Christmas greetings from the Szott Foundation:
We are so happy to report that in November the Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation presented its eleventh Gift of Time of $8,000 to Wendy Morales and her seven-year-old daughter, Krystell. They will honor us by attending the 5th annual Abby Invite Gymnastics Fundraiser this Saturday, December 19 at Eastview High School in Apple Valley to officially receive the Gift. Please join us! It is always a very fun day.
We are so grateful to the coaches, EVHS gymnastics booster club, judges, volunteers, and to the 12 teams that will be competing. Each team has worked to provide a wide variety of silent auction items. I especially want to recognize Jodi Ramboldt, head coach for Eastview, for she is the driving force behind this very successful event that donates all of its proceeds to the Szott Foundation. We are humbled by her dedication to the sport, love for Abby and the Szott Foundation, and huge compassionate heart. Jodi would not be able to do what she does, however, without the help from her husband, Mick. Thank you Mick and Jodi for you teamwork.
Please go to our Recipients page to learn more about Krystell. She was diagnosed in August with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer. She has had surgery to remove a tumor in her arm and is undergoing chemotherapy. We pray for total healing from the top of Krystell’s head to the bottom of her feet, and we are so grateful that Wendy will be able to spend this precious time with her little girl without the worry of financial burden. Be blessed Wendy and Krystell!
Another piece of exciting news is the wildly successful “Give to the Max Day” that occurred on November 17. Thank you to all who participated in that fundraising effort. We all raised more than $6,000 on that one day, and numerous donations have come in since then. We are deeply grateful for each and every dollar raised.
On behalf of the Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation, we want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and blessed New Year.
Warmest regards,
Kathryn Szott, President
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Hello Szott Foundation Friends,
As many of us head back to school, I am beginning to ask myself if summer ever arrived. I have never before worn a sweatshirt so many days in summer. Last night we attended a very fun block party. I wore a long sleeve t-shirt, hoody, winter coat, and gloves. There was big bond fire, and I was none too warm. We all thought it must be an evening in early November. I am NOT ready for summer to end.
As summer does come to a close, the Szott Foundation has many reasons to celebrate. Emmy Garner’s third annual Volley/Bowl Tournament raised $1500 for the Szott Foundation. Four of our board members bowled. We lost miserably but had a blast. The volleyball was a lot of fun, as well. Most of the teams were composed of young people, but there were a couple 40 and 50- something teams out there. Way to go! I would encourage more people to participate in the fun next year. Our hats off to you Emmy!
We were blessed with another perfect day for our 3rd annual Tournament for Time. Eric Perkins was our emcee/host and he did a fabulous job. He even said he’d come back next year and do it again. The highlight of the day had to have been the presence of the Olson Gift of Time family, Justin, Jodi, Jordyn, and Brenna. When Jodi said, “Jordyn is alive today because of the Szott Foundation,” there was not a dry eye in the place. Jordyn, just turned 3, then took the mic from her mom and proceeded to give her 2 cents worth. It was darling. That little girl had the audience captured.
We were very pleased with the results of the T4T this year. The sluggish economy left its mark, but our bottom line was still almost $13,000. A great, great big thank you to all who participated.
To finish of the whirlwind of the week, the following day Natalie Nutty hosted her 2nd annual Homerun for Time. She also did a great job. In addition to t-shirts, brats, burgers, and tons of laughter, she added a silent auction. My favorite item was a flying lesson. Very cool, Natalie! On behalf of the Szott Foundation, we are so grateful for the $2,000 raised.
I turned 55 on August 18th, and I set a Facebook goal for the Szott Foundation Cause. I challenged 20 people to each donate $55 raising a total of $1100. I didn’t get 20 people, and they didn’t all donate $55. One person told me that she just needed to add a 5 to her donation, so hers became a $555 donation. It was fun because every day for the week before my birthday, I would check my email to see who might have donated. When it was all said and done, through facebook and snail mail I raised $1300. Thank you to all who participated.
Finally, we received a grant for $500 from the Pediatric Homecare Service in Roseville. They learned about us through the Association of Pediatric Hematology Oncology Nurses conference last spring. When I received a call from them, I just assumed they were going to ask for help. You can imagine my delight when I was told they wanted to give us money. A link to their website will be put on ours.
The good news in all this is that the Szott Foundation has $18,300 more than we did at the beginning of the summer. God continues to provide for the Szott Foundation, and we will continue to do His work.
May you all be blessed!
Kathryn
]]>Janet Malz
]]>I hope you are enjoying this lovely summer Sunday afternoon. I had the pleasure of having lunch with Jon, one of Abby’s dear friends today, and I was reminded once again of how important relationships are. I treasure the ones I have with the young people in my life, and who were in Abby’s. I’m not always very good at keeping connected with them. I continue to vow that I will do better.
Moving on to a more difficult topic for me to discuss, I am going to plead for your help. As unemployment continues to rise, so does the immense need of families depending on charitable organizations such as the Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation. It is a time that we must lean heavily on those who are able to give. As I mentioned last time I wrote, we are having to suspend giving a Gift of Time for the third quarter of 2009, and that breaks my heart. This is an appeal to all of you out there who care deeply about the Szott Foundation’s mission to provide the Gift of Time that allows one parent to stay home from work full-time to take care of the physical, emotional, and medical needs of a child with life-threatening cancer. I am aware that many of you will not be able to support the Szott Foundation by attending one, two, or all three of our fundraisers that are scheduled for the end of July and beginning of August, but perhaps you can contribute by making a generous donation.
Please reflect upon my request. I ask you to imagine if it was your child fighting for life, and you were having to make a choice between work and being able to stay home with you child. Please, please help. Donating on-line is fast and easy. All you need to do is click on the “Donate Now” button.
With many blessings and sincerest gratitude.
Kathryn Szott, President of the Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation
]]>We were also honored to award the Lynell Gusta with $6,000. Lynell’s son, Grant McGarry, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in May of 2007. He began his chemotherapy in September of that year and finished it in March 2008. Grant remained cancer free until January 2009, at which time it had metastasized to both lungs. Grant is facing difficult medical challenges at this time, but he recently enjoyed celebrating his twelfth birthday with many friends and family. Please follow Grant’s story on his caringbridge site at www.caringbridge.org/visit/grantmcgarry.
The Andrew and Abby Szott Foundations wishes both of our new families faith, endurance, courage, and hope (FECH). As we do for all of our Gift of Time children, we will pray for total healing from the top of these children’s heads to the bottom of their feet.
Many blessings to all of our Szott Foundation friends. We hope to see many of you at one or all three of our July fundraisers. First of all Emmy Garner has added a twist to the third annual Sand Volleybowl Benefit on Saturday July 25. Notice the name. You now may register as a volleyball player or as a bowler.
Join us the following Friday, July 31, as we kick-off a weekend of Szott Foundation fun with our third annual Tournament for Time golf event at Monticello Golf Club on Friday and our second annual Homerun for Time on Saturday, August 1, where the MN Twins take on the Los Angeles Angels. You can learn more about all three events and how to register by visiting us at www.szottfoundation.org and clicking on the Fundraisers link.
FECH
Kathryn Szott, President
Thankfully, I think it has finally arrived. There is something about the concept of spring that delights me both inside and out. It’s a chance to begin anew, putting the long, dark days of winter behind. As things begin to stir in the ground, I find they also begin to stir in my mind and heart. It’s almost like an annual awakening. Praises be!
Our big news in March was welcoming our 8th Gift of Time family to the Szott Foundation’s ever-growing list. We presented $14,000 to Eric Orton and his two children, Samantha and her 15 year-old brother, Tyler. Samantha is 14 years old, and in August of 2008 she was diagnosed with desmoplastic small round cell tumor, a rare soft tissue sarcoma. April 20th she will be going to the University of MN for a stem cell transplant. Please join me and pray for every step of their journey to go as smoothly as possible. We know what a difficult road they will be on over the next several months and we wish them every blessing along the way.
Plans for our 3rd Annual Tournament for Time are well underway, and we are very excited. Once again this year we are grateful that Kennedy Hoffman will be chairing the event. You will be hearing more and more about it over the course of the next couple of months. Most of you have already, or will soon be receiving our Save the Date card in the mail. If you don’t receive one and want to be added to our database to receive Szott Foundation communication, please email Tom Mason and tom.mason@szottfoundation.org.) Give him your name, address, phone number, and email address. Please put it on your refrigerator, so that it won’t get forgotten. Monticello Golf Club will be hosting it once again. We have moved the date to Friday, July 31. We hope that all who want to play and participate will show up. Once again, we will have room for guests who want to join the fun, but don’t care for the game of golf. Please come for dinner and the silent auction.
Please visit us again soon.
Blessings to all!
Kathryn
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We have been doing a tremendous amount of “behind the scenes” work with the intention of creating more Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation exposure. I hope we have succeeded and I look forward to your feedback.
First, we wish to welcome 14 year-old Jenna Johnston, her mom, and her twin sister as our newest Gift of Time recipient. Jenna was diagnosed in August 2008 with a rare form of childhood cancer called rabdomyosarcoma. We awarded her family a $10,400 Gift of Time at our February board meeting.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Jenna’s mother this afternoon. She reported that God has healed Jenna, as her last two scans have not revealed any disease. Jenna still has a long haul ahead of her; her treatments are alternating five days and three days every two weeks. Her chemo runs over a 24-hour period, so she is required to stay in the hospital during the course of these days. She has just completed her first 5-week radiation treatment and suffered some pretty severe burning because of it. She has another 5-week treatment that she will begin in a couple of months. I assured Jenna’s mom that the Szott Foundation family would pray for the following things:
• Finances
• Continued health and healing
• Relief from the feeling of isolation
• Jenna’s sister
Will you please join me in bombarding Heaven with these petitions? They will be heard!
Second, we have FINISHED our new promotional video, and it is quiet compelling. My brother, John Laurence, and KARE 11 photographer, Ron Stover, put many, many hours into its creation, and the Szott Foundation is grateful beyond measure for this added communication tool. It will help bring the Foundation to a new level, as its design is for exposure and fundraising. Thank you so much John and Ron! Please look for the link to view it on our website. It will also soon be available on YouTube and Network for Good. We are very excited.
Next, all of the communication tools that the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management students created are complete. Kelsey Webster, board member and student has completed our first Annual Report. The report is a tool for the Foundation to communicate its work to external stakeholders and includes:
• Budget information and year-to-date finances.
• Events from the past year.
• Biographies of Gift of Time recipients and Board of Directors.
• Recognition of volunteers, donors and corporate sponsors.
Please be looking for an electronic copy of the Annual Report, and we hope you enjoy reading it.
As many of you know already, we have a new look to our website. Sawan Patel is responsible for this new development. He upgraded the current website to be more user-friendly to potential donors, volunteers, and families so they can find information that is relevant to them, even if they are not currently familiar with the Foundation. The website allows all Board members to update the site easily and with improved efficiency, using familiar Microsoft Office applications. It provides the Foundation with a user manual to describe how to manage and edit the new site. The website also allows visitors to subscribe to my blog and other frequently updated content. These things were done largely to improve the navigation, organization and design layout, while making minimal changes to content. The new website will help market the Szott Foundation nationwide and encourage participation of visitors, even those who are just becoming familiar with the Foundation. Further, the site’s improved organization promotes online donations by making the “donate now” button more visible.
We also have a new brochure that is beautiful and was designed by Liz Pellen. She changed the design elements of the brochure and added a section about its vision to become a nationwide organization. She also added content to make the current brochure effective for both an applicant audience, as well as a potential donor audience. It will help us realize our goal for people to know exactly what the Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation is all about after only glancing at the brochure.
A PowerPoint template is another development that was created by Bryan Olson. It will be used for all formal presentations that the Szott Foundation makes and includes elements of the branding guidelines including layouts, visuals, fonts, and colors. There are different slide layouts designated for a presentation’s introduction, agenda, content, contact information, and Q & A slides. The deck also includes three standard content slides for use in presentations, including “About the Foundation,” “Application Process,” and “Andrew and Abby’s Story.” The template will make it much easier for the Foundation to use and easy for the audience to recognize and follow.
Finally, the U of M students designed new business cards, a newsletter template, and letterhead, all to make the look of the Foundation consistent throughout its communication tools.
On behalf of the Board of Directors we wish to thank these very talented, creative, hard-working, and passionate people for being so very committed to the cause of the Foundation:
• John Laurence
• Ron Stover
• Kelsey Webster
• Sawan Patel
• Liz Pellen
• Brian Olson
You have helped to move mountains in the growth of the Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation.
Blessings to all of you. Please let us know what you think.
Fondly,
Kathryn Szott
Co-Founder and President
Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation
We have been blessed again and again with the energy, creativity, generosity, brilliance, prayers, and enthusiasm of so many. The good thing about this is that the numbers keep growing. We have enjoyed tremendous growth over the past two years because of you. Thank you for making it possible!
First Gift of Time Grant for the Plemel Family
We awarded our first ever Gift of Time grant in the amount of $25,000 during our third annual Abby Invite gymnastics meet in December 2007. We were blessed that Larry and Debbie Plemel and their lovely daughter Brooke were able to attend and receive the Gift in person. The Foundation was so honored to be able to give the Gift of Time to allow Debbie to stay home full-time to care for Brooke.
Another highlight of our first year as a Foundation was our first annual golf Tournament for Time held at Cannon Falls Golf Cub. The event was so much fun and was wildly successful!
Television Publicity
We also received much publicity in 2007. Joe Fryer from KARE 11 did an Extra segment on the 6:00 news. He captured the focus of the Foundation and highlighted the presentation of our first gift to the Plemels. After it aired, we were overwhelmed with generous donations and letters from well-wishers who were moved by the segment. KARE 11’s Eric Perkins did a “Perk at Play” segment promoting the Szott Foundation at one of Eastview High School’s gymnastics practices prior to the Abby Invite. Thank you to KARE 11! We look forward to a continued relationship with them in the future.
Successful Fundraising Events
We headed into 2008 with much enthusiasm and motivation for further success and we were not disappointed. We were able to award five families with the Gift of Time in grant amounts ranging from $9,000 to $25,000.
Annual events in 2008 played a big roll in our fundraising efforts. The second annual Tournament for Time golf outing, now our signature event, was held on August 16 and was once again very successful and fun.
A second major annual event is our beloved Abby Invite gymnastics meet. This event is very near and dear to our hearts because of Abby’s love for the sport. Also, the event is run entirely by the Eastview High School gymnastics team and booster club. Their continued support means so much to our organization.
Emmy Garner, one of Abby’s friends, organized the second annual Sand Volleyball Benefit. She is just one of the many young people who have supported the Foundation through creative fundraisers.
Leadership Changes
We’ve begun to realize that one of our greatest assets is the young people, like Emmy, who are steadfastly committed to the Szott Foundation. Most of them are Abby’s friends and peers, but some are young people who just want desperately to get involved in a cause that can make a noticeable difference in the lives of other people. They have shown their support and passion in numerous ways, particularly in the area of fun, creative fundraisers, such as Dream Date for Hope, Dodgefest, and Homerun for Hope. We are so excited about their enthusiasm, because they are the future of the Szott Foundation.
The Szott Foundation leadership is also growing and changing. In the fall, we added two strong, bright women to our Board of Directors. Kelsey Webster came on board in September, and Shelly Collins-Rucks joined us in October. We are excited about what these women will bring to the Board.
Our Board said good-bye to Tammie Dahlheimer, oncology nurse practitioner at the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, as her two-year term as a member of the Board of Directors came to a close in December 2008. Tammie will stay on, however, in an advisory role as our medical liaison. She will also serve as a link between the Foundation and social workers in area hospitals to help facilitate the application process. We are grateful to her for her service and dedication as a Board member, and we look forward to working with her in other capacities in the future. She has such a heart for the Szott Foundation and the families we impact. Thank you, Tammie for everything you have done for us!
Also, thank you to all of you who have shown such great support for our Foundation this year. None of our successes would be possible without your support. Please find information about what we’ve accomplished in 2008 in this document. We look forward to future successes in 2009!
Best,
Kathryn Szott
Co-Founder and President
Andrew and Abby Szott Foundation