Seventeen years ago, the Knox community collectively grieved the loss of Cheryl Lyn Welter, a dedicated and involved senior at KHS who tragically lost her life in an automobile accident the day before Homecoming.
These days Cheryl is still making impacting the community by making a difference in the lives of underprivileged school children thanks to the efforts of her family. The Cheryl Lyn Welter Family Charitable Foundation was established back in March to raise money to assist local school children in grades K-12 with various expenses that are out of their reach.
Her father and longtime WKVI radio personality and sports commentator Harold Welter described the foundation’s mission to be in character with the kind of thing Cheryl would have liked to do. He elaborated, “She was a people person and she, as a matter of fact, had been accepted at the Purdue University School of Child and Family Counseling so she was going to make a career out of helping people.”
Welter said there are countless scholarships out there for students heading off to college, in fact there is even a scholarship offered in Cheryl’s honor. However, he felt there wasn’t an organized effort in place to assist underprivileged students in younger grades. This foundation was established to help cover the cost of things like field trips, special events and other expenses a student’s family may not be able to afford.
Later this month, Harold will be speaking on behalf of the foundation, accepting the 2017 Advisor Charitable Leadership Award which his firm, Financial Partners of Knox, received after submitting Cheryl’s story for consideration. The award is given by the broker-dealer Sigma Financial to individuals who display a commitment to community involvement. The firm will receive a personalized trophy as well as a significant sum of money to put into the foundation.
When the foundation was established, an endowment was set up with a goal of $100,000. About $25,000 has been raised so far. Welter said they’re hoping to reach their goal by Cheryl’s birthday which is November 5th.
Money has been raised over the last few months through the generous community donations contributed during WKVI morning shows and online contributions. Currently, a family friend, Helen Guriel is raising money raffling off tickets for a lovely hand stitched quilt she created in Cheryl’s honor. Individuals also have the opportunity to become fundraisers themselves. To help keep Cheryl Lyn’s spirit alive by assisting the community’s disadvantaged youth in a major, one-of-a-kind way, visit the Cheryl’s Kids Fund webpage or the foundation’s Facebook by clicking on those links.
