Thank You to our Generous Donors!

Sara’s Garden is SO blessed by caring, generous Northwest Ohio organizations and donors! A big thank you goes out to the Ohio Elks Cerebral Palsy (CP) Fund, the Delta Eagles, the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities (DD), and the Dollar General (DG) Literacy Foundation!

Thank You to the Ohio Elks CP Fund and the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53! The Ohio Elks CP Fund donated $13,400 for rehabilitative lifts, slings, and stretchers for our special needs students with CP and other neuromuscular disorders at our New Horizons Academy (NHA)-Springfield Campus. These lifts and slings will be used to meet the therapeutic, treatment, and independent care needs of our special needs students and Summer Skills Camp participants. Every year, Ohio Elks Lodges from across the state raise money to support organizations, which provide care, treatment, training, and rehabilitation for individuals with CP. We are so grateful to the Ohio Elks Association, the CP Fund, and the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53 for this grant!

We are so grateful for the ongoing support from the Delta Eagles and the Ohio Auxiliary Eagles. We recently received a generous grant of $5,000 for New Horizons Academy and $5,000 for Special Grounds Coffee. These grants will be used towards the purchase of vocational training materials and equipment at our career center as we continue to provide much needed vocational experience for our students at NHA. Thank you so much Eagles! You truly are a social club that helps the community.

All of our Springfield Summer Campers want to thank the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities (DD) for its $6,000 Mini Summer Camp Grant to help support art, music, vocational, and mental health activities and social-emotional learning. The mini-grant will be used to fund the Emotional ABC’s Curriculum, art and music supplies, vocational transportation, social stories, and books. Thank you, Lucas County DD, for supporting our campers with autism and other behavioral and emotional needs!

With Dollar Generals across Northwest Ohio participating in the Summer Literacy Grant Program, Sara’s Garden is so grateful to the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for supporting the development of its social-emotional library section with a $2,000 grant. The literacy focus is on meeting the educational and intervention needs of students with social-emotional needs from preschool to high school. They will be utilized for one-on-one, individualized reading intervention, small group story time activities, reading comprehension, and social storytelling.

Thank you to our very generous donors, the Ohio Elks CP Fund, the Delta Eagles, the Lucas County Board of DD, and Dollar General’s Literacy Foundation!

Thank You Toledo Elks and Zeisloft Family Trust!

Our conductors have often joked that our buildings are “TOO HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE”! Initially, that sounded like an oxymoron. We serve individuals with disabilities. How in the world could our facilities be “too accessible”?

We encounter steps and uneven surfaces everywhere… at home, at work, at church, while shopping or attending sporting events. How were we to help kids and adults with neuromotor disabilities navigate stairways, curbs, even climbing into transportation when everything around them was so flat? We are so grateful to the Toledo Elks and Zeisloft Family Trust for providing the solution!

We were granted a dynamic stair and incline trainer for both our Wauseon and Springfield campuses! These amazing therapy devices incorporate stairs, incline, and parallel bars in one apparatus for our conductors to use with both our students and adult clients. One side has stairs and the other side has an inclined ramp that can be adjusted to meet the needs of the user.

Thank you so much Toledo Elks and Zeisloft Family Trust for your support of our mission and the students and clients we serve!

Thank You Zeisloft Family Trust!

Through two funding cycles, the Zeisloft Family Trust has awarded Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy (NHA) close to $300,000 towards an exciting upcoming project at our Special Grounds vocational training center with the balance of funding going towards NHA’s inclusive indoor play area. Both projects will memorialize the Zeisloft Family, with its strong and lasting ties to the communities we serve in Northwest Ohio.

“Thank you and the Zeisloft Family Trusts for the very generous grants to support these projects at Special Grounds and New Horizons Academy! Your generosity and caring are amazing, and we are beyond humbled and grateful for the trustees generosity and faith in our mission!” shared Sara’s Garden CEO, Matthew Rychener.

The ultimate mission of Sara’s Garden and its regional special education program, New Horizons Academy, is to help its special needs students and young adults become as self-sufficient and independent as they can possibly be. The upcoming Special Grounds vocational center project will expand our current capability out into Northwest Ohio to reach additional special needs students, educate the community about the vocational needs of young adults with disabilities, promote the awareness that every community can and should support all of its students and community members, and would be named for and dedicated to the Zeisloft Family for its commitment to serving individuals and families with disabilities. This project will offer our students and other Northwest Ohio students vocational skills, job placement, financial success, career development, a sense of accomplishment, and hope for the future! Thank you to the Zeisloft Family Trust for partnering with us in making the future brighter for young adults with disabilities!

Educators know that play helps children, of all ability levels, increase their physical fitness, reduce obesity, gain emotional and mental mastery, lay the groundwork for creative thinking, promote cognitive development, reasoning, and the development of fine and gross motor skills, improve problem solving, and offer opportunities to try out new habits and behaviors.

With Northwest Ohio’s long, cold winters and torrential spring rains, our students have limited access to NHA’s outdoor playground, due to severe inclement weather. This greatly reduces their opportunities to be physically active in the colder months, because it is just too difficult for them to navigate the snowy and icy surfaces. With space now opening up through a building expansion, the Zeisloft Family Trust is helping to create an inclusive indoor play area at NHA. It will address the needs of typically developing children, as well as, children with neurological, intellectual, and physical disabilities, with areas and activities rich in sensory experiences, social interactions, and physical challenges. The play area would naturally expand and enhance both the recreational and therapeutic treatment for NHA’s special needs students.

We are so thankful and grateful to the Zeisloft Family Trust for establishing a lasting legacy of vocational, recreational, and therapeutic skill development for special needs children and youth through Sara’s Garden, New Horizons Academy and Special Grounds Coffee Co.! Thank you, Zeisloft Family Trust, for making the future brighter for children and young adults with disabilities!

Giving Tuesday Thanks

We are so grateful and beyond humbled by the support we received during this year’s Giving Tuesday 419 event.

Funds from this year’s Giving Tuesday gala went to support equipment, curriculum and supplies for our vocational training program at Special Grounds Coffee Co. Through your caring and support, over $50,000 was donated to Sara’s Garden, allowing us to continue to expand the opportunities to make a difference in the lives of our special needs children and their families and inspire change in Northwest Ohio!

Once again, the team at Everence created an amazing event that benefited countless charities and non-profits throughout Northwest Ohio. The total amount donated at the Giving Tuesday 419 gala for these organization was nearly $1.5 million dollars!

Thank you Everence and donors for your hard work and unbelievable generosity. We can not begin to adequately express our gratitude or describe what your support means to all of us here at Sara’s Garden, New Horizons Academy and Special Grounds Coffee Co.!

Thank You for Your Support!

We would like to say THANK YOU to the Marathon Classic LPGA sponsors and Everence #GivingTuesday419 donors for raising over $111,000 for Sara’s Garden and its special needs kids!

In 2020, a year where all of our fundraisers were cancelled, all of our therapy services cut back due to social distancing, our schools closed due to COVID-19, and private grants and state program funds reduced due to economic downturns, Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy cannot express how truly grateful and thankful we are for the Marathon Classic LPGA sponsors and the Everence #GivingTuesday419 donors, who helped support us and our special needs kids and families during one of the toughest years that we have ever experienced! You are truly angels in disguise!

#GivingTuesday419 has always been about giving back to others, showing thankfulness and gratitude for what we have, and sharing with those who need it. But this year, Giving Tuesday donations meant so much more. “This year, we just cannot thank our donors enough for helping us to get through these tough economic times and for caring so much for our special needs kids and their families,” shared Sara’s Garden CEO Matt Rychener.

Among the very generous Giving Tuesday donors, raising over $76,000, for Sara’s Garden and its special needs play areas at its New Horizons Academy campuses in Wauseon and Springfield were—

Shari Beck
Paul Berndt
Delta Auxiliary
Jeff Nofziger
Various Anonymous Donors

For more information on #GivingTuesday419, Everence’s over $1 million fundraising effort, or on other grateful non-profit organizations helped by Giving Tuesday and its donors, log onto Everence’s website HERE.

Thank you to these donors and the Marathon Classic LPGA sponsors for helping our special needs children to meet their recreational, physical, educational, and therapeutic needs, and to meet them SAFELY! From the time we first proposed these playground projects until now, the world changed for our special needs kids, and so our playground plans had to change to meet the added health and safety demands of COVID. Without generous donors and sponsors like ours, this just would not have been possible.

“2020 has challenged businesses, communities and families in ways that were never thought possible. Despite the many challenges caused by COVID-19, this year’s Marathon LPGA Classic tournament raised a record $600,000 for 25 Northwest Ohio children’s charities,” explained Manager of Advertising & Brand Management at Marathon Petroleum John Rice. For a complete Marathon LPGA sponsor list, log onto their Facebook page HERE.

Sara’s Garden is very pleased, humbled, and grateful to be among those 25 children’s charities supported by the Marathon LPGA Classic. Thanks to its sponsors, Sara’s Garden received $35,000 towards its special needs play areas. “Considering all the challenges presented by COVID-19 this year, this is an accomplishment we’re extra proud of. We thank the sponsors, the volunteers, and all the loyal supporters of the Marathon LPGA Classic. Without them, this would not be possible,” shared Rice.

Thank you, Marathon Classic LPGA sponsors and Everence #GivingTuesday419 donors for raising over $111,000, so our special needs kids can PLAY and play SAFELY! Thank you for your generosity, caring, and INCREDIBLE support!

Fundraising efforts continue for the inclusive outdoor playground at our NHA campus in Springfield Township in Holland. For more information on our playground projects, our regional special needs schools, or how you can help support therapeutic play in Northwest Ohio, call 419-335-7272 or log onto SarasGarden.org.

Dave Ripke Memorial

PETTISVILLE – David Charles Ripke, 75, went home to be with Jesus on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at the CHP Defiance Area Inpatient Hospice Center in Defiance, Ohio, after a brief battle with cancer.

Dave was born to the late Charles and Betty Ripke on January 9, 1945, in Amarillo, Texas, where his father was stationed in the Air Force. He graduated from Ayersville High School in 1963 and then attended Bluffton College, earning a bachelor’s degree in biology. While at Bluffton, he enjoyed playing baseball for four years. He went on to earn his master’s degree in education from the University of Toledo in 1973.

On December 23, 1967, Dave married his high school sweetheart, Marilynn Bowditch, and she survives. Also surviving him are his three children, Shannon Krieger (Doug) of Archbold, Tami Mast of Goshen, Indiana, and Ryan Ripke (Sarah) of Pettisville; and grandchildren, Olivia, Isabel, Lily, Charlie and Aranjer Krieger, Emily (Hunter Ackerman), Morgan, Joel and Addie Mast, and Joey, Quinn, Maggie and Grace Ripke. Dave also is survived by sisters, Susan Hanenkrath (Elwood) and Jane Link (Tom); and brothers, Dan Ripke (Mary) and Denny Ripke (Kathy).

Dave spent his entire career at Pettisville Schools from 1967 until 2009, where he was a teacher, longtime varsity baseball coach, driver’s education teacher, guidance counselor and athletic director.

After retirement, he enjoyed volunteering as a mentor and mowing the lawn at Pettisville Schools. He enjoyed umpiring all levels of youth baseball from 1995 to 2018. He loved golfing, manicuring his lawn, and following his kids’ and grandkids’ athletic events and concerts.

Dave was a longtime member of Pettisville Missionary Church where he had served as deacon, elder, Sunday School teacher and greeter over the years.

To sum up his beautiful legacy: He loved Jesus. He was married to his “first” wife for 52 years and he thought that was a funny joke. He had three kids, some in-laws, 13 grandkids, who all adored him. He loved baseball (Go Indians!), people in general, sweet treats and taking pictures. He made the world a better place. We would be hard pressed to find anyone who knew him who didn’t deeply respect him. We told him Thursday, that he could go if he needed to, so he did. Thank you, Jesus, for giving this man to us.

Visitation will be at Pettisville Missionary Church on Monday, June 15, from 2-8 p.m. A Celebration of Life service will take place, also at Pettisville Missionary Church on Tuesday, June 16, at 11 a.m., following a family burial. Short Funeral Home in Archbold has been entrusted with the arrangements.

Memorials in Dave’s honor can be made to Sara’s Garden HBOT Center the following ways:

Cash:
- Cash donations may be dropped off at our main office located at 620 West Leggett Street, Wauseon, OH 43567
- Please do not send cash through the mail.
Check:
- Please make checks payable to Sara’s Garden
- Checks can be mailed to Sara’s Garden, PO Box 150, Wauseon, OH 43567
Credit Card:
- Credit card donations can be made by phone by calling our office at 419-335-7272. Ask for Matt or Julie.
- Credit card donations can also be made securely through our website by clicking on the DONATE NOW button below.

Sara’s Garden is a 501(c)(3) organization. Your charitable contribution is tax deductible under 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, to the extent allowed by law. A receipt will be sent to you after your pledge has been received to use for tax purposes.

Thank You Ohio Elks!

A BIG Thank You to the Ohio Elks Association & the Toledo-Sylvania Elks Lodge #53!

In the midst of the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it is SO good to know that there is good in the world, that people care, and that the Ohio Elks Association supports Sara’s Garden and our special needs kids!

The Ohio Elks Cerebral Palsy (CP) Fund just awarded Sara’s Garden $15,000 towards our multi-sensory, fully accessible, playground equipment and therapy space for our new regional special needs school in Springfield Township or Holland, Ohio, serving the special education needs of students and parents from across Northwest Ohio and the Greater Toledo Area. The multi-sensory, fully accessible playground will be used for physical education programs, play groups, conductive education classes, recess, and therapy sessions. This equipment is very important in meeting the educational, functional, therapy, treatment, and independent care needs of our special needs students and Summer Skills Camp participants.

Thank you, Ohio Elks Association!

For more information on the playground project or to donate to it, please email [email protected].

Thankful Hearts from Giving Tuesday

Thank you for making a difference on Giving Tuesday!

As we said after the event on December 3, it was truly humbling to be a part of such an inspiring evening. We were able to witness first hand, the generous individuals, families and organizations that came together for #GivingTuesdayNWO and raised over $1.9 million for local charities across Northwest Ohio. It was beyond amazing to see!

Sara’s Garden would like to thank all of our amazing donors who participated in #GivingTuesdayNWO sponsored by Everence. You helped us raise $75,485.00 from giving and matched funds for our playground projects!

Thank you for caring SO MUCH about Sara’s Garden, its clients, and our special needs students at New Horizons Academy.

Fundraising continues for the indoor playground for our special needs kids at New Horizons Academy in Wauseon as well as the inclusive outdoor playground at our new NHA campus in Holland. If you have any questions or would like more information on how you can help us turn these dreams into a reality, please call Amy Murphy at 419-335-7272 or email [email protected].

We can’t wait to hear how God uses the proceeds from this night to change lives through the work of the organizations and charities being supported. We would like to say a huge thank you to the team at Everence for all your hard work in creating and hosting this event.

For more information on Everence and its Northwest Ohio Day of Giving, please call Everence Financial Advisor Shari Beck at 419-446-4618 or email her at [email protected].

Thank You!

Sara’s Garden is SO blessed by the caring Northwest Ohio organizations and businesses share with our special needs kids and their families! A big thank you to the St. Caspar’s Knights of Columbus, the Ohio Elks and the Toledo—Sylvania Elks Lodge #53, the Delta Eagles Auxiliary, and the Wauseon Walmart for all you do for Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy!

These gifts, donations, and grants will help us to make our indoor playground a reality and help to fund our Before & After School Program. Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy relies so much on the generosity and caring of Northwest Ohio groups and organizations. Please take a moment during your busy day to thank St. Caspar’s Knights of Columbus, the Ohio Elks and the Toledo—Sylvania Elks Lodge #53, the Delta Eagles Auxiliary, and the Wauseon Walmart for all you do for Sara’s Garden and New Horizons Academy!

Thank You for Making a Difference!

Thank you for making a difference on Giving Tuesday!

Sara’s Garden wants to thank all of its amazing donors who participated in the Northwest Ohio Day of Giving on November 27, 2018 at Northwest State Community College, sponsored by Everence. You helped us raise $64,061 from giving and matched funds for our Indoor Playground Project and client sponsored hyperbaric oxygen services (HBOT)!

Thank you to—Nate Andre, Bob Aschliman, Monica Atkinson, David Beck, Cal Britsch, Vernon Evers, Mark Frey, Robert Frey, Marilyn Kinsman, Robin Laird, Thomas Lauber, Rollin Miller, Kent Nafziger, Ed Nofziger, Jeffrey Nofziger, Terry Rufenacht, Gerald Short, Art Thomas, Brent Winzeler, Diana Wilson, Pettisville Grain Company, Steve Rupp, and six other anonymous givers. Thank you for caring SO MUCH about Sara’s Garden, its clients, and our special needs students at New Horizons Academy.

Fundraising continues for the fully accessible Indoor Playground for our special needs kids at New Horizons Academy. If you have any questions or would like more information on how you can help us turn this dream into a reality, please call Amy Murphy at 419-335-7272 or email [email protected].

For more information on Everence and its Northwest Ohio Day of Giving, please call Everence Financial Advisor Shari Beck at 419-446-4618 or email her at [email protected].