New Foundation: The Kyle Palmieri Foundation

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By JohnPosted In: ChildFund International

It’s always heartwarming to see people who have the financial ability to help others doing so. New Jersey Devils right wing Kyle Palmieri and his fiancee Ashlee Casper have started a new foundation called The Kyle Palmieri Foundation. The goal is to help active and veteran service people and their families and to show appreciation for what they do every day to protect America.

As Palmieri said,

“There are endless challenges facing our nation’s military service members and veterans. We hope to help ease some of these challenges by providing support through The Kyle Palmieri Foundation and through our partnerships with NMFA, SWAN, and Pets for Vets. Each of these organizations provides invaluable support and services, and the Foundation looks to help expand their incredible work. We’re proud to offer our help as a way to say thank you to the brave men and women who are serving and have served our country.”

At this time, they are supporting three specific nonprofits. They include Squad21, the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and the National Military Family Assocation (NMFA).

Pig for a Day

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By JohnPosted In: ChildFund International

Here is a story that would make just about anyone smile.

At a recent Rock County 4-H Fair in Wisconsin, one boy auctioned off the pig that he raised to help his teacher. His teacher had quit her teaching job to work for Beat NB and to help her own niece who was battling cancer. At the fair, his pig fetched quite a nice amount of money, but then those bidding on it turned around and sold it back so that it could be auctioned again. In total, the pig, which he thought would help to raise about $600, raised $10,000 instead!

Read the entire story and enjoy.

Walking for Mental Health Awareness

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By JohnPosted In: ChildFund International

Kev Carr is raising money and awareness about mental health issues. As a private in the Royal Logistics Corp and someone who served in Iraq in 2003, Carr was diagnosed with PTSD. He is heading out on a 1000 mile hike across America for the charity group Walking With The Wounded. He is leaving for the States now, along with two other other British and three American veterans as they walk from Los Angeles to New York.

The trek is actually being backed by Walking With The Wounded patron Prince Harry. To get a spot on the walking team, Mr. Carr had to pass through a strict selection process and an interview. He said,  “I have mixed emotions about the walk as this is one of the biggest things I have ever done and it means a lot to me.”

Biking to Make a Difference: Brennan Besser

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By JohnPosted In: ChildFund International

Starting on May 16 and ending 3400 miles later across the United States, Brennan Besser will be biking his way towards raising money. He is biking from Seattle to New York and hopes to hold basketball clinics along the way to raise a total of $1 million for the Walk On America Foundation.

As he explains, “What we’re hoping to do is shine a light on a part of the American community that doesn’t have that strong of a voice.”

Where did he get this idea? Besser’s older sister, Jacqueline, is nonverbal and impaired in her motor skills and communication. He wants others to understand ways to deal with adversity and he’s doing so by traveling, typically 60 miles a day with a team of 3-5 people.

Rapper Using His Talent to Raise Money

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By JohnPosted In: ChildFund International

Here is a lovely idea. In Lexington, Kentucky, a local rapper and activist, Devine Carama, is combining his talent, his teaching and his love of giving in a beautiful way. In order to teach students to create change through music, he joined with professor Bryan Hains to teach student to write rap. For their final exam, 21 students created a hip-hop EP that highlighted challenges under-deserved communities face. The album will benefit Operation Making A Change.

See here for more details.

 

Amazing What One Student Can Do

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By JohnPosted In: ChildFund International

It’s amazing what one child with a lot of energy can do. Brooke Dubois, a high school student from Massachusetts, collected 1500 pounds of donated clothes as part of the Lapels Dry Cleaning annual drive. The drive benefits the Big Brothers Big Sisters in the area.

As only a high school freshman, she started to get the word out to everyone she knew. Donations were either dropped at her house or she picked them up from others.

 

As she said, “I’m so happy we were able to get that many donations but what was really cool was how supportive friends and family were in helping this cause. In a way, it almost made me forget that I was trying to beat Josh. Almost.”

Her goal was to collect more clothes for the drive than her brother did in 2016, when he came in with 1398 pounds. And she reached her goal.

The participating stores reached a whopping 16,093 pounds of clothes collected. This is the highest amount they’ve collected in the 14 years that they’ve been doing the drive.

Now, all of the donated clothing will be sold through various channels. The money from those sales will help to fund mentoring programs for young girls and booys.

American Airlines Raises Money for ALS Research

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By JohnPosted In: ChildFund International

After so much bad publicity for various airlines, it’s not to have something good to say. American Airlines recently raised $800,000 for Answer ALS through their second annual American Airlines Charity Gold Tournament which took place in Dallas, Texas on May 24-25.

As their chairman and CEO Doug Parker said,

“We are proud to partner with Answer ALS on behalf of all American team members, including Peter Warlick, vice president – Finance, who was recently diagnosed with ALS. Peter is a champion for all American team members fighting this disease. And we believe there is a real opportunity to bring attention to orphan diseases, like ALS, that require additional awareness and fundraising support in order to bring them to an end. It means a great deal to the American family to host this event in our hometown.”

More than 200 people came together to play golf and to raise money to help with research for ALS. These included former NFL Safety for the New Orleans Saints, Steve Gleason. Gleason was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. As Gleason, who took his first commercial flight in four years to attend the event said, “We know if we are going to find solutions to ALS, a disease with no known cure, or viable treatment, we have to be bigger than the disease. But, I hear everything is bigger in Texas, so, this is right in your wheelhouse. I believe it is a pivotal time for ALS.”

In 2016, American Airlines announced that they would have a multi-year financial commitment of $1 million to the Answer ALS project through the ALS Foundation. The golf tournament funds are in addition to that commitment.

There are six clinical sites for the Answer ALS project. They include: Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Washington University, Ohio State University, Emory University and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.