Life is very delicate and at any moment it can be lost. My family learned the hard way of how it feels to lose a loved one at an early age. Eight years ago, my family was going through a crisis. My mom was in the hospital with Tim and my dad was working in New Jersey, so I hardly ever saw my parents during that time. We were struggling with money as my dad just had a heart attack and the hospital expenses of treating cancer were not cheap at all. Times could not have been worse, but the PiggyBack Foundation stepped in and gave us comfort and love when we needed it most. Our family was one of the first PiggyBack family’s and they were with us during and after Tim passed away. I am honored to carry on The Celebration of Life by honoring …show more content…
Tim and all the loved one who have gone before us. This year my group, consisting of Brad Smith, Logan Stoll, Mark Pearce, and Derek Furlong , chose The Celebration of Life as our senior project. The week of December 7th through the 11th, we raffled off twenty-two baskets in the cafeteria to grades 1-12 and three adult baskets at Christian Roberts, Charlie’s Bar, and Star Diner. The adult baskets consisted of Ohio State gear, alcohol, shirts, hats, and a brand new cooler. Tickets at the school were 50 cents for one and a dollar for four tickets. The time frame was very small to sell tickets to the students at lunch, but they made the most of every minute by buying countless tickets. I spent three days working with the elementary as they are the most productive in buying tickets. Most of the products in all twenty-two baskets were donated to us by local community members and business owners. My grandpa, George Beck donated a coffee maker to this senior project and also passed away during October. Not many people know, but a part of his trust was set aside for charitable donations and we were granted $956.61. The project made $3,827.49 which was all donated to the Piggyback Foundation. The Piggyback Foundation is a charitable, non-profit organization and it was founded in 2007 and has helped over 200 families.
They help families maintain a sense of normalcy during times of serious illness by providing assistance to meet the emotional and educational needs of the children. Lisa Hiler, Director of the Piggyback Foundation, explained that “little things can make a big difference in the life of a child.” That quote really applies to my family as we were one of the first families taken in by this foundation. They gave us love and comfort and supplied us with all the basic necessities we needed. I never thought I would be so excited to see food during this time as they supported us with huge meals for dinner every night. My sister and I had a babysitter, so we did not eat anything else besides their meals. That made a difference in my life and one of my main memories. Charitable work is needed everywhere as families deal with life threatening situations and the Piggyback Foundation covers a 30 mile radius of Norwalk. We are blessed to have such a caring organization and my family is very gracious for what they have done for …show more content…
us. I have opened my eyes and realized how special Norwalk, Ohio is after doing The Celebration of Life senior project.
We raised almost $2000 from just private donations. These are from local businesses to individuals. We sent letters to local businesses and I was getting phone calls day after day. These people wanted to support the Piggyback Foundation and this is how the awareness spreads. That is our goal, people need to know about this foundation, so they can give to them. Our individual donations were on a different level this year. We are blessed to have caring community members and this senior project would not be the same without them. At St. Paul, we have had many families helped by The Piggyback Foundation. My mother, Allison Smith explains “that is why it is important to educate our school and community how important it is to support this local foundation.” I am proud of what we could do for this awesome foundation and I give thanks to the community for so much
support. I have learned a lot about myself through this project. For example, I have learned how to properly ask for a donation. That sounds small, but it is quite important for the future. I informed the local businesses what The Piggyback Foundation is and does and then I politely asked for a donation. I have also learned how to lead a team. There are no official team leaders in senior projects, but I have led this team because it is honoring my brother. My group worked very well together and it was a success. I am very competitive and I wanted to make sure The Piggyback Foundation received our best efforts. This showed in the final amount of money. I have observed this project for years and have never realized how much time it consumes. We started working on this in August and concluded in late December. Time management was a big priority. My group was never behind on schedule and I am very proud to say that. I hope The Celebration of Life keeps going years from now because it brings the community and school closer together for such a good cause. Attitude is what made this project a success. From day one, we were determined to be the best one out of previous years. Our money goal had been already higher than the actual highest amount. The baskets were such a success and the 50 inch tv really showed our cocky attitudes. We beat the previous tv by 18 inches and we are proud of that. The adult baskets were beyond successful this year and our final amount of money made us feel like we made a difference. That is what this is all about. Making a difference one life at a time is how I like to put it. I know Tim would be very proud of the hard work and commitment I have put into The Celebration of Life. It is a celebration of those gone before us and we are remembering their lives. This project brought awareness to Norwalk and reminded me of what is important in life. Helping others and making a difference is what life is about. I have never really been moved by service hours throughout high school until this. I know the money we raised will go to a family in need and there will be smiles on their faces. That moves me. I know that I can make a difference in this world and I know Tim will always be guiding me through my journey.
They give back to Starlight Children’s Foundation and are their national charity partner. They also help sick children and their families cope with their pain and fear
The Children’s Miracle Network is a non-profit organization that provides charitable funds to 170 children’s hospitals in the United States and Canada. Nearly 500 corporations participate in fundraisers and campaigns that provide hospitals with equipment, research, and care to children who suffer from injuries and illnesses. To date, Children’s Miracle Network has raised more than 4.7 billion dollars, and what’s unique about this organization is that every penny stays within the network (CMN, n.d.). Children’s Miracle Network has been extremely successful over the last thirty one years due to the relationships that they have built with corporations, the extreme media coverage that they obtain, and the lives and stories of those associated with CMN that have influenced communities to make a difference one dollar at a time.
Before I go on to celebrate my mother and what she stood for I must share with you the reality of what life was like for my mother and the family since she was first diagnosed with cancer in October. Of course, nobody suffered more than my mother, but Dad you’re definitely second. We all shared my mother’s pain. It was like we were all on trial.
For my volunteer experience I chose to help assist in a program called the Sonshine Club that’s provided in one of the local city schools Kenwood Heights Elementary School. The Sonshine club has been a program that has been established for approximately seventeen years now in which at this particular school they met on Tuesdays from 3:15-4:15pm. Their message to bring to the children is that “there is a bright light out of all of this” (Use.salvationarmy.org, 2014). In Clark county, Ohio the data shows that there are 27% of children between the ages of 5-17 years old, are in poverty (Use....
In 1984 Ronald Reagan was President of the United States. Prince’s song When Doves Cry was number one on the Top Hits chart. On a hot, summer night my mother goes into labor with her third child. At 12:18am on August 25, 1984 I was born to Aubrey and Betty Hall in a Dallas hospital. My mother chose to name me Heather after the Scottish Heather flower referencing our Scottish heritage. My father picked my middle name, Jane, after his favorite grandmother. I was born into a loving family consisting of a father, mother, sister, and brother. A few years later our family of five turns into a family of eight with the births of another sister and two more brothers. Three boys and three girls, we were practically the Brady Bunch. There has been so
If I had the chance to go back in time to give advice to myself I would
I remember the year my Highschool team went to the state championship. My team the Kansas City Hawks went up against the twelve time champs The St.Louis Kings. What made them twelve time champs was us. Every time my team went to the championship The Kings met us there. All twelve times The King where the victors. January 25,2024 The Hawks were on a warpath for that Championship.
I can’t begin to express how hard it is for me to stand here before you and give my last respects to my loving mother - name here. From the biography that was handed out you can recall that during the her early years in the united states she studied and worked in New York where she met and married my dad, the love of her life. They spent the rest of their days loyal and in love with one another. Unfortunately, one day my father passed away with cancer at a young age. My dad was the one who suffered the most, but my mom suffered right along with him. She felt powerless, and for my mom- powerlessness turned in to guilt and grief, a painful distress she lived with on a daily basis for the next six years. When he died part of her died! Life for her was never the same again. I was not able to completely understand her loss- until now…
We, Aimee Johnson and Jessie Virnig, along with Amy Wilson and Shawn Klimek, decided to try to give the homeless a little hope. The week before Christmas we went door to door and collected food for the local homeless shelter. We decided to focus on collecting food because around the Christmas season, a lot of emphasis is put on toy drives and people sometimes overlook the fact that the homeless still need to eat. In order to broaden our research, we decided to collect food from more than one group of people. We went to an average middle class neighborhood and to a college dormitory. Before we went out into the neighborhood and dorms, we prepared a thank you letter to give to everyone explaining to them who we were, to tell them that we were collecting food for the homeles...
Since I was little I have always known that I did not want a desk job. I have always loved using my hands to build things or to solve problems. But I didn’t like the idea of a construction job, or standing in a plant and watching things go down an assembly line. I wanted something that would keep me on my toes, as in different every day, and allowed me to do something that I could see the result of my work soon after. I just couldn’t find the right job; nothing sounded good to me. That was until one day my dad needed help with some wiring in an extension we were doing to my house. I thought that it was kind of fun. It was cool to me that we could install lights, switches, and outlets. So, from then on I decided that I would like to
Summer vacation, and school ends for about three months, and then you have as much fun as you can, then back to school… right? Well I had to go to summer school, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Everything was going fine, I had a job after summer school, and that was going fine as well. They say that summer is supposed to be fun and exciting, and it usually is for me and my family. However in July my father started coughing up blood. My father usually doesn’t make it his top priority to go to the doctors, so he waited about four weeks until he really didn’t feel good.
There is a point in everyone’s life when they step back and realize “I can’t do this anymore, it’s ruining my life”. Many of my friends have started smoking cigarettes while drinking at a very young age, and continue to use this drug currently and don’t realize the affect it has on their future. While I have been smart enough to avoid smoking, I haven’t been as wise at making decisions when it comes to drinking. The amount of partying I’ve done in college has taken over my life, and has had a huge impact on my grades. Changing my drinking habits and continuing to avoid cigarettes will enable me to be the best I can be for the rest of my college experience.
Last year was actually one of my best years in high school. I was much more focused on passing and getting into my books but I was more focused on getting everything done. My junior and sophomore year were pretty much tied in together since I was trying to get everything done to be in my right graduating class my senior year. I wanted to make sure that I got all of the credits I needed to graduate with my class. Last year I was in the tenth grade because I did not do so good in my ninth grade year the first time so I had to repeat the ninth grade because of this last year was a lot tougher than it probably should have been. That made no difference in how dedicated I was to do everything I had to do to get thirteen credits by the end of the year.
Dealing with the grief of a loved one is not an easy task. Only time can heal the pain of someone you’re used to be around is suddenly gone. When my uncle passed it was the first experience with death in which I was old enough to understand. Nobody really close to my family had passed away before, so I was unprepared with the pain and sadness that came with it. I also thought about it but I never really thought of something like this happening to me. I wish I had spent more time with my uncle, but I never thought about it because I never thought he would passing away so quickly. This is always why it is good for every day to show your family how much you love and appreciate them because you never know when their last day on earth is.
This was a very exciting project for me. We thought of the many ways we could make a difference. First, we had planned on putting on a small carnival for the children at the shelter. We had a pictured a bunch of kids running around playing games and winning prizes. Sadly, we didn’t have the time, money, or resources to make something that big happen. Also, the number of children staying at the shelter wasn’t as many as we thought. We then decided for raising