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In lieu of a gift, we are asking you to make a donation to one of the organizations listed below or to another charitable cause of your choosing. Each of these was selected because of their connection to our family and community. We intentionally chose smaller organizations that are led by a dynamic individual who was moved by personal experience to address an issue through local action. In that spirit, we also invite you to consider similar groups and causes in your own communities.
(Please note that all of these organizations have 501(c)(3) status and therefore your donation will be tax deductible.)
The Bucks County Autism Support Coalition provides support to individuals with autism and their families in the Philadelphia area. BCASC arose out of the vision of Jill Schweizer, a special education supervisor in Bucks County, Pennsylvania who has worked directly with David and Martha's nephew Benjamin. Their mission is to help individuals with autism to reach their maximum potential by facilitating the provision of services, providing support to their families and by providing opportunities for education and collaboration for families, educators and mental health professionals. More information can be found at www.bcasc.org.
DC Developing Families Center operates a variety of programs on Capitol Hill aimed at providing a holistic vision of medical care to its clients in order to decrease infant and maternal mortality. The Center was founded in 1964 by Ruth Watson Lubic, a certified nurse and midwife who worked as an educator and practitioner in urban Washington, DC. Ms. Lubic saw a need to provide not only better pre-natal medical care and obstetric services to an underserved population, but also to use this contact with the medical community to establish an ongoing relationship with a health-services provider. Services provided by the center include regular post-natal checkups, immunizations, childcare education and early childhood development services, social service assistance, job training and continuing education – all of which are delivered under one roof. In 2001, this vision was fully realized with the opening of a birth center in Northeast Washington. More information can be found at www.developingfamilies.org.
Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf coast in 2006. While it seems like ages ago for many of us, for residents of the impacted areas the rebuilding effort continues. We saw this first-hand when we traveled to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi to visit friends and family in early-2007. As difficult as it was to see the scale of the devastation, the lasting impression we will have from the trip was of a community that had grown even more cohesive through the experience. Habitat for Humanity is working to provide permanent housing for families who lost all of their material possessions in conjunction with the Lagniappe Presbyterian Church and their dynamic pastor, Jean Larroux who personifies the best traditions of social action in which both of us were raised. More information can be found at www.habitatbaywaveland.org.