A year after Kate
Svitek lost her life while snowboarding on Mt.
Bachelor in Bend, Ore., her parents continue to
make sure her life's work lives on.
Frank and Ellen Svitek of Ambler have gradually
built up the Kate Svitek Memorial Foundation since
the February 2002 death of their daughter, a bright
22-year-old with a Passion for nature and the
outdoors. A golf outing held in September brought
in $30,000 to the foundation, and the Sviteks
say that the donations and support from the community
have been tremendous.
"We've had an amazing outpouring of generosity
from friends and businesses in the area, "
said Ellen Svitek. "Right now, we have $200,000
in the bank account for the foundation and we're
told that for the first year of a fund-raising
group it's an amazing amount."
In a tribute to their daughter's memory, the Sviteks
have used the funds to support what Kate loved
best: the outdoors. Last month they donated $10,000
to the National Outdoor Leadership School in Patagonia,
a region of South America where Kate studied for
the spring of 2000.
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"She had every
intention of going back there," said Ellen.
"It's amazing the education you get at that
school."
The foundation also gave a grant to ReSource,
an Oregon program designed to teach children the
value of the environment, and Frank Svitek said
the group also hopes to donate money to the University
of Vermont, where Kate studied at the School of
Natural Resources and graduated in 2001.
"Our plan is to identify some other funds
and groups to support that will benefit the education
of young children," said Frank Svitek. "Programs
that will give them a wider exposure to and appreciation
of the environment."
In addition, the family looks to raise funds and
awareness through the foundation's Web site, www.katesvitekmemorial.org.
Ellen said she tells everybody she knows about
the site, and to date it has received almost 140,000
hits.
"The foundation is a very time consuming
project for us," said Frank. "It really
is a full-time job, but it helps us to keep moving
forward."
"We miss her with a giant hole in our hearts,"
said Ellen. "But we're continuing on with
what she wanted to do with her life; we do it
in her name."
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