| & Vol.121 No. 47 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 January 27 - February 2, 2013 The DALLAS PosT 50¢ WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER 2u Fund founder pays visit fo DMS Program teaches children how to help less fortunate on their birthdays. By ELIZABETH BAUMEIUSTER ebaumeister @theabingtonjournal.com Dallas Middle School sixth- grade students learned about » opportunity to make a differ- ice in the lives of others on their birthdays during a special assembly Jan. 14 in the school auditorium. Richie Kraus, a seventh- grade student at Wyoming Sem- inary and founder of the “2u Fund: So Every Child Can Have a Happy Birthday,” spoke about the history of the program and how to get involved. At the beginning, Kraus asked students, “What are your favorite things about your birth- days?” Answers ranged from cake to presents to parties. Afterwards, student Zach Palfey said his favorite thing to do on his birthday is “get with family and friends and party.” Kraus explained when he was 6 years old, he helped his school collect Christmas presents for underprivileged children. He recalled asking his mother, “What do poor kids do on their birthdays?” It was that thought that in- spired the 2u Fund, which Kraus founded at age 7. He explained the 2u Fund works by providing stickers through the Luzerne Founda- tion to children for use on their birthday party invitations. The stickers request that instead of gifts, invitees make small dona- tions to the fund. “It’s really easy,” he told the assembly. “Anyone can do it - Richie Kraus, founder of the 2u Fund, speaks to students at Dallas Middle School about how they can help underprivi- leged children have happy birthdays. “I think it's a very original idea and | would definitely think about participating.” Ethan Zawatski DMS student even you.” Now 12, Kraus will soon cele- brate his bar mitzvah, a coming- of-age ceremony in the Jewish religion, and is promoting par- ticipation in the 2u Fund as part of his mitzvah, or good deed project. His spiritual leader, Rabbi Roger Lerner, of Temple B'nai B'rith in Kingston, introduced Kraus at the beginning of the as- sembly, speaking briefly to the students about what Jewish education is like. After his speech, Kraus an- swered several questions from students about the fund and how to get involved. He also left See DMS, Page 11 ELIZABETH BAUMEISTER PHOTOS/ THE DALLAS POST Richie Kraus, left, founder of the 2u Fund, displays an informa- tion card while visiting with Dallas Middle School students, from left, Ethan Zawatski, Emily Farrell and Zach Palfey. Party for a good cause he Seventh Annual Com- munity Cares for Kids Car- nivale was held Jan. 19 at the Westmoreland Club in Wilkes-Barre. The event benefits an organization founded by plas- tic surgeon Dr. Francis Collini and his wife, Susan, of Shaver- town. Since 1977, Dr. Collini and a medical team have gone to Ecuador each year to operate on children desperately in need of corrective surgery. They work around the clock for a week every summer, taking with them not only medical personnel but all medical and surgical supplies. In 2006, with the opening of a new ambulatory surgery center in Shavertown, Dr. Collini and the volunteers have expanded their humanitarian mission by bring- ing children from other parts of the world to the Back Mountain facility. EXTREME RIGHT PHOTO: Carol Sweeney, of Harveys Lake, has palm reader Louise Fontaine, of Coal Twp., read her hand during the annual Community Cares for Kids benefit dinner and dance at the Westmoreland Club in Wilkes-Barre. a A poster at the event shows how Community Cares for Kids sends local doctors and nurses to South American countries for much-needed cosmetic operations. A CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Susan and Dr. Francis Collini, Dallas, dress appropriately for the Seventh Annual Community Cares for Kids Carnivale. CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST This highway sign on Route 415 in Dallas near the entrance to the EImcrest Development is in need of repair. i, Can someone help repair sign? By DOTTY MARTIN dmartin@mydallaspost.com Rev. Jim Pall is upset. Every day on his way to work as chaplain at the State Correctional Institute at Dal- las, he passes the sign on the Dallas Highway in front of the Elmcrest Development. And every day, he notices the sign is in need or repair. He would like to see someone take on re- pair of the sign as a project. Rev. Pall, whose mother, Jean Marie Pall, was the jus- tice of the peace in the Back Mountain at one time, remem- bers when the sign was erect- ed. Because there were so many accidents on the high- way at the time and so many people were either injured or killed in those accidents, Pall thought, for the longest time, that the sign was erected to honor them. It wasn’t until he became a young man that he came to un- derstand the sign pays hom- age to service men and wom- en, first responders and the heroic. Rev. Pall and The Dallas Post are seeking someone - perhaps a high school student working on a senior comple- tion project or a Boy Scout hoping to earn his Eagle Scout bad to tak i f n this sign as their project. But we're wondering — who erected the sign in the first place, who funded it and who owns the land where it sits? If you can answer any of these questions or you're in- terested in taking on the re- pair of the sign, call The Dal- las Post at 675-5211 and we’ll help you get started. 098151200798 =o
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