Kids helping kids
Jenna May says she and Jordan Moore are “partners in crime.”
Their crime? Helping to improve the lives of children with disabilities.
Jenna and Jordan are members of Martha Assembly No. 11 of the International Order of the Rainbow Girls in Washington, and as worthy adviser, Jordan is continuing a project that Jenna started during her tenure as worthy adviser: the My Bike program.
The program, launched in November 2012 by Variety – the Children’s Charity, provides adaptable bicycles to children with disabilities in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The adaptive bikes can be life-changing for a child who struggles to skip, run or even walk.
Bikes are custom-made for children as young as 4 years old and are designed to fit children as they age. Each bike costs $1,800, with the cost of each part ranging from $50 for pedals to $500 for the bike frame.
“When we started, we thought we’d raise enough money to buy barely one,” Jenna said.
As more donations trickled in, the girls’ goal increased to two bikes.
Thanks to the girls’ heartfelt presentations and fundraisers, donors have been very generous. By the time Jordan’s term ends in mid-September, Jenna and Jordan will more than double their goal.
“If we get all the money that’s been promised to us, we’ll have enough for six or seven bikes,” said Jordan, noting that she and Jenna decided to hold the yearlong joint charity project so they could raise more money.
Right now, the girls have raised more than $11,000. A large chunk – $5,400 to be exact – was donated during a kickball tournament at the Valley Lodge 459 F&AM in Masontown. Dave Richards, chairman of the annual Blue Ride, a joint effort of Blue Knights Pennsylvania, Chapter XVI and Washington Lodge 164 F&AM, donated the $1,000 he received after being named the Louis E. Waller Humanitarian Award winner by the Washington County Community Foundation.
Jenna started the project by reaching out to different lodges. Her presentations typically netted about $200, plus members chipped in their own money. A dinner in Connellsville raised $600, and they even received donations from the eastern part of the state.
It’s been a lot of work for the girls, but it’s also been a labor of love for them.
And as Jenna said, “The kids’ smiles are what matter.”
Jenna, daughter of Ralph and Lisa May of Washington, will be a junior at McGuffey High School in the fall. She has been a member of the Rainbow Girls for four years, and is the grand representative to North Carolina.
“It’s been a great opportunity,” Jenna said. “I was really quiet. Now, I can’t stop talking. I fell in love with it. They teach you lessons and life skills.”
One of those skills is team-building, which Jenna and Jordan obviously have mastered.
“I’m having so much fun,” Jenna said. “It’s like having another family.”
Jordan, daughter of Dave and Roxanne Moore of Bentleyville, will be a senior at Bentworth High School in the fall. She has been a member of Rainbow Girls since she was 13.
“I was in Girl Scouts, but it wasn’t offering me what I needed,” she said. “This is an opportunity to meet other people I wouldn’t otherwise meet.” Jordan also volunteers at Washington Hospital, where her mom and dad both work. The hospital had partnered with Variety and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield to host the Washington County My Bike program. It seemed only fitting that the girls adopt the charitable cause as well.
Rainbow Girls was founded in 1922 by the Rev. W. Mark Sexon, past grand master of Masons in Oklahoma, using the seven colors of the rainbow as symbols of character-building virtues. The girls meet in assemblies under the supervision of members of the Masons and Eastern Star, and the majority of weekends are devoted to Rainbow Girl activities. Once a month, they spend a weekend at Masonic Villages in Elizabethtown.
“It’s a good organization that teaches them values,” said Melanie Ostrander, the mother adviser and Rainbow Girls alumna. “It’s a family-fun organization.”
Donations are being accepted for the My Bike program. Checks can be made payable to Variety – the Children’s Charity, and sent to: Variety, 11279 Perry Highway, No. 512, Wexford, PA 15090. In the memo line, designate that the donation is for team Jenna and Jordan.