to heaven, the rest of us isn’t and if we can help another family” through organ donation… “Their gift they’ve given has really changes their lives.”

    Anyone interested in making a donation to benefit the U.S. Transplant Games in Jacob’s name may do so by sending their donation to the Transplant Foundation, 401 North 3rd St., Philadelphia, PA 19123. Be sure to note the donation is in honor of Jacob Hafer.

    For more information about how to become an organ donor, visit the Gift of Life Donor Program at www.donors1.org or call 800-DONORS1.

    Leave a Comment » | Douglassville Local News, Excellent Local Non-Profit Organizations, Motivational / Inspirational | Permalink
    Posted by stephanieconlon

    Gov. Mifflin students band together to raise money for Haiti relief

    March 5, 2010

    Originally Published: 3/5/2010

    By David Mekeel Reading Eagle

    It’s normal to feel helpless when watching something as tragic as the earthquake that devastated Haiti.

    The injured and hungry children, the crumbled buildings, the families who lost everything – the magnitude of the destruction could easily overwhelm the average person.

    Reading Eagle: Ryan McFadden
    Gov. Mifflin School District students are selling bracelets and conducting other fundraisers for Haitian relief. From left are Sumitra Jagadesan, 11; Madison Stief, 11; Marisa Lombardo, 14; Ellie Leporace, 11; and Amanda Dupell, 10.
     

    Marisa Lombardo isn’t an average person.

    The 14-year-old Gov. Mifflin freshman watched the tragedy unfold on her TV and decided to do something to help.

    Recalling a fundraiser held in the district after the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, she decided to sell bracelets and turn the proceeds over to relief efforts in Haiti.

    “I thought of it when the earthquake hit and I saw everything on the news,” Marisa said. “Haiti was already so devastated before the earthquake, this just made things worse.”

    Marisa found a Web site where she could customize and order rubber bracelets. She ordered 5,000 and had them inscribed with “Haiti” and “Band Together.”

    She then planned a fundraiser and set an $8,000 goal to benefit the Save the Children Foundation.

    She arranged to sell the bracelets for $1 each. She also organized a coin drive and suggested a jeans day for staff to dress down in return for a contribution.

    At the same time, a group of four fifth-grade girls at the Gov. Mifflin Intermediate School had similar thoughts in mind.

    “After seeing all the children and all the damage on TV, we wanted to do something,” said Sumitra Jagadesan, 11.

    The girls soon found out about Marisa’s efforts and decided to join in.

    “We just wanted to start off small, but we kept moving up,” said Amanda Dupell, 10.

    Marisa and her fifth-grade helpers have raised about $4,000, and have set a March 12 deadline to sell the bracelets.

    It’s been a big project, but the girls said they’re thrilled to be part of it.

    “I wanted to do it to show how serious things are in Haiti and that we care,” said Madison Stief, 11.

    “It also shows that America cares, and that we’re here to help,” added Ellie Leporace, 11.

    Marisa said the project has been a little more work than she expected but the reward has been amazing.

    “It can be hectic at times, and stressful,” she said. “But in the end, it’s going to be worth it.”

    Contact David Mekeel: 610-371-5014 or dmekeel@readingeagle.com.

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    Posted by stephanieconlon

    Daniel Boone prepares for second Relay For Life

    March 5, 2010

    Published: Tuesday, March 2, 2010

    By Heather Tassmer, News Editor,

    Excitement is mounting for the Relay For Life of Daniel Boone which will held from noon on May 22-6 a.m. on May 23 at Amity Athletic Club’s field, Amity Park Road.

    Relay For Life is an American Cancer Society event that raises money to fight cancer and raises awareness of cancer prevention and treatment, accor-ding to www.relayforlife.org.

    To match the fact that cancer does not sleep, the key is for each team to have a member walking around the track at the venue at all times. Community members don’t have to form teams to see what Relay For Life is all about. They can either show support just by attending the event or donating to the cause.

    In 2009, about $53,072 was raised during Daniel Boone’s Relay For Life. The goal for this year is to raise $62,529.

    This is the second year the relay will be held in honor of former teacher Lisa Kemp, who died of cancer in October 2008.

    “We had been thinking about doing Relay For Life at the school for a while,” said Cody Carr, a senior and co-chair of the student planning committee for Relay For Life. “When one of our junior class advisers died from cancer, that was our driving force to start the event.”

    Mary Flynn, a junior and co-chair elect, said that everyone knows someone that has been diagnosed with cancer. For Flynn, her uncle was diagnosed and is still fighting cancer.

    “I’d like to be able to say people in my kids’ generation won’t have to deal with cancer,” Flynn said. “I hope that someday I won’t know anyone that has cancer.”

    According to Jodi Torock, former American Cancer Society staff member, Daniel Boone’s relay is the only relay in Berks County that is run by youth.

    Math teacher Tracy Driehaus is happy to be the event chair again for this year’s event.

    “The part of my job that I love is seeing kids do something good and realize they can do it,” Driehaus said.

    Daniel Boone’s theme for this year’s event is Passport to a Cure.

    Carr said the theme was chosen because he and the other organizers thought it would be something everyone could have fun with.

    Relay For Life of Daniel Boone has a lot in store for this year’s relay. The traditional relay events will be opening ceremonies which will start at noon on May 22. Those who have survived cancer can participate in the survivor’s lap which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 22. The luminaria ceremony is scheduled for 9 p.m. on May 22. Those who want to participate in the survivor’s ceremony or purchase a luminary can log on to www.relayforlife.org/padanielboone, or call ACS, 610-921-2329.

    Activities for children and adults will be offered at Relay For Life, Driehaus said.

    Relay For Life teams have various other opportunities to raise money while having fun at the same time. Students can sell items that have the message, “Passport to a Cure” on them.

    In addition, Carnival Day will be held at Boscov’s East, North and Berkshire from 11 a.m.-3p.m. on March 13. Teams will set up booths in the various Boscov’s in the area. Community members can stop by and enjoy games, temporary tattoos, face painting and soft pretzels.

    Relay teams can also sell tickets for the March 20  Reading Royals game and the April 24 Reading Phillies game.

    The week of March 22 will be luminaria week at Daniel Boone High School. Students and faculty members will  remember those who have lost their battles with cancer and honor those who are living with the disease.

    For the week of May 17 through May 21, the high school will have a spirit week. Driehaus said a different color will be worn each day to represent the forms of cancer. On the Friday before the event, purple will be worn.

    It is not too late to start a team or get involved with Relay For Life of Daniel Boone. For more information,  visit www.relayforlife.org/padanielboone, or call ACS, 610-921-2329.

    Leave a Comment » | Daniel Boone School District, Excellent Local Non-Profit Organizations, Great Ideas!, Health Issues regarding children, Phys Ed/Fitness | Permalink
    Posted by stephanieconlon

    Pink Horse gala set for April 24

    March 1, 2010

    Published: Sunday, February 28, 2010

    The third annual Pink Horse Shoe Gala & Silent Auction Fundraiser will be held April 24 from 7 to 11 p.m. at Columbia Station on Bridge Street in Phoenixville.

    Proceeds from the event will go toward Horse Power for Life, a nonprofit organization in Chester County that provides a 16-week horsemanship program to those diagnosed with cancer.

    The organization’s goal is to help families living with cancer focus on their minds, bodies and souls, rather than the disease, while learning about horses in an atmosphere of professionalism, teamwork and fun.

    One hundred percent of the money raised goes back into the organization so it can continue to provide services to families living with cancer. Cost is $110 per ticket.

    Table sponsorships and ads in the program also available. For more information, visit www.horsepowerforlife.org and click on Gala 2010.

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    Posted by stephanieconlon

    From mother’s loss comes a dream of hope

    February 26, 2010

    My Comment:  I spoke to Erin by phone about a month ago.  Her story is heart-wrenching.  She needs our vote by this SUNDAY, FEB. 28TH (see the Pepsi competition and link below).  Erin’s Dream website is www.erinsdream.org

    Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010

    By Brandie Kessler, bkessler@pottsmerc.com

    Erin Curtis with her son Calvin, 18 months. Curtis is hoping to win money to found a home for those who have lost children and need a retreat. Submitted photo

    SCHWENKSVILLE — Erin Curtis is determined to transform the experience of losing two of her three children into hope and healing.

    With the help of the Pepsi Refresh Project, which is awarding individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations with $1.3 million this month, Curtis would be able to create a place for families who have experienced grief like she has to find peace, comfort and resources.

    Curtis, 29, explained the ordeal she and her partner, Jeff Megonigal went through when two of their children were diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL.

    Their daughter, Avery, died from the disease when she was 17 months old in November 2007. In August 2008, the couple became pregnant with twin boys, Calvin and Nolan.

    However, when the boys were just 4 months old, Nolan was diagnosed with ALL, and in March 2009, he, too, died of the disease.

    Despite having lost so much, Curtis is full of hope for her future, and the future of her 18 month old son, Calvin, who is healthy.

    She is also hopeful that she can fulfill her dream of creating a home to support other families who experience the loss of a child from terminal illness.

    Curtis said she’s already found the perfect place to create this safe haven for families to heal.

    “When our son (Nolan) was sick and in NICU, we had to put my grandmother in assisted living,” Curtis explained. Curtis said she was then faced with the possibility of losing her grandmother’s house. The house, located in Schwenksville, sits along the Perkiomen Creek and a portion of the winding Perkiomen Trail passes through the property.

    Curtis said when her grandmother moved into the Colonnade at Schwenksville, where she still lives, Curtis was overwhelmed with sorrowful feelings. In addition to watching her son fight against the same disease that took her daughter from her, she was now potentially losing the one place that was full of happy memories.

    “I couldn’t fathom facing losing that … pure childhood, happy home,” Curtis said. Her grandmother’s house was “a place that it just seemed like the only thing I had left that hadn’t been destroyed with illness and losing people.”

    Curtis talked with Megonigal and the two made a decision about her grandmother’s house.

    “What did we have to lose?” she said. “We had lost our daughter, my son was hanging on by a thread. We figured out a way that we could finance my grandmother’s care” and decided to purchase the house.

    But they weren’t able to purchase it outright. Curtis said she and Megonigal have used their savings and “what little income we had coming in” to purchase the home and decided to fund-raise the rest of the money.

    Curtis took the idea to purchase the house another step further. “My reaction was, OK, if we’re going to be fundraising to get this house, this can’t just be for us. We have to do something with it that continues to help other people.”

    Curtis said there are a number of organizations that assist families when their family members are alive and ill. But “there are not as many groups to support families, whether financially, emotionally,” etc. when their loved one has passed on. There’s even less resources for parents who lose a child.

    Curtis said she understands that sometimes people aren’t sure how to approach someone who has lost a child. Reaching out to them can be awkward because you don’t want to say the wrong thing, and facing death, especially the death of a child, is a very difficult thing.

    But, she explained, people who have experienced that kind of loss need to have support. That’s where Erin’s Dream comes in.

    Curtis started the organization as a way to help other families. She decided that Erin’s Dream would include purchasing the home that was formerly her grandmother’s and turning it into a place for families that have lost loved ones.

    Phase one of Erin’s Dream includes purchasing the property and making it available for families to host fundraisers like 5K runs and get-to-gethers like picnics in addition to having it be a center where families can gather to grieve or to get resources.

    Down the road, Curtis said, she would like to have bereavement centers for children who have lost siblings, among other things.

    Curtis said she and Megonigal have a balloon payment for the house due in November.

    They have continued to raise money to pay the balloon payment, but still owe more than $200,000 on the property. Curtis said if they’re unable to make the payment in November, she and Megonigal could lose the thousands of dollars they’ve already invested.

    Curtis said her friend found information on Facebook about Pepsi’s Refresh Project which is awarding funding to the individuals or groups who receive the most online votes. Curtis decided to enter.

    She sent the application in in January, and waited to hear back. The online voting started Feb. 1. Not having heard back from Pepsi, Curtis said she went online Feb. 8 to see what projects did make the cut, and she got a surprise.

    Curtis learned that Erin’s Dream was chosen as one of the projects that could compete for $250,000. She realized how much time she had lost in getting votes.

    “‘Oh my God. We lost eight days. I can’t believe this,’” Curtis said and then immediately got online and started sending emails to friends and family.

    “I would say that first night we were at 156th place (out of 188 total), and by the end of that weekend we were up to 48th and (on Tuesday) we were at 13th,” Curtis said. “We’ve been chugging along.”

    The voting for the Pepsi Refresh Project ends Sunday, and Curtis said she could use every extra vote she can get.

    “You never know what’s going to be the thing that catches everyone’s heart and I love that this (voting for Erin’s Dream on the Pepsi Refresh Project) doesn’t cost anything,” Curtis said. “We’re not asking for money, we’re asking for a click, and while that’s easy to forget, no one is” forgetting.

    “My dream is big and it grows every day,” Curtis said. “Our family has had great tragedy, but our hearts are open and our arms are open.”

    On the Net:

    To vote for Erin’s Dream in the Pepsi Refresh Project go to www.refresheverything.com/ErinsDream

    You must register your e-mail address to vote, however, it only takes a minute and you can opt to not receive any e-mails from Pepsi.

    Leave a Comment » | Excellent Local Non-Profit Organizations, Motivational / Inspirational | Permalink
    Posted by stephanieconlon

    Oliver North praises Boy Scout values at Hawk Mountain Council dinner

    February 24, 2010

    Originally Published: 2/24/2010

    Famous retired Marine helps local chapter raise $190,000 at dinner in Wyomissing
    By Erin Negley
    Reading Eagle

    Retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North has no doubt that U.S. soldiers fighting terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan will win.

    What he worries about is homegrown attacks on our country’s faith, freedom and Judeo-Christian values.

    Reading Eagle: Susan L. Angstadt
    Oliver L. North, during an interview at the Crowne Plaza Reading in Wyomissing before his speech Tuesday at the 2010 Leadership Dinner of the Hawk Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

    “It’s that second antagonist, your opponent here at home, who presents, I believe, a more precarious future,” North said Tuesday at the 2010 Leadership Dinner of the Hawk Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America. About 500 people attended the event in the Crowne Plaza Reading, Wyomissing.

    North, a former Boy Scout, also questioned attacks on the Boy Scouts of America’s traditions and defended the Scout Oath in which they pledge to be morally straight and do their duty to God.

    The dinner raised about $190,000 for the organization, council finance director Bob Besecker said. The Hawk Mountain Council has more than 14,000 youth members and 4,000 adult leaders in Berks and Schuylkill counties and the Panther Valley area of Carbon County.

    The council chose North as the guest speaker at the suggestion of Brig. Gen. John Gronski of the Pennsylvania National Guard, a council board member.

    Gronski was serving in Iraq when he met North, who was working with Fox News Channel.

    North had first gained national prominence years earlier for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal and subsequent conviction for three felonies; the conviction was overturned on appeal. Prior to North’s talk, Besecker declined to comment on the council selecting North as a speaker in light of that part of his history.

    North joined the Boy Scouts while growing up in upstate New York and advanced to the Explorer level.

    Talking about his Scouting experience with reporters beforehand, he said he graduated from high school at age 16, so he never completed his Eagle Scout project. But Scouting taught him essential skills he used later in life, such as being prepared and surviving in the wilderness.

    “It transitioned from me to go from Boy Scout to being a Marine, to go in the Naval Academy to being a commissioned officer,” North said. “It all started as a Scout.”

    North also talked at the dinner about the Boy Scouts of America’s fight against efforts to force it to abandon its prohibition on gays. The stand has cost it financial support, making it harder to provide opportunities for boys and teens, he said.

    “Doesn’t this nation need more Eagle Scouts?” he asked.

    North challenged the attendees to mentor young men, recruit the next generation of leaders and donate to the council. He donated $500 and drummed up matching donations from 30 people.

    Turning to matters not directly related to Scouting, North criticized the far left and the mainstream media and praised the U.S. military.

    He now hosts “War Stories” on Fox News and said his job is to spend time with modern-day heros. He described those serving overseas as well-trained, well-equipped people who can take care of themselves and not be ashamed to pray in public.

    North also worked in a joke at the expense of Democrats generally and Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania specifically.

    Like Specter, North had a bout with cancer and said his doctor suggested the same treatment Specter got.

    “It turned him into a Democrat,” the staunch conservative said. “I’d rather die of cancer.”

    Contact Erin Negley: 610-371-5047 or enegley@readingeagle.com.

    Leave a Comment » | Excellent Local Non-Profit Organizations, Motivational / Inspirational | Permalink
    Posted by stephanieconlon

    DARE-ing to just say no

    February 9, 2010

    Published February 08, 2010 12:44 pm – A Grove City policeman is taking D.A.R.E. to a new level.


    Officer Nathan Spiker of Grove City Police has a pizza party with a group of seventh graders on Feb. 5 to celebrate their participation in D.A.R.E. as peer leaders at Grove City Miidle School, which is a new aspect of the program this year to get students more involved in helping their friends stay away from drugs. The peer leaders are (front) Daisy Ritenour, 12; (second row) Shanchi Dholu, 13; Jordyn Wyllie, 12; Belle Chiodo, 12; Caroline Coulter, 13; Anna DiBello, 12; Mikayla Wimer, 12; (back) Chris Adams, 13; Zack Reddick, 13; Ryan Guarnieri, 13; and Cole Latimer, 12. (Felicia A. Petro/Allied News)

    Officer Nathan Spiker, 28, began leading the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program for Grove City schools, replacing long-time D.A.R.E. leader, Officer Mark Jaskowak, this year.
    “He’s made it pretty easy for me to step in and take over,” Spiker said.

    Officer, middle schoolers join up to combat drugs

    By Felicia A. Petro Allied News Staff Writer 

    A Grove City policeman is taking D.A.R.E. to a new level.

    Officer Nathan Spiker, 28, began leading the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program for Grove City schools, replacing long-time D.A.R.E. leader, Officer Mark Jaskowak, this year.

    “He’s made it pretty easy for me to step in and take over,” Spiker said.

    “Mark was an awesome teacher and the kids are disappointed he’s not going to be there. They loved him.”

    However, the new leader has brought some fresh ideas to the D.A.R.E. program that students are excited about this year as well.

    Spiker has chosen a group of 12 seventh graders to be peer leaders at Grove City Middle School for a new program called “Keeping it Real.”

    “The emphasis is really on teenagers telling other teenagers about drugs, peer pressure and making good decisions,” Spiker said.

    “Before it was police officers and teachers telling kids what they could and could not do. It’s a new thing to get kids and parents involved.”

    D.A.R.E. also reaches out to kindergarten, first, third and sixth grades. Talk about resisting drugs begins in third grade. D.A.R.E. runs from January to April, with Spiker teaching workshops in each grade level at different times.

    The seventh graders went through a D.A.R.E. workbook with Spiker every day for two weeks last month. Spiker taught ten, seventh grade classes daily during that time, a total of 70 classes for the two weeks, he noted.

    The 12 peer group members were chosen based on how well they did during the study. “They exhibited gifts to be leaders,” Spiker said.

    For Jordyn Wyllie, 12, being a peer leader was a way for her to be a “role model” to her younger classmates, she said. “I think that alone will help me stay away (from drugs) because I wouldn’t want to not be a role model,” she added.

    “I think it’s really fun to learn the D.A.R.E. program and be better students when we grow up,” said Caroline Coulter, 13, who was also chosen as a leader.

    Spiker got the idea from Grove City Area High School’s similar program, called Project Peers.

    At the middle school level, “There’s no extra responsibility, but we wanted to publicize them as doing good in the program and (for their friends to say), ‘If I’m in trouble, these kids will help me out,’” Spiker said.

    He believed the peer group is also a way for kids to get more involved in D.A.R.E. and “get more confidence in themselves,” he said.

    “If the junior-high age is reassured they are doing a good job, it will take off with that,” Spiker said. “The peer leaders are out there as people in class that (other kids) can go to for help.”

    D.A.R.E. research indicates that kids ages 12 to 15 are getting addicted to prescription pills, like muscle relaxers and pain medication, Spiker said. “Kids view medicine as safe.“

    Grove City officers haven’t seen prescription drug activity at the middle school, but they have seen it by that age group in the community, he noted.

    “They find it on the streets from drug dealers, other kids or their parent’s medicine cabinet. It’s a fad right now. Abuse is even a problem in Grove City,” Spiker said.

    Spiker has seen kids as young as 13 taking prescription medication to get high.

    The peer leaders knew of students who smoked at the middle school, but didn’t know of drug use. Each of them excels in academics, but they don’t think that will get in the way of relating to kids who may be confronted with substance abuse.

    “Everyone knows each other. We’re all a great, big group of friends,” Caroline said. “There is a social status, but you can mingle,” said Jordyn.

    “There are no bullies. I think we’re all friendly,” added 12-year-old Cole Latimer.

    There are three types of children in Grove City, Spiker noted.

    On one end of the spectrum are the “stable kids,” who are raised in safe homes and “don’t intend to use drugs,” he said. “It’s the group that the D.A.R.E. program may not benefit.”

    The other extreme includes children raised in domestic violence and drug use, “and it’s easier for them to experiment and become addicted,” Spiker said.

    “A larger, middle group is sitting on the fence a little bit,” he noted. They may think substance use is “cool” or succumb to “peer pressure,” he added. “They can be swayed one direction or another.”

    D.A.R.E. wants to sway those kids in the right direction by making them “aware of how (drugs) affect their families and their bodies,” Spiker said.

    Right now, Spiker is working with the third and sixth graders. He will be with the sixth graders for 10 weeks; the third graders, five weeks, both for lesser amounts during the week than the seventh grade class.

    In March, he will begin working with kindergarten and first grade. “I only see kindergarten once and the first grade four times,” Spiker said.

    The kindergarteners “get to meet a police officer, and we do a short thing on safety and crossing the street,” he said. “First grade is more about safety habits, being social with peers and ‘stranger danger.’”

    The sixth and seventh graders also learn about different drugs, but in seventh “the real emphasis is kids teaching kids their experiences,” he said.

    During the two weeks last month, Spiker showed a DVD of middle-school kids talking about how “they said ‘no’ and resisted drugs,” he said.

    “Kids are asked but they don’t know how to say ‘no.’ When adults tell them how, it’s not as successful, but when kids do, it does have more success.”

    As a peer leader, Cole Latimer would tell his peers that drugs “would ruin their lives,” he stated.

    This kind of involvement with the middle school youths is exciting to parents as well.

    “I’ve had a lot of parents who have contacted me,” Spiker said.

    One of his goals was to get middle schoolers to initiate conversation with their parents about drug use or tobacco use at school.

    “It should be (the other way around), but parents don’t think their kids are doing it,” he said.

    Spiker also wants to further “build a relationship with students and the police department,” he added.

    “I can tell you with the third graders, that the kids were shaking and trembling (when they saw) my gun and uniform, but the more I went there, they’re giving me hugs and can’t wait to see me again. To develop that is important.”

    Spiker is a Grove City boy who graduated from the district.

    “I was faced with all the same temptations,” he said.

    “I found kids are excited about my personality in that sense and to say I had some of the same teachers.”

    The program hasn’t come without criticism.

    Grove City Borough Council has considered dropping D.A.R.E. funds from its budget. The school district also contributes to the program.

    Caroline Coulter’s father, councilman Mike Coulter, is one of those critics.

    However, “I think this program is better this year,” Caroline said.

    “The criticism is that D.A.R.E. is an ineffective program and doesn’t help, but you can’t put statistics on it,” added Spiker, who is also a cousin to the Coulters.

    “In conversations with family and how kids relate to us, just one time in class you can see the kids are changed by it.”

     Published Feb. 6, 2010 in Allied News. Pick up a copy at 201A Erie St., Grove City.

    Leave a Comment » | Environment and Health, Excellent Local Non-Profit Organizations, Health Issues regarding children, Teen Driving | Permalink
    Posted by stephanieconlon

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