As a nonprofit director I can't imagine what we could accomplish without the assistance of our most treasured volunteers. They come in all ages, sizes and genders. They fold letters, make copies, stuff envelopes, solicit donations, serve on committees, sell chances, and do a myriad of other physical and time consuming chores. They do this without pay and usually ask, "What else can I do?" when they are finished. Trudy Schwenkler is just one of these dedicated individuals who arrives at our office almost daily to do whatever needs to be done. Trudy was instrumental in loading and unloading boxes of gifts to be used during the Spirit of Philadelphia Family Fun Day Cruise and transporting them to Philadelphia. Thank you Trudy!

This Friday, we will be recognizing an incredibly special group of our valued volunteers--our partners in this special mission. There are more than 1,000 of them--actually if I wanted to be more correct there are more than 12,000 of them. They are the students, alums, parents, and faculty of Tamanend Middle School in Warrington, Pennsylvania. This remarkable place has provided the setting for the Annual Basketball Shootout each February. On February 20th of this year, Tamanend held its Tenth Annual Basketball Shootout for our organization. The event started at 7:00 am and ended close to midnight. The halls, cafeteria, and two gymnasiums were filled all day with the enthusiasm of more than 1,000 members of the Tamanend family. The end result--$41,000 raised this year to assist the special families in crisis who are referred to us daily. Remarkably, the Tamanend community has raised approximately $195,000 since first getting involved with our organization!

Today, I received notice that the 2011 games have already been scheduled. How lucky are we to have this powerhouse of a school assisting us with this greatly needed mission?! Thank you to the Tamanend family for their sensitivity to families struggling emotionally and financially because of the serious illness, disability, or injury of one of more children. Thank you to the Basketball Shootout Committee--Jeff Klein, Emily Murray, Maria Vitacco, Ellen Thomson, and Samantha Ruth. Thank you also to Tamanend's principal, Cheryl Leatherbarrow, for her encouragement and support of this great event!