Haunted House Fundraiser

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By DouglasPosted In: Charity Activity, Education

15 years ago, Kim Steffenhagen was looking for ways to bring Halloween joy to her son, Kristian. Kristian is on the autism spectrum and found traditional trick-or-treating challenging.  So Steffenhagen decided to turn their Boyertown, PA residence into a captivating haunted house. Year after year, the haunted displays grew in scale, and now Kristian actively participates as one of the 20 actors who contribute to the spooky fun. Steffenhagen describes the haunted house as as fun and scary, but not too scary.  Their home has drawn thousands of visitors in past years.

Instead of charging an entrance fee, Steffenhagen asks for donations from those who visit. This year, they have partnered with Tyler’s Ride, a nonprofit founded by Tyler Dierolf’s parents in memory of their son who tragically lost his life in 2015. Recognizing Tyler’s passion for the trade and his giving nature, Tyler’s Ride supports individuals pursuing careers in the trade industry by offering scholarships. Mark Dierolf, Tyler’s father encourages friends and neighbors to visit this spooky celebration that combines Halloween fun with a heartfelt cause.

Lego Foundation Awards Nearly $20 million to Foster Playful Learning

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By DouglasPosted In: Childrens Charities, Education, The Children

The Lego Foundation believes that children learn through play. To foster classroom play and learning, the Lego Foundation has awarded $19,980,000 to Temple University Professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and her team, as they implement a playful and socially interactive learning model in pre-k through 4th grade classrooms. This five-year grant will allow Hirsh-Pasek to take her ‘playful learning to teaching’ model, which she piloted in schools in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Hampshire, and expand it to California, Illinois, Texas, and Virginia.

Based on the philosophy that playing facilitates learning, which enables children to thrive and develop the skills they need to engage with the world, this project will work closely with under-privileged schools to promote a teaching approach that is based on the science of how the human brain learns. Hirsh-Pasek explains that cultural inclusivity is also a major tenet of this program, “The first step is to respect cultural values and find out where the community values lie—what is important to parents, what do people care about? In our research, and in the method that we’re using for education, we bring parents and the community in as partners”.

Young Author Inspires and Fundraises with Anti-Bullying Book

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By DouglasPosted In: Childrens Charities, EducationTagged:

In Toronto, there is a young author with a mission to impact how kids grow up.

Twelve-year-old Shreya Gupta has published two books which focus on young students’ overcoming bullying in school. After the release of her most recent book earlier this year, she decided to donate all proceeds to charity.

The organization she chose is called Kids Help Phone. It is an e-resource available 24/7 for guidance through mental health issues, abuse, and bullying. Trained professionals are available to the youth at all times via phone or text.

Shreya Gupta’s first book, Flamingo Feet, tells the story of a young ballet dancer who is compelled to drop out of a competition after being verbally ridiculed by a peer. Her new book, The Flip Side, describes the experience of a young girl who is cyberbullied after moving to a new school.

A victim of school bullying herself, Gupta was inclined to write these books to raise awareness and is happy to make a difference by supporting Kids Help Phone.

Gupta is pleased that her own school in Toronto has been making strides in dealing with bullying and its impact. There are now mental health clubs offered and assemblies that focus on these matters. She explained, “In our diverse community, everyone can feel welcome there, and it’s a really important topic which we have to talk about.”

In an effort to inspire others, Shreya Gupta encourages young people everywhere to make a difference in any way they can: “You don’t have to write a book to make a difference. Organizing a fundraiser, spreading awareness, or raising money for charity are things that people of all ages can do.”

As Shreya Gupta has demonstrated, if you have an idea that can change our world for the better, go for it!

Ballet for Relief

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By JohnPosted In: Education

Recently, 32 dancers from 14 countries performed a dance together from their own homes. It was called “Swans for Relief” and was a fundraiser for dancers all over the world who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. Two dancers, Misty Copeland and Joseph Phillips came up with the initiative. They partnered with the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), with seed funding provided by K Period Media, to launch the program.

Their goal was to raise $500,000.

As Copeland said,

“We’ve needed this reset, to kind of step back and reassess how we do things, especially for an art form that doesn’t really rely on media as much. It’s about time that we learn how to exist in this virtual world for the ballet community. So I do think there’s some positives in there and maybe just figuring out, you know, new ways of bringing theater to people so that it reaches more people.”

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Community 101

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity, Education, School FundraisersTagged: ,

When students and teachers work together to raise money for charity, amazing things can happen.

In Oregon, eight schools have united to create Scot’s Angel Club, a club that raises money for children in medical crisis. The schools created Community 101, a philanthropy project. According to them:

“Leadership students are the engine that makes the Scot’s Angel Club at David Douglas go. Part of Community 101 is teaching students the value of giving. Students spend hundreds of hours on fundraising and creating special projects for the Scot’s Angels club.”

The club has raised over $75,000 over the past 12 years. 100 percent of their proceeds go directly to the families involved. Students also volunteer in other ways, such as helping at food banks and cleaning up at the beach.

The New Bake Sale

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By JohnPosted In: Charity Activity, Education, School FundraisersTagged:

Bake sales have always been a good way to raise money, but the concept has evolved in some communities.

In California, New York, and New Jersey, bake sales continue to raise money for schools.  However, instead of selling baked goods such as cookies, cupcakes and brownies, healthy foods—organic fruits and vegetables from local farms– are sold.

Rebecca Matthews, of Berkeley, California, started a “fruits and vegetable sale” to benefit her children’s elementary school. She was able to raise several thousands of dollars through a company called Farmigo, which sells and delivers fresh produce.

Many parents are enthusiastic about the program. They appreciate the convenience of being able to buy healthy food during carpool time, all the while supporting their school.

Reducing Landfills

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By JohnPosted In: EducationTagged: ,

There are many ways that we can be more thoughtful with our food and our waste. You’d be surprised to learn just how much of a difference one person or one family can make when they are being careful with their waste management. The more that we throw out, the more that the landfills fill. Here are a few ways that you can help.

Eliminate Plastic Bags: When you bring your own bags with you to the grocery store, the mall and even the pharmacy, you are saving the landfills like the West Lake landfill from having one more plastic bag (or 20) in them. This can have a huge impact. Think about it – if you take a plastic bag every time that you get a prescription filled, some people will end up with a lot of bags. If you don’t take those bags you can really make a difference.

Buy a Reusable Water Bottle: Millions of water bottles are thrown out each day. If you buy yourself a reusable water bottle, you’ll avoid filling landfills (and you’ll probably drink more since you’ll have water with you all the time!).

Recycle: Certainly, you should recycle whatever you can find. This includes glass bottles and aluminum cans. If also includes paper, metal, plastic cups, batteries and more.

AO Foundation Receives Contribution

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By JohnPosted In: EducationTagged: , , , ,

The following individuals made a meaningful contribution to the AOTrauma Education Commission: Jesse Jupiter, Fiesky Nunez and Renato Fricker. They did this in their capacity of editors of the latest book released by AOTrauma entitled, ‘Manual of Fracture Management-Hand.’

Professor R. Geoff Richards became Director of Research and Development at AO Foundation in September 2009. Since then he has been boosting collaborative efforts between the AO surgeon network and its clinical divisions, while making more tenacious academic connections to universities and societies throughout the world. Further, he has been instrumental in augmenting the AO Foundation’s academic noteworthiness by continuing to enhance its quality of publications such as the one mentioned above.

Of this publication, Kodi Kojima, AOTrauma Education Commission’s Chairman profusely thanked the authors but “not just for the development of this fine publication but also for their ongoing commitment towards AO education.” He added that it was his “honor to congratulate them and all those involved and [he] look[s] forward to their continued contribution in the future.”

Thereafter, the editors went up to the stage with Kojima to cut the ribbon from the first book and it was then launched for sale.

Way to Go Angie Harmon!

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By JohnPosted In: Education

harmonUNICEF has just announced that actress Angie Harmon will now be their official face, and the new UNICEF Ambassador. Her first role as the new ambassador will be in a Public Service Announcement that she’s making to raise awareness about child trafficking and urge Americans to be part of the solution.

These 15, 30 and 60 second PSAs will air this month, which is Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

As Harmon said, “After learning about the horrifying practice of child trafficking both in the United States and abroad, I knew I had to do something about it. That’s what drew me to UNICEF. I believe that ZERO children should be forced into prostitution or made to work, especially at dangerous jobs. I look forward to working with UNICEF to help reach a day when every child has a safe and healthy childhood.”

As Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, recently said, “We’re thrilled to have Angie Harmon join our efforts to help ensure the health, education, equality and protection of every child.”

Angie Harmon will be in very good company as the new Ambassador. Past Ambassadors have included: Audrey Hepburn, Laurence Fishburne, Selena Gomez, Alyssa Milano and Sarah Jessica Parker.

NeNe Leakes Combines Fashion with Charity

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By JohnPosted In: EducationTagged: , , , , ,

There’s nothing better than an opportunity to look your best – while also helping out a charity. That’s what NeNe Leakes has in mind with the new shoe design that she has recently created. The “Nethia” design is a black boot that is ankle-length and has platform heels and a zipper.  Posting a photo of her hot new design on Twitter, NeNe said, “I love this ‘Nethia’ shoe! I’m very proud of it & created it myself 4 a great charity.”

The shoes can be found on ShoeDazzle’s website, a brilliant creation from Kim Kardashian where style-minded women can get fashionable shoes, handbags, accessories and more each month made by leading designers and celebrities. While ShoeDazzle.com used to be a subscription mail-order service only, they’ve recently started offering all times for $39.95 with free shipping!

And, the best part of purchasing NeNe’s latest design is that all profits from the shoe will go towards Saving Our Daughters. This is a nonprofit that works to help teen girls with issues of bullying, date abuse, hate crimes, school violence, violence against women and other self-esteem issues. They are making important strides to boost the self esteem of girls everywhere.

Shoes…fashion…charity…self esteem….it’s a combination that can’t be beat.