SunStone believes the best way to celebrate the holiday season is giving to those in need.
We continue the tradition of asking our team to recommend charities they believe are the most worthy, so that we can celebrate our blessings by donating in your name.
This year’s top donation of $5,000 is to the Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania (VOPA), as recommended by Danielle Wyld:
Dani - "This past Veterans Day our Revenue Integrity team volunteered at a VOPA event to assist with their goal of creating a tiny home community in Harrisburg for homeless veterans. I was touched by this organization’s commitment to their cause as well as the community support for such a worthy project. The following is a bit of background on VOPA and their tiny home project:
Currently there are 37,085 homeless veterans in the United States with 857 of those homeless in Pennsylvania. Fifty-one percent (51%) of those homeless vets have disabilities. VOPA’s mission is to combat homelessness among veterans by providing support and services needed to promote life filled with strength and purpose, while recreating the stable support network last offered to them before they left the service. VOPA hopes to build a 15-unit village of tiny homes on a five-acre vacant lot in South Harrisburg near the Capital Area Green Belt Trail along the Susquehanna river on grounds donated by civic leader, Peggy Grove.
The tiny community would provide basic necessities – sleeping area, half bath, desk and small sitting space – and would be combined with a larger staffed community center with meeting spaces, kitchen/dining area, laundry, private showers and other amenities. The combination of both public and private spaces for the homeless vets will provide activities to offer the chance to re-enter group and community settings while also providing personal space for private counseling and therapy as needed. The location also provides close access to regular bus runs into downtown Harrisburg. Once in the program, each veteran will be permitted to stay in the complex rent-free for as long as necessary to facilitate the transition to permanent housing with the only requirements being compliance with basic community rules and advancement in progress toward individual goals. VOPA is seeking to raise $3.5 million to complete an access road necessary to provide public utilities, clear the grounds for redevelopment and complete the proposed community center."
We will also be making $1,500 donations to the following charities, in your name:
Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund, as recommended by Trina Roberts.
Trina - "Governor Beshear established this relief fund to assist those impacted by the tornados and the severe weather system on December 11, 2021. These funds will go directly toward funeral expenses for families first and the remainder will be used for rebuilding. An unbelievable path of destruction was carved across western Kentucky in the overnight hours of Saturday, December 11, 2021, killing dozens of people, leveling much of Mayfield, destroying Dawson Springs and damaging buildings in Bowling Springs and other towns. Thousands of people are without homes and thousands more are without power, lacking water or gas. These devastated communities are just beginning to grapple with what they have lost. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the communities and aid workers there to support them."
Prevent Child Abuse America, as recommended by Tony Berkebile.
Tony – "I always enjoy this time of year for many reasons, especially gathering with family and watching my girls enjoy every minute of it! I also enjoy this aspect of the holidays and the challenge of selecting an organization for us to donate to, as I know there are far too many out there not as blessed as we are. Giving back in my eyes is the reason for the season!
Prevent Child Abuse America is the nation’s oldest and largest organization committed to preventing child abuse and neglect before it happens. This organization promotes programs and resources informed by science that enable kids, families, and entire communities to thrive—today, tomorrow, and for generations to come. This organization started back in 1972 when founder, Donna J. Stone had a vision that no child ever gets abused or neglected. Four years later, the first state chapter was formed in Kansas and the first nationwide public service campaign was launched, “Take time out. Don’t take it out on your child.
Through the years, the organization has taken off and has celebrated several breakthroughs such as: the startup of Healthy Families America, receiving grants from the CDC to support Because Kids Count, and the launching of the Pinwheels for Prevention Campaign.
As a parent of two (and soon to be three this summer) it breaks my heart knowing there are children across the world suffering from physical and mental abuse. This organization strives day in and day out to prevent that! This is something I hold near and dear to my heart and I feel this would be a fantastic organization for us to donate to this year."
Some other great organizations to donate:
Listed below are the other great organizations our team recommended, and SunStone will be donating $250 in your name.
My Stuff Bags Foundation, as recommended by Nena Zeiders.
Nena – "My Stuff Bags has provided bags to more than 630,000 children in 49 states since it began in 1998. The goal is to have a bag for every child removed from his or her home. They are children from all races, religions, and economic backgrounds. Their ages range from newborns to teens. The common thread is that they’ve all been hurt by the people who should have provided them love and safety, but instead have caused fear, hurt, and pain. There are over 300,000 abused, abandoned, and neglected children across America that have been removed from dangerous home environments each year. They often arrive at: foster homes, crisis centers, homeless shelters, and residential care facilities with few, if any, personal belongings. They are afraid, disoriented, and in need of comfort.
My Stuff Bag is full of things they need to help them settle in their new environments, such as: clothes, toys, toiletries, stuffed animals, and a security blanket. The Foundation seeks to give these children comfort and hope by providing them a My Stuff Bag."
International Service Center, as recommended by Georgia Rackley.
Georgia – "This is my most favorite SunStone activity and such a generous concept for the holidays!
This past summer, it was heart wrenching to watch the chaotic evacuation of Afghan citizens coinciding with the 20 year end of American troop involvement in war. I could not help but to feel our family’s personal connection to Afghanistan. I wanted to help somehow. My son Nick deployed twice to Afghanistan and this summer he and his wife welcomed their first born, a son, “Justin Jeremy” named in memory of two service members who served with my son but were killed in action in the mountains of Afghanistan; 2nd LT Justin Sisson and SGT Jeremy Summers. Our family will be forever linked to Afghanistan.
I recommend that SunStone make a donation to a Harrisburg group that is helping Afghan refugees. The International Service Center (ISC) has already welcomed one refugee family of 10 and is slated to receive more families. The ISC’s Executive Director is a Vietnamese refugee. Like many similar groups, the ISC is in need of material and financial donations to help these Afghan refugees begin an entirely new life after their traumatic departure from Afghanistan. Make checks payable to:
International Service Center
21 South River Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Please add a note “Afghan Refugees” on the check"
Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, as recommended by Candice Shaffer.
Candice – "The mission of AFA is to provide support, services and education to individuals, families and caregivers affected by Alzheimer’s disease and fund research for a better treatment and a cure. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. The AFA has a National Memory Screening Program which provides, free, confidential memory screenings at sites across the country. This program started as a single day in November and has grown into a year-round service that has screened more than 5 million people to date. Alzheimer’s Foundation works with professional caregivers and dementia-care settings to provide them with training and continuing education to elevate the level of care they provide on a daily basis.
I feel strongly about this cause because it runs in my family and I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer’s and feel like a donation could go a long way to helping with finding a cure or better treatment."
YMCA of Harrisburg, as recommended by Bob Marcavage.
Bob –"Donating to an organization in the local community, where SSC is headquartered would be a way of making a difference directly in the community during a time when local help is very much needed. One of the ways that the YMCA is able to make a difference in the community is by using part of their gym membership fees that it collects to support their community programs. Gym membership has dropped dramatically during this past year due to Covid restrictions. Another factor has been the lack of employees physically going into offices located in the Harrisburg area thus contributing to the decrease in membership. The YMCA is able to provide valuable programs to keep our community strong and connected that are needed now more than ever.
From the YMCA Harrisburg website:
“During this pandemic, we’ve been busier than ever working to meet critical needs like sustaining our 86-room dormitory for at-risk men, meals for hungry kids, life-giving blood drives, and outreach to seniors. It’s incredible what we’ve done so far, when we all leverage our skills and resources, but there is still so much work to be done for our communities to fully recover.
A donation to the Y is a special kind of gift. A gift that is felt immediately in our community. When you give to the YMCA, your gift ensures the wellness and education of children, the support of your neighbors, and the health of older adults. Your gift allows the Y to do more for those who need it most For a better us.™”
Juvenile Arthritis, as recommended by Jodie Blatt.
Jodie – "Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is an autoimmune condition where the body attacks the joints causing inflammation, pain and reduced mobility. This disease affects more than 300,000 children and young people every year but is not commonly known. This area of ANRF helps fund grants for research of this disease in an effort to find a cure and help these children.
Research for JIA and finding a cure is a cause that is very close to my heart. In 2019, when my daughter was just 5 years old, she had started to complain about pain in her knee. We saw that her knee had become very swollen and after another few weeks, she was limping and couldn’t put full weight on that leg, when she woke up in the morning her knee was stiff and she could not get full mobility in it. We saw several doctors, had x-rays and ultrasounds of her knee done and still had no answer. Shortly after her 6th birthday, about 2 months after she had begun complaining of the pain, she was placed in a wheelchair because she could no longer walk on her leg.
We saw a new specialist (a rheumatologist) about a month later and finally had a diagnosis of JIA. At this point, the arthritis was affecting more joints than just her one knee. Signs of arthritis and limited mobility were found in both her wrists, one of her elbows, both of her ankles and even in some of her fingers and toes. At this point her knee that she had originally started complaining about was locked and she had almost no mobility in it. She underwent a procedure shortly after this, where they injected a very heavy dose of steroids and medication directly in her knee and tried to withdraw as much fluid as possible. Thankfully, this helped and she was able to start walking with the assistance of hand crutches within a few weeks. She was then put on a medication that she has to have injected on a weekly basis, and the combination of the JIA and this medication now makes her immuno-compromised.
It took some time until she was comfortable walking regularly on her own, but she still could only handle being on her leg for short periods of time. It took over a year before I saw her run and play without any complaint or hesitation. Now over 2 years later, she complains about some stiffness every once in awhile and she’s not too fond of those injections every week, but she can run, dance, play, anything she wants.
Unfortunately, not all young kids who are affected with JIA respond as well as she did. She has been lucky that the medicine they first started her on has worked and is still working. There is always a chance of a flare-up in any of her joints, even ones that were not affected before.
Thank you for reading about my daughter’s story and for considering this organization this year."
Sam Mizrahi Memorial Fund, as recommended by Cathy Archuleta.
Cathy – "Near and dear to my family is the Sam Mizrahi Memorial Fund. In 2006 my nephew, at the very young age of 16, was killed in an automobile accident. In his memory, my brother and sister-in-law established a scholarship fund to benefit graduating seniors from Northern High School in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, which was the high school Sam attended and would have graduated from. Additionally, the fund provides support to the Harrisburg Diabetic Youth Camp and Camp Setebaid (“diabetes” spelled backward). A Type 1 diabetic diagnosed at a very young age, my nephew benefited greatly from time spent during the summers at Camp Setebaid. There he developed a strong peer support group through his childhood and into his teenage years.
The ability to gift young people with scholarships to offset rising tuition costs and to provide support to Camp Setebaid has brought much joy to my brother and sister-in-law who have been able to help Northern seniors each year in the memory of their son. Held annually, a 5K race had been a significant revenue source for the Memorial Fund but COVID has impacted the hosting and scheduling. As we’re all becoming increasingly aware, the impact of COVID is far-reaching."
The Meals on Wheels COVID-19 Response Fund, as recommended by Courtney Simmons.
Salvation Army, as recommended by Kevin Brennan.
SunStone has made these donations with all your names as a way of saying thank you for your business, your friendship and contribution to our ongoing success.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Holidays, and hope you and your families have a healthy and prosperous New Year!
Warm regards,
Greg St. Clair, and all your friends at SunStone