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The Swim for Smiles Foundation, based in Chapel Hill, NC, was co-founded by Gary Kayye and Laura Gondek. Our mission is simple: Kids Helping Kids. We do this through special multi-sport events such as triathlons and Swim-A-Thons where all our money raised goes to the NC Children’s Hospital. But, the Swim for Smiles Foundation is not just one or two people – it’s a community of people involved in making our events successful and creative each and every year. But, questions abound about how we started the Swim for Smiles Foundation, why we started it and how we want to expand it outside of NC. Co-founder and Board member, Gary Kayye, addresses those questions with a Swim for Smiles FAQ below: What is the story behind Swim for Smiles? How and when was the organization created? When my daughter Annabelle (now 13) was four and a half years old, she became sick with some weird unidentifiable virus. We moved from doctor to doctor and hospital to hospital. After spending nearly nine and a half weeks in and out of the UNC Children’s Hospital – and seeing over 30 doctors, having 3-spinal taps, 2 MRI’s, countless CAT scans and all sort of neurology tests -- she was finally diagnosed with something called ADEM – Acute Demyelenating Encephalomyelitis. ADEM is an immune disease of the brain that usually occurs following a viral infection or could even appear spontaneously. It presents itself very much like MS (multiple sclerosis) and Annabelle did eventually display those symptoms because ADEM produces inflammatory lesions in the brain and on the spinal cord – after her 9-weeks of constant headaches, fever and total body pain, she was finally diagnosed by Dr. Tennison – the Director of Pediatric Neurology at UNC Hospitals. Following months of a regiment of steroids and rehab, Annabelle was healthy again and turned to swimming (on her doctor’s advice) as a way to deal with her newly discovered Asthma.
Our very first event, ever, was a dual swim meet that featured a team from the Chapel Hill Summer Swim League and one from the Durham Summer Swim League that raised money for both UNC’s and Duke’s Children’s Hospitals back in 2005. Dr. Ellen DeFlora, a pediatrician in Raleigh (and swim parent, too) and I organized that event together and the kids had a blast. They raised money selling t-shirts and swimming in the meet. Ellen had great vision for that event as it brought together two rival town’s swimmers in a non-competitive environment to raise money for kids at both hospitals.
What is its mission and focus? Our mission is to feature swim-oriented athletic activities for local kids to participate in and have fun doing so and as a byproduct raise money for the NC Children’s Hospital. We are focused on “Kids Helping Kids”.
The Swim for Smiles Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. We have NO full-time or part-time employees and all our board members as well as all our volunteers (race directors, accountants, graphic designers, etc) all work pro bono. No money raised is used to pay any volunteers and all the money we raise is eventually given to the NC Children’s Hospital. Through 2008, we have raised well over $60,000.
Well, the 3rd Annual Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon is to be held on May 31, 2009 in Chapel Hill, NC at the Chapel Hill Country Club. Last year’s event drew over 370 participants and this year’s has been expanded to accommodate at least 450. Open to kids from ages 6-18, the Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon is a USA-Triathlon sanctioned event and includes two courses for ALL levels of participants. In addition (new for 2009) we have a limited number of relay teams – made up of kids of any and all ages. One kid will swim, another bike and the third will run the course (all relay participants and teams will do the Long Course). Beginners can select a Short Course triathlon that includes a 100-meter swim, a 2.5-mile bike course and finishes with a short 1K (0.6miles) run. Long Course participants will begin with a 300-meter swim, transition to a 5-mile bike course and then finish with a 3K run (1.8miles). The Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon will start on May 31st at Chapel Hill Country Club’s heated pool, move to a neighborhood bike ride and end with a run bordering the golf course. This is considered an easy triathlon and it designed for all levels of youth participants. Every finisher receives a medal and the top three finishers of each age group will receive prizes!
We are really excited about our newest event that will surely become an annual one - a totally unique triathlon for 2009: The Swim for Smiles Family Triathlon. To be held at beautiful Southern Village, the Family Triathlon is a open registration (all ages can participate) USA-Triathlon sanctioned event that will include BOTH individual athletes as well as over 100 relay teams! Open to all aged participants, the Swim for Smiles Family Triathlon is unique as there will be so many relay teams. And, the relay teams can be made up of all adults, all kids of a mixture of kids and adults (we will give prizes for the Top-3 teams in each category). In addition, we will have over 200 entries for individual triathletes in this Sprint Triathlon Course. This is North Carolina’s first and only Family Triathlon and we want all levels of participants to feel comfortable giving it a try. Not only is it for a great cause (the NC Children’s Hospital on UNC’s campus), but we want to see at least 100 relay teams made up of parents, their kids and their friends. No one is expected to be a world-class triathlete and the fun is in accomplishing the goal: finishing! So, every finisher will get a real triathlon medal at the cross the finish line. So, corral your friends, your family and give it a try!
I look at it completely backwards, probably. We are creating and running events that are fun for kids, challenging, yes, but one’s where they are performing and achieving individual triumphs by finishing a race like a triathlon. And, the byproduct of that is the money that goes to the NC Children’s Hospital. It really is “Kids Helping Kids” as the kids are doing all the work by participating in our events – and having a ton of fun doing so. Can you imagine the feeling of a 7-year old running through the finish line with their parents yelling for them and cheering them on as they pass through – knowing they just swam, biked and then ran to finish? And, to top it all off, a SFS volunteer is draping a medal over the head as soon as they cross that line. It’s awesome!
We need to grow outside NC. We want to leverage summer-league and year-round swim teams to form Swim fro Smiles Regional branches all over the country. It’s a lofty goal, I know, but it’s the vision I have – a totally volunteer foundation offering races all over the country to kids. And, as I said earlier, as a byproduct, they raise money to help other kids. Is there anything you’d like to add that I haven’t asked about? Yes, we have an annual event that we took over back in 2005 (it used to be known as Swim for Life) – it was n event originally started 26-years ago by UNC’s former head swim coach, Frank Comfort. The event needed some new-life so we were asked by the Chapel Hill Summer Swim League to revamp it and we morphed it into a Wacky Relay Day for kids. This will be the 4th year of the event and we actually call it the 4th Annual Chapel Hill Wacky Relay Day - to be held on Sunday, July 12, 2009 at UNC’s amazing pool at Koury Natatorium (next to the Dean Dome). In addition to the Wacky Relay Day being an opportunity for kids that swim in the Chapel Hill Simmer Swim League (CHSSL) to swim in their Championship Pool one week before Summer Champs, this is a great way to culminate a summer season of raising money with some fun (and Wacky) relays. At the beginning of the CHSSL season (mid-May), each CHSSL Team will be given a Swim for Smiles Foundation GOAL Thermometer that would be hung at each team’s pool and would be used to graphically demonstrate the amount of money raised as the summer swim season progresses. Each club sets their own top-end goal and measurement standards. The Swim for Smiles Foundation will supply all the materials and prizes to award teams (and individuals) as they reach their goals. In addition, SFS will provide pledge envelopes that can be used by the swimmer all season to keep track of their financial pledges and to collect the money they raise. These envelopes will all be turned in to SFS at the Wacky Relay Day.
To become involved, please check out our volunteer page. To donate, please send checks made out to Swim for Smiles to: Swim
for Smiles Foundation All donations are tax-deductible. For more information, please see our donations page.
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Following
that traumatic experience and actually experiencing for ourselves
the total lack of differentiation between adult patents and children
at UNC Hospitals (this was all before there was a separate NC Children’s
Hospital at UNC Hospitals), I decided to try to make future experiences
better for future kid patients in the Children’s Hospital. So, leveraging
my contact in swimming through the two swim teams my daughter was
on in 2005, Laura Gondek (a fellow swim parent) and I founded the
Swim for Smiles Foundation – a Chapel Hill based non-profit that
features swim-oriented athletic events – and kids - to raise money
for kids that, unfortunately, have to use the Children’s Hospital.
Our first event was a Chapel Hill vs. Durham swim meet and since
then, we have added a Youth Triathlon (the only one in North Carolina
that’s USA-T sanctioned), swim-a-thon and an annual Wacky Relay
Day for kids.
Since
that original event, we’ve formed a Board that oversees all our
activities and is very hands-on. Our board includes Rich DeSelm,
the Head Swimming and Diving Coach at UNC. Mrs Gondek and myself
as well as year-round and summer-league swim parents. But, what
is extra special on our board is that it also includes kids – we
have four kids that are in middle and high school from right here
in Chapel Hill who help with everything from designing our logos,
handing out event flyers to running and volunteering in our races.
We have, in my opinion, the best possible mix of people a non-profit
could ever hope to have.
We
are the first, but we have a plan to franchise it, of sorts, nationally
working with (USA-T) USA Triathlon). We hope to have two other Swim
for Smiles Youth triathlons going this summer in Florida and Maryland!
Our only requirement for these other events – as we expand beyond
NC, is that all the money be given to help kids – “Kids Helping
Kids”.
What
are some other upcoming events that you’d like to highlight?
What
are the organization’s goals moving forward?
At
the actual Wacky Relay Day, the CHSSL swimmer will start the day
with a team warm-up swim with each respective team as a way to familiarize
themselves with the Koury Pool (a pool that is 12-feet deep – compared
to the 3-5’ summer-league pools). Then, the fun starts with relays:
The
Swim for Smiles Foundation 501(c)(3) has an effective date of exemption
of June 23, 2006. We are already a recognized non-profit whose proceeds
benefit the N.C. Children's Hospital, and thus, all donations should
be tax deductible (consult your tax attorney). Our Fed. tax ID number
is 20-5186388.