By: Tara Burchett-Maxwell
This was the 4th meeting of the 47 year of the Dublin-Worthington Rotary Club.

We welcomed Glen Ferguson as a guest.  1. Pete Barnhart announced it has been 20 days since Judy's knee surgery. On the 13th day, he took her to rehab and she turned and handed him her cane, walked, and has been cane free since. 

2. Peggy and Glenn Murgatroyd spoke of their 17 year old granddaughter who recently finished Army Boot Camp. In August she will join the National Guard as a Combat Engineer.
Their grandson, Nolan, got married a few weeks ago and is a Lieutenant at Warren Air Force Base and he is a missilier.

3. Dave Hansen accompanied his twin granddaughters to Cleveland to go to Case Western Reserve where one of his granddaughters will be attending. He took a tour of the student union where he noticed information on their 13 Nobel Prize Winners. 

4. Alan Zink gave a dollar for truth and honesty. He played a round of golf at Worthington Hills and the person who parked next to him had hit his car. Alan left the other driver a note and the driver called him the next day. 

5. Chuck had a happy dollar but I couldn't hear the audio 🙁
  Mark Beaver introduced our speaker; Travis Gulling, Executive Director of A Kid Again. 

A Kid Again's mission statement is that they exist to foster hope, happiness, and healing for children with life-threatening conditions and their families. They cater to children with any life threatening sicknesses. That way they can help kids and families that wouldn't otherwise have an organization to help them. They currently have 1000 families enrolled.

A Kid Again was founded in 1995 in Columbus, Ohio by Jeffrey Damron, to make an impact on families raising a child with a life-threatening condition.  Since that time, they now have served families in 32 states and have impacted over 200,000 people.  A Kid Again focuses on the entire family, not just the sick child, by providing them a monthly cost-free, care-free event, which they call an Adventure.  These Adventures let the entire family forget about the illness and the medical bills they may have and allow the children to feel just like "A Kid Again.” A Kid Again takes care of the miscellaneous such as parking, tickets, food, and even gas cards. When a child has something to look forward to, it becomes deeply impactful to their healing. When a child from the program passes away the family becomes an Angel Wing Family who still can participate in the programs for 3 addtional years. This helps with the greiveing process. There are currently 13 Angel Wing Families. 

Covid impacted the foundation like it did many other organizations. Rick Ricart, who is the Board Chair, came up with an idea to do a drive through modual in warehouses. There first adventure help 150 cars in a 2 hour period. They also did adventures in a box, and different cooking themes. Easton hosted a drive in movie where they played Trolls. 
Their biggest event is the Columbus Zoo. The zoo closes to the public at 6pm to host families. All the staff that stays volunteers their time. The first adventure the foundation held was at King's Island in 1998. They hosted 200 people. The adventure they held at King's Island 2 weeks ago hosted 4,000. 

There are 40,000 families in Central Ohio who could qualify for their program adventures. So far this year they have helped 130 families. This is currently the biggest year yet. The foundation is working on spreading the word and getting more staff and outreach. Travis says that they are ''the best kept secret in Central Ohio". They are currently partnering with places like Nationwide Children't Hospital and The Ohio State University. They are currently trying to partner with The Ronald McDonald House and they have an adventure lined up at The Flying Horse Farms in October. Flying Horse Farms has zipline that is accessible to people in wheelchairs. 

A Kid Again is a national foundation that is a private non-profit. They rely on donations. If you know of anyone that would like to know about these adventures or would like to donate, have them go to the website to enroll: A Kid Again - Serving Children with a Life-Threatening Condition.

Enjoy our full meeting by clicking here: https://youtu.be/ox0ah6RagrE