The Symmes Valley Band Boosters would like to say “Thank You” to The Tribune for all its help regarding the Ervin White fundraisers. We received a lot of calls and donations after readers were informed of the articles regarding Ervin. I was amazed at the response we got from so many generous people who wanted to help this family.

It took a lot of time and hard work from many people to make these fundraisers go well. One such person is our awesome band director Robert Mann. Mr. Mann and his wife Holly have both been blessings to our band program. His hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm towards the music program has inspired us all.

He has been behind the scenes helping to organize the fundraisers and getting donations. He also sent out letters and e-mails to parents and students and encouraged everyone to take part in the fundraising events for Ervin.

Another person I want to personally thank is Dora Myers. We had a very short period of time and limited resources but Dora was able to make the Longaberger Bingo a success. She and teacher Beth Roberts worked hard planning, distributing flyers, getting donations, and enlisting workers to help with the event.

There were also many band students and parents who dedicated their time and made donations for this event. We want to thank them all. The community as a whole came together in a big way to help this family. Even though we cannot list them all, we want to say thanks!

One group that has made several donations to this cause has been the Symmes Valley Board of Education. Mike Wall, Kim Turner, Brian Pancake, Wayne Taylor, John Kelley, and Superintendent, Tom Ben, sent several donations.

They sprung into action and started taking up donations. They also inspired the union and the teachers to take up donations. The bus drivers also gave a donation. Kim has called us many times on behalf of the board to get updates on Ervin’s condition and to see if they could do anything else to help. I think it is great to see the members of our board showing such support and concern for Ervin and his family. I think the actions of our board members, our teachers, and our bus drivers, speaks volumes about the kind of people we have taking care of our children every day at school. Their concern and willingness to help this little boy has went far beyond what is expected or required of them as Symmes Valley employees. Their support came from the heart.

Last, but not least, we would like to thank our Symmes Valley High School Principal Jeff Saunders. He made it possible to have these events at the school and he also advertised them for us.

He offered to help us in any way that he could. Any time we asked him to do something, he was right there to help. I think that Mr. Saunders and so many of the other employees have shown us their dedication to their school and to the students.

They have set a good example of what it means to be dedicated to helping others and what it means to truly care about the work you do. Thank you so much Symmes Valley!

It means a lot to know that in this day and age with so much wrong with the world, people still unite to help others. We hope that Ervin and his family can find some peace in knowing that we are there for them. At such a young age, Ervin has demonstrated great strength and bravery. He is facing so much and we all want him to get better!

KAY HAGER

Willow Wood