Pittsburgh Girlie

City of Champions

You all simply amaze me beyond words. In the past few months alone I have seen the kindness of hundreds of strangers and a lot of you have become good friends. (Yes, this is one of *those* posts…just read it.) And I’m all for championing another good cause.

A friend of ours, Brad, is a local singer/songwriter/all-around-great-guy. He’s got a few upcoming shows and you should go check him out.

He is also trying to help a young woman finish high school. Cheryl is attending the Ellis School with significant financial aid and personal pledges. She has blossomed at this school. And yes, private school is a luxury and loads of really smart people have gone through public schools. The public/private school debate happens every few weeks on twitter. I am a fan of teachers, no matter what the type or level of school. Education is a luxury, private education more so. I don’t have a problem helping a child stay within a school where she is comfortable and doing well. Cheryl seems to have connected with her teachers and found her stride in this school. As someone who moved schools every two years, (No, my parents weren’t military) I found it very hard to deal with that transition along with the hormones and bullying.

Due to the recent economic struggles some of her sponsors had to back out, leaving her senior year in flux. Instead of finding just a few people to pledge a significant chunk of change, we’re looking for a lot of people who would be willing to donate what they feel they can. Brad writes;

Please feel no pressure, and also feel free to send me any further questions you might have ( brad@bradyoder.com). If you would like to contribute, directions are below. Also, if you’d like to pass this story on to others who might be interested, that would be great.

All donations are tax-deductible, and donors will receive a written acknowledgment from the PLF [Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation], (as well as a thank-you from Cheryl).

Together we have raised $3K for Christmas Crazy, something like $13K for Make Room for Kids, and an astounding number of pounds of food (500! Yes, five HUNDRED) donated to the CHS Food Pantry. So, now the challenge is to help this young lady. Not to mention the amazing people that help/are still helping the orphans and  Jamie and Ali McMutrie.

I’m sorry there is no fancy widget tracking donations, but Brad does update his site with information.

Brad has more info on his site. Also, you should really hear him sing!

Thank you.