Mission of Variety the Children's Charity

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Good day everyone and happy holidays as we are celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, I wish you all a very, very happy holiday. And you know what I'm going to say, right? A safe holiday. Be safe. Wear that mask. You know, I know it's hard this year because we have to also social distance, but keep in mind that, you know, there is no barriers in distance on love. So happy holidays to everyone. Hey, Yoshiko Dart, how many years is this now, like 4, that I've been sending a shout out to you on every single show? Yoshiko, this is the 30th year of the signing of the ADA, and, uh, you know, the late great Justin Dart, her husband, and she were instrumental in working behind the scenes for years to bring that to reality. So, we all love you, Yoshiko, and I made you a promise that I'm going to make sure everyone remembers our history, and that's what I do on every radio show. And hey, a special shout out to Richard Roberts in Japan, Gangyong in South Korea, Cheryl Harris in Tunisia, and to Veniamin in Kazakhstan. I wish all of my friends with the State Department a wonderful and safe holiday, and you are all advocates. You are all leading the way. And you know, we have listeners in so many different countries. Amazing, the largest listener is in the largest country, China. So, I always tell people though, even if there's one person in a country, one person, it starts with one person that makes a difference. And thank you so much because you are helping me spread the news of quality of life for people with disabilities. So, make sure you keep it going. And you know, hi, Mark. Oh my goodness, lead sponsor for so many years now. Thank you, Highmark. And Peoples, a new sponsor this year, as was Wells Fargo and the Employment Options. We have come a— from 17 years ago, a long, long way. So everyone, oh my goodness, talk about the holiday season. When I think about this, organization and the CEO. Oh, we're talking holiday all year, not just this week or next. We're talking about the king of holiday, and I am just— I love him. He's also my friend, so get ready. Yes, I'm biased. I am so thrilled to have the chief executive officer of Variety, the Children's Cherry Charity, Charlie Lavallee, as my guest today. Welcome to the show, Charlie.

Thanks, Joyce. And as Joyce knows, I'm still working with the board. I would prefer to be the chief excitement officer, but I'm stuck with that chief executive officer. But I have something special for your listeners. I don't know if they all know, but Joyce had a birthday recently, and, uh, a dear friend of mine, Mr. Rogers had a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday, and he would say, "I'm so very glad you were born." So Joyce, on behalf of all your friends, the team, people around the world whose lives you've changed, um, the Bender Leadership Academy, friends like me, how you've impacted Variety in our work for kids with disabilities, I just want to start today's program saying we are also very glad you were born and that you're a gift to us. Thank you, Joyce, for all that you're doing. And having been on the Bender holiday party virtual event recently and hearing what's happened for the kids who've been bullied and what they're gaining through the Bender Leadership Academy, we really, all of us, are so very glad Joyce Bender was born. So thank you for letting me have that moment to say that.

What a really special Oh, so it means so much to me, Charlie. That was so beautiful what you said, and I want to say something about Bender Leadership Academy. What have you always said, Charlie? Someday the kids from Variety will continue on and someday work for Bender. So I see them as they go through and get ready to graduate from high school from the Bender Leadership Academy and go on to college or community college or whatever will be, but what a great partnership we have with you at Variety. So Charlie is CEO of Variety, the Children's Charity. I'm very, very honored to be a board member, and I 100% endorse this organization, but many of you are not familiar with Variety. I got to say one thing though, Before Charlie came here to Pittsburgh, I'd say to people, do you know Variety? No, I never heard of Variety. What's Variety? Then along came Charlie, and then along came— we're in the news, TV, newspaper, radio. We are constantly out there because of him. So now, yes, I know who Variety is. So Charlie, why don't you share with our listeners what the mission is of Variety.

Thanks, Joyce. Yeah, I think if we start really with the problem, and there's no criticism or blame in this, but I'd say the typical American or someone around the world shares the same feeling. Human beings, unless we've had contact with a child with disabilities or an adult with disabilities, we don't really understand the challenge. So what is really important is if we're going to, as Joyce Bender does, give people with disabilities a pathway to self-sufficiency through a job, or as what we're doing for kids, giving them adaptive mobility equipment or communication devices, we have to come back and start with that they're is a hidden problem. And people, because we haven't had contact, we don't know. And I've— I look at my wife's family. She has a sister who's 53 who has Down syndrome. Well, it's no surprise then her older brother just retired of being a special ed teacher. Her older sister just retired from 40-plus years as a special ed teacher and a principal of a school for kids with disabilities and behavioral challenges. My wife's a psychologist. Well, what— why? Our daughter is a special ed teacher in Pittsburgh Public. It all goes back to Kathy, Sister Kathy or Aunt Kathy. So I think part of the challenge is we don't have contact, and so the challenges that people with disabilities face are not known to us until it becomes real. Typically someone in our family or in our neighborhood or in our church. So for Variety here, we're committed to enabling kids with disabilities to live life to the fullest. And that means making sure they are included so that they— we're providing adaptive bikes so that when everybody else gets their bike, our kids aren't sitting on the porch going, "I wish I was out there." They get their bike and they're out there too. And so yeah, I think our goal is to provide in these three areas, which I can talk more about, enabling kids to be included and to participate as fully as possible with their family, with their friends, in school, in the broader community.

And it is all about inclusion, isn't it? Because Charlie, an example, before we move on, example you could give, remember how you always told me what it's like to see your sister or friends out there, which you're going to be talking about a bike in a moment, but to be able to join, that is all about inclusion. Maybe to understand this clearer, how about if you talk about the programs that Variety has, and then you can expound on that more.

Okay, so what we discovered back in 2012 are Variety organization in Pittsburgh was that, as Joyce Bender is saying, kids are being left out. They're sitting on the sidelines. So we launched a program called My Bike Program, which provides adaptive bikes to kids with disabilities at no cost to the family. And I'm excited to say we set our income guidelines high, although 1 out of 3 of our kids live in families with no disposable income. Not counting having a child with disabilities and how much more expensive it is. That's just the reality. And, um, but by having higher incomes, we got not only low-income families who have a child with disabilities, but middle-income families. Like, I'll never forget one time a mom said to me, Charlie, do you want to understand? I said, yes, please tell me. Let me see life from your perspective. She said, our son is in a power wheelchair, and we have to have an adaptive van. She said, the monthly payment for the adaptive van is more than our mortgage. So while my husband and I would want to buy the bike for our son, there's no leftover dollars. And I said, I get it. Who could have a car payment that's more than your mortgage? It almost sounds absurd. But she said, that's what we have to do because we have to get him out. And into the community. And not to get ahead of ourselves, but I'll never forget when mom and dad lifted him out of that power wheelchair and he rode with 20 other kids in the bike parade, so proud of himself, grinning from ear to ear because he could do it and he was included. And so that's where it really started for us, was with these adaptive bikes, which had been life-changing. And I just had a boy recently who, because he had the adaptive bike, he was able to make friends in the neighborhood that he never made before. So it's exactly to Joyce Bender's point, the bike is a pathway to inclusion, to a pathway to relationships, a pathway for him to feel good about himself just like other kids. Yeah, that's the first program.

Yeah, and on that first program Um, um, it has impacted so many people, hasn't it? So many families.

Yeah, over 2,000 kids have gotten bikes. And we had a very cute scene recently. We were giving out bikes in a very rural part of Pennsylvania, which, to your listeners around the world, this can be done in rural communities as well as urban communities, because we're only doing a couple of things: creating awareness, finding the kids, finding the funds. But these two girls, young girls, both got pink bikes and they were given out in a very safe environment with public health guidance. And in the middle of this big gym for these two girls was a hand sanitizing station. But they met because they had bikes for the first time, they're wearing their masks, but what happened was the hand sanitizing station in the middle of the gym became their drive-through to Chick-fil-A, their drive-through to McDonald's. So one would say to the other one, "I'm going to the drive-through. Do you want to come?" And here are these two girls just meeting, creating a friendship while they're riding bikes and pretending like 6-year-old girls do. And it was just very, very cool to see that happening spontaneously on the site because the partners we had in this case from Intermediate Unit 29 in the middle of Pennsylvania. And so again, over and over, we're kind of bearing out Joyce Bender's point that it's about inclusion. And not to minimize it, inclusion is revolutionary for every one of us. We need to be included. And if we talked about it, we know how painful it is when you feel like you're the one who's left out, excluded, sitting on the sidelines. So I mean, I think what we're doing, it's wonderful for the kids and for the families. Who are so thrilled to see their children making friends or being able to ride with their cousins and siblings. You know, and so what seemed to me from the very beginning something small, I've learned is something massive for the kids and their families. And it goes back to Joyce Bender's point, inclusion. And also, there's a sense of mastery. These kids haven't been able to ride a bike, so when they can finally do it with these adaptive bikes they give them, they feel really good about themselves. And don't we want every child to feel good about herself? Every child.

You know, I had mentioned, uh, to Charlie that they showed on TV today a little girl getting— a little girl with Down syndrome getting a baby doll from her mother as a gift. And that baby doll was a baby doll with Down syndrome. And I am telling you what, she gave it to her daughter and she said, "Here's someone like you." And this little girl was overwhelmed. You know, when you see a little doll and the doll is like other dolls that are sold, whether they're Barbie dolls or whatever they are, and look, this is normal. Look at this, they sell this doll at the store too. Wow, what a difference that can make. And why I brought that up, Charlie, is was it Emily? Who was that, that when they got on the bike they called their dad? Years ago, the first—

Oh, yeah, that was really precious. So Emily, she was 13, had Down syndrome, and she came to trial getting ready for her bike. And she gets on, and her mom's saying to me, Charlie, I don't know if she's going to be able to do this or not. Well, Emily gets on and she rides, and she stops, and she looks at her mother while she's on the bike, and she says, Mom, can we call Dad? So Mom did a great job, gets out her cell phone, calls Dad. He answers. Emily goes, Dad! We don't hear what he says, and then we hear Emily again, I just rode a bike for the very first time! And then the next thing that happened is we don't hear Dad again. We hear Emily say, "I'm on it right now!" In other words, "No kidding, Dad, I really did do that." And what was beautiful, that was 8 years ago, um, uh, on December 20th. And, um, when I told that story, and when Emily was getting her own bike, that was at the fitting her father was there and just crying. It was a really beautiful moment, and they were all so proud of her, and she was proud of herself. I rode a bike for the very first time. Yeah, thanks for remembering that, Joyce, because we just hit the anniversary of that date where we gave away those 81 bikes, our first presentation on December 20th, just a couple days ago, back in 2012. And, uh, it was exciting to relive that joyful chaos moment.

Well, you know what? One of those baby dolls is an American Girl doll, so that is really awesome. That is awesome. Okay, well, Charlie, we have another program. What is that?

Our second mobility program is the My Stroller program, and it provides an adaptive stroller for on-the-go mobility. And honestly, I really didn't recognize immediately the value of it. And I would fortunately wanna give credit to the folks at the Jack Buncher Foundation, Bernita and Bill and Karen. They just kept saying to me, "Charlie, there's an unmet need here." And I appreciate their commitment, their sensitivity. And what we found out is when you drill down and look at it a little bit, if you get a piece of mobility equipment through insurance, you're not gonna get another piece of mobility equipment for 4 or 5 years. So for sake of the argument, if you need a wheelchair, 'cause you're gonna sit in that wheelchair all day at school, you're gonna need positioning and all the things that go with having a wheelchair. But what happened also was there was a 10-year-old boy who was getting, Connor, who was getting his adaptive bike, And his grandmother came for that, and she looked at the stroller and she said, Charlie, I need the stroller. And I said, well, why do you say that? She said, he's a runner, like an eloper. He'll just take off. He's 10. He's too fast for me. I can't— no longer am I able to take him out by myself. And I said, where do you want to go? She said, look, I'm not trying to go to Paris or somewhere. I'm not trying to go to somewhere else around the world. I'm just trying to spend some moments with my 10-year-old grandson and go to the Dairy Queen ice cream store. And honestly, it just didn't seem to make sense to me that kids were not able to go out with their grandmothers because of the challenge they had. So, these adaptive strollers have given kids great mobility, whether they're going to a doctor's appointment, because you can collapse it up. It goes right in the trunk. It's only 29 pounds. When I watch these mothers lifted for the first time, they're always going, "Ah," because it's not the 150-pound or more wheelchair, it's just given great mobility. Brothers are taking their brother or sister out with special needs. They're going to hockey games when that resumes, that's what was happening, or to the Giant Eagle. Obviously, everything's different during the pandemic, but I remember one boy, He just wanted to go pick out his own cereal with his mother and sister. Well, why shouldn't he be able to? Why shouldn't he be included to be able to go to the grocery store just like anybody else? And what was happening was we would see kids in these, like, infant strollers, but their legs are dangling, so it was unsafe. So the adaptive stroller, though I didn't recognize it in the beginning, it's been revolutionary for the families. It enables the kids— a number of them have gotten Make-A-Wish trips, have been able to go to Disney World with it, or they're able to go to somewhere like an amusement park, like in Pittsburgh would be Kennywood, because you could walk some, sit some, walk some, sit some. So they get some exercise, but then they can rest so they can still be included with the broader family. And even as I talk today, Joyce Bender's point, it just keeps coming out of me. It's about inclusion. Because that's what we see. And I remember a mom one time, we gave her— right before Mother's Day, we gave her son an adaptive stroller. And she said, "Charlie, we haven't been out to dinner in years." On Sunday night of Mother's Day, she sends a picture to me of her son. They're out to dinner. And she says— she texted to me— and he's sitting at the dinner table, out to eat, in the stroller. And I'll never forget her words, "Charlie, best Mother's Day ever." How do you measure that we gave them that opportunity to be out and how great she felt and the hope it gave her for a richer life for her son, that he wasn't trapped in the house anymore?

There's another phrase that I could put on that. That— there is no price tag. What else, Charlie?

Well, then what happened that, um, was really, um, striking to me— and again, I'm learning, I'm not a physical therapist or an occupational therapist or a speech-language pathologist— but a girl we gave her bike to, Fat Patty. I just saw her picture. 'cause we were looking through some pictures. She got her bike on December 20th in 2012. And a year after she got her bike, her mom called me and said, "Charlie, I wanna tell you an experience I had today with my daughter's teacher." I said, "Well, please tell me." She said, "The teacher told me my daughter," and she's nonverbal, she said, "Your daughter's telling stories in school using a communication device." The mom said to me, I want to tell you what I told the teacher. I said, well, what was it? She said, I've never heard my daughter tell a story. I would love to hear my daughter tell a story. And I said, well, let me look into it. And I'd be interested— I hope your listeners around the world respond to you about this— but so I checked into it in Pennsylvania, and I think it's true like this in other parts of the United States. And perhaps the world, it'd be interesting to hear. But I found out that in many school districts, unfortunately due to funding, children who are nonverbal or have a communication disorder have to share their communication device. So 45 minutes, then you give it to the next child. And I remember saying to those administrators, look, I'm not judging you, I'm just trying to understand. I said, but are you telling me a child only has a voice 45 minutes a day. And they said, yes, that's right, due to funding constraints. So then I went to some other school districts and I found kids could have it all day long, the communication device, but they couldn't take it home. So I said to those administrators, let me make sure I understand. So this child can use this device to talk to her teachers and to her peers But at 2:20, she's got to turn it off and leave it at school and goes home and can't talk to mom and dad, brothers and sisters, grandma and grandpa. They said, yes, that's right. And I remember, in fact, I'm sitting in the room right now as we work remotely where my mom's first hospital bed was. And, um, unfortunately she's gone on and at peace in heaven. And but I came into this room that I'm sitting in right now and I told her what I just told you, Joyce, and your listeners. And I'll never forget it because she looked at me— this would have been in 2013— she looked at me when I told her about what was happening to kids and she said, 'You know that's wrong, don't you?' She said, 'Every child should have a voice 24/7.' And then apparently, and maybe many of your listeners have had this experience with their own mothers, I didn't move quickly enough to do something and she gave me that mom look What are you still doing standing here? Go do something about this. I said, okay, Mom, I'm gonna get— you're gonna get back to work, and, uh, I will see you later. And, uh, but what I love about it is I reflect on that 7 years later. It was so clear to her. She didn't want to hear about revenue streams. She didn't want to hear about where the money would be coming from. To her, it was simple. Every child should have a voice 24/7. And if it's not their own voice, then we need to work to give them some type of alternative communication. And, um, the things that have happened with the communication device have been beyond my wildest dreams, but it all started with understanding. And I think it is a question for all of us in America and around the world: is this acceptable that a child doesn't have a voice? That a child can't tell his mom or dad when he's in pain, or what he wants to eat, or, or where she'd like to go, or that she'd like to spend some time with Grandma. I mean, is this okay? And I hope that, you know, many, many, many of us will follow along the line with my mother. No, every child should have a voice 24/7, and we can figure out how to do this in America. In China, like you were saying, all your listeners around the world, we could do this if we prioritize it.

Yeah. And isn't that the truth? And you know what I love is the "we can do this." And we can, we can do it. But you know, when you're listening, I have something I have to say right now before we go to our break. You can't do these things without funds. You know, you can't. And here we are helping all these kids that now have a voice, have a bike. Can't do it without funds. So, Charlie, what's the website?

The website is Variety, V-A-R-I-E-T-Y Pittsburgh, P-I-T-T-S-B-U-R-G-H.org. And any of your listeners who would love to donate online, we'd love to have their support. They can specify the program if one means more to them than another— My Bike, My Stroller, My Voice, or Wherever Needed Most— varietypittsburgh.org. And quite frankly, there's information on there, and we can come back to this after break, but we had a news story one time that we heard from millions of people watched it, and we heard from people around the world wanting to know how they got the communication device for their child. Not that we can do it, but I think there's a greater need around the world, in the United States, but also around the world, for kids to have a voice. And I, I encourage people to go to our website and learn more about it.

Oh yes, I definitely know there are children around the world that I call being in prison. When you know what you want to say and you can't say it. So thanks, Charlie, and we'll be right back with you. But right now on the half hour is our newsbreak with someone I admire very much, Perijude Radosik, who once again another year has done a stellar job. You know, in this country we don't have a source where we can go one place and hear news across the board, what's happening. By the way, on a timely basis. But you do now. So advocacy matters. Perry Jude, are you with us?

Joyce, I am, and happy to be here, and, and thanks for all that you do for us, uh, for another year, uh, as well.

Thank you for your great work.

Thank you. And by the way, I'm a board member also of Disability Rights of Pennsylvania, where Perry Jude is the CEO, and she is our rock star there. So, Perry, what do you have for us today?

Well, Joyce, it happened this very morning at 1:45 Eastern Time. The United States Senate confirmed what the House of Representatives did, and they passed the long-awaited COVID stimulus package. Uh, it's a $900 billion COVID stimulus package. I think most of America has been waiting for this COVID stimulus package since the last one in April. And so before members left, uh, on their designated work periods and holiday break And I just want to say quickly, they don't come back until January 3rd, 2021. They did really 3 things. They passed the appropriations to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year. That is through the end of September 30th. That's the end of September 2021. They reauthorized some programs, and they passed the COVID bill. Package. And so COVID relief is really in all three of the things that they did, the funding for the fiscal year, some reauthorizations, and the COVID relief. So between those three things, I think we can say that we didn't get everything people with disabilities, our families, and the business community wanted, but we got some of what we wanted. Important because what we did achieve is that we kept people employed. We get to keep a roof over our heads. We get to afford groceries. People with disabilities get to apply for the one-time direct payments for unemployment benefits, and we get those one-time payments that will be coming to us, with that sigh of relief for those who need it most urgently. So what's in this package for people with disabilities? As I alluded to, you can find all of this information at disabilityrightspa.org. We have a link to this bill, and I have to warn you, it's over 5,000 pages long. We have summaries. You 5,000 pages long.

Oh, who can write that?

So big. I know. Well, a lot of members of Congress wrote that legislation.

Oh my goodness.

No matter— we have a summary.

No wonder it takes so long to get it passed, just to read it.

Just to read it, to write it. We have a summary from the Republican Ways and Means members of the Republican side of the Ways and Means Committee in the House. We have the Democratic side appropriations fact sheets on this legislation. We have a press release just related to SNAP, the increases people are going to see in SNAP benefits. So besides this very, very long bill, so what's in it exactly? Well, there's money to speed up the redistribution of COVID vaccines to as many people as possible. There is the extended Paycheck Protection Program, which we hope keeps people with disabilities employed. There's funding for minority and small business lending. So those small businesses that are run by people with disabilities that have been certified as minority and women-owned small businesses should look for that with the Small Business Administration. They extended the eviction moratorium through January 31st, 2020. So that's great news, at least one more month where there's a moratorium on evictions. There is a new round of direct payments to adults, and for those who have children, there's a $600 payment per child. And they did a better thing here, Joyce. There's no cap on the amount you can receive per child. And there are some income thresholds here. Again, if you go to disabilityrightspa.org and look at our show for today, you can find those income thresholds. But if you have 5 children, each child You'll get $600 per child and $600 per adult up to the income thresholds. There are additional benefits for SNAP. And what we don't have is support for state and local governments. We don't have— and we don't have, you know, a lot for home and community-based services. So I want to say there's still a lot of work to be done. And you know what, advocacy matters. While we say the glass is half full here with this, and there's still a lot of work to do, we know President-elect Biden will be acting early in 2021 to work with the new Congress, I'm sure, to get a new package together early. So the new Congress is sworn in on January 3rd. The inauguration is January 20th, and we'll look forward at advocacy matters for a new package early in the new year.

Now, Perry Jude, are the— this stimulus COVID package, is this going to small businesses again? Is that what you're saying?

Absolutely. It's going to go to large businesses for sure, but also the Congress really wanted to direct money to small businesses and ensure that small businesses had a piece of the Paycheck Protection Program. It even did more for small and large businesses up to 500 employees. There's a tax credit program called the Employee Retention Tax Credit so that businesses can keep employees on on the payroll, that program was expiring the end of this month, and it's being reauthorized. And there are— they've expanded the program so that instead of a $10,000 cap per employee, it's $10,000 per quarter now. And so that tax credit program actually grew. So there's a lot for businesses in this to keep employees on the payroll. And, you know, for people with disabilities, this is good news.

Well, why I'm asking you that is, unlike my company, Bender Consulting Services, which, as you know, is a for-profit company that works on finding employment for people with disabilities, and as you also know, I'm a woman living with epilepsy.— but unlike Bender Consulting Services, there are disability-owned businesses that are only maybe 2 people, you know, very small, that need help. And so how do they— what do they— if they go to your website, is any of this information available to them?

So I did not— honestly, I didn't draw down that deeply for businesses. I would send people to the Small Business Administration to look in the coming weeks for more guidance around how these programs have unfolded for small businesses and where people can go for loans for small businesses.

Well, that makes perfect sense. So if you are one of these companies, any small business, but, you know, many of my friends that I'm talking to— you know, you should immediately go to the Small Business Administration website and keep in touch. And then for all of our listeners at large, if you go to disabilityrightspa.org, you can go to the advocacy matters site, and there is always information out there, uh, from from our radio show and our Newsbreak with Perry. So Perry, Jude, thank you so much for that news, and I wish you a very happy, healthy holiday.

You too, Joyce, uh, and take care.

All right, bye-bye. Great news, right, Charlie?

Oh, so exciting, and she did such a terrific job of of being clear about what, what was going, what has happened and the impact of it.

Yeah, she does a great job. And Charlie, when you were talking about these programs, uh, and you were talking about the differences being made for the kids, you know, the first thing I always think about is the breakfast. Do you know what I'm talking about? The child asked— the child that could not say what he went for breakfast before.

Yeah, well, yes, he— his mom had been— his grandmother who made, made breakfast for him every day. And then we have— I'll give you a follow-up, another one that happened. We have, um, his grandmother made him eggs every day because she thought he liked it. Once he got his communication device, she said to him, did she want— did he want eggs? And he said no, and she was shocked. And he used the device and he said he wanted pancakes.

Well, that's a perfect illustration.

We all want to be able to choose for ourselves. This boy Tyler that I'm sure we'll talk about, he was 6 only had 2 words with autism, and when he got his communication device, thanks to the help of his speech-language pathologist, I'll never forget it. His mom calls me on the phone and says, "Charlie, Tyler just told me what he wants to eat for the first time." I said, "Well, what was it?" She said, she's laughing, she says, "2 hot dogs and strawberry milk." And I said, "Well, why are you laughing?" She said, "Well, now I know why he was always mad at me. I would only give him one and he wanted 2 hot dogs." And there's Grandpa in the background going, And Grandpa's going, "And yeah, Charlie, I didn't know he, um, likes strawberry milk." And I said, "Well, how could you? He couldn't tell you." And again, Joyce, to your point, the next thing he did over the next 2 days— he had sisters who were a year or 2 older than him— he used his device and said, "Will you play a game with me?" So instead of doing parallel play where they were in the same room but not interacting, His device let him play with his sisters. And then the next night, mom sends me a video, the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team here, professional hockey team in Pittsburgh, was in the playoffs, this was a couple years ago. They're sitting on the couch, these 3 kids, they're all cheering, "Let's go Pens, let's go Pens." Tyler was using his device, but back to your point, point. He was included. He wasn't left out. He used his device. And I'll never forget it as it continued with him. I was in their home when he said to his grandmother for the first time using his device, "I love you, Nana." And she just started sobbing. She said, "Charlie, I know he loves me, but he could tell me." And it's great to hear. So that has— I don't know if you want to talk about it now, but that story has a pretty dramatic ending.

No, go right ahead.

Well, it continues. Tyler is just making great progress with his communication device, with his family, and they thought he was always going to have it, and they were thrilled because they knew it opened the potential for his whole life. Even if he never got and spoke with his own voice, he had a device, he could participate We, we give it to the kids in an indestructible case. They have a strap, they can put it on their shoulder, kind of like wherever they go they could take their voice with them, if that makes sense, if your listeners can imagine that. Well, so they were, they were thrilled. Well, over an 18-month period, he went from 2 words to— last year we had a press conference, it happened to follow my birthday And he sang me "Happy Birthday" with his own voice. Oh, I mean, that was so awesome. Another 65 years. I'll never have another birthday like that. Yeah, I mean, that's— To see where he went with only two words.

Yeah.

To singing "Happy Birthday." Two words.

I mean, that one story alone should make everyone right now say, OK, for the holiday, I'm making a donation to Variety. At what website again, Charlie?

Thank you for asking. VarietyPittsburgh.org. There's a place to donate. There's also a place to find out more about the programs. Because who knows, I think one of the coolest things that could happen from today, somebody is listening and they go, oh, that's my granddaughter who could get that, that's my nephew. And I hope if that happens to somebody, they tell us, I heard about this through Joyce Bender's radio program. I think that would be the beauty. We welcome every donation, but if through this broadcast today, through this radio program, some child gets a piece of life-changing adaptive equipment, whether it's a bike or a stroller or a communication device, um, when, when it's okay, when we can be socially distant, we're going to invite you now to walk down the street with Joyce Bender and I.

You know what, if you say and hear me now, I want you to tell everyone you know to listen to this podcast. And I'm going to have it out on LinkedIn and my social media. And Charlie, I want you to put this podcast on the website so that during this holiday season and on Especially right now, everyone's thinking, oh, I want to help, I want to give back, I want to do something during this time, and now is the time. And speaking of that, Charlie, the pandemic, which is so horrific, has that impacted Variety? And if it has, how?

It's impacted Variety in two ways. The first, I know you already know. Feel. What I would say since March, what I have seen from our families, and honestly I could almost sob starting to talk about it, the level of desperation the kids and families are feeling. Because again, I think unfortunately in our society, we know this is hard for everybody. It has impacted everybody. Whether you have a grandparent in a in an elder care facility, whether you're having to work from home, whether your kids are missing out on school, whether you're not able to hug your grandchildren, it's impacted all of us. But I think if we're really honest, and I've listened to I can't tell you how many of our parents, the pandemic has profoundly, profoundly impacted our kids. There were 1,300 kids who aged out of a high school in Pennsylvania last year when the pandemic hit. They were set back dramatically in terms of trying to make a transition into a community placement, which obviously with the pandemic continuing, their lives are still impacted. So I think the first thing is honestly, and I think we have to be willing to embrace it, it has hurt our kids. And I'll give you an example of how desperate the families are to get the equipment. About a week ago, um, a week ago Monday, I was down at Range Resources and we were giving out equipment. This mom wanted to get the second bike, which we do after 3 years. If you're still eligible, you can give us the old one back and grow into the next size. She's telling me she can't come inside, it's 34 degrees.. But she needs this bike and this adaptive stroller because the bike is where her 8-year-old is the happiest when he's riding. And we give him a stationary stand that you can ride inside, but you know, we've had some warmer weather even in the month of December. He's lost his ability to walk, so this bike means so much. If we could all stand out there as I did with that mom who crying with joy and heartache at the same time. But there we are in 34-degree weather. God bless this mother and father and sister. They came down there. We didn't go inside because their doctor advised them, because he's immunocompromised, not to be inside. But we got it, and they took it home, and they were thrilled. And so, you know, I think we have to keep reminding ourselves this is terrible on all families. And, you know, my heart is saddened for all those who've had somebody die, have somebody in the hospital today, uh, maybe are losing their, their job or their place to stay. It's terrible. But for kids with disabilities, especially in their capacity to understand, and the more challenged they are This pandemic has been nothing less than awful. And it's not saying that their parents and grandparents aren't doing the best they can, but it's just so limiting and confining. I was— a mom sobbing on the telephone with me saying, Charlie, if I could just get that stroller, my son's a runner, a bolter, I could take him outside for 10 minutes, 15 minutes. She's crying. If we can hear this with our own hearts because she wants to get her son out of the house safely for 15 minutes. And I think to myself, we can do this. We can find the ways. If we do it the right way with the guidance we're getting from the public health community, we can get the equipment out to them even in a pandemic. And I'm proud to say this quarter, October, November, December, We had as good a quarter as we have. Kids are getting equipment on pace with last year, which was our record pace. And so I'm encouraged because I think people are mobilizing and they're not willing to say, well, we just have to live with that. They're saying, no, these kids need it and they need it now. And so the pandemic has been hard, but I guess The other, the positive side, the length I'm watching these parents willing to go. We had kids, we had parents, we had one mom, her 13-year-old was getting an adaptive bike. It was the day of the 16-year-old, it was her 16th, it was her sister's 16th birthday. And I'm sure she didn't imagine driving in the car one way for an hour and 45 minutes to get her sister's bike. But you know what? That's what they did. And when they left there after watching their sister ride a bike for the first time. So I think, you know, it's sad these times. It's hard on our families. But I think we have a unique opportunity to give hope and happiness. And we should focus on the privilege we have to be a part of giving those families hope that there can be a better life, a fuller life for their kids. So the pandemic, I think, has had both. It's heartbreaking. But it's very hopeful to me as people come out of the woodwork to say, "Let's get these kids and let's help these families." Everyone knows listening to the show, it's hard to get me to endorse, uh, or anyone unless it's like Joyce Bender believes at 100%.

And not only would I endorse Variety, I just want to tell you this, Charlie is the real deal. He is a wonderful man. You know, like sometimes you want to get behind something, you're like, uh, like, do they really mean it? He really means it. He really means it. He does. He has such passion for these children. And Charlie, I have to ask you, if someone's listening to the show and they say, whether it's a stroller or the voice device or it's the bike, How do they reach out to you if they need one of those things? Well, what do they do? Do they go to the website?

Go to the website. And what happened in the last couple years, which surprised me, we even put the application online. So people can go, they can see the income guidelines, which are high, as we said, like $131,000 for a family of 4. They can also get, which surprises the families, if their therapist agrees and writes the letter, they can get adaptive bike and adaptive stroller, or adaptive bike, adaptive stroller, and communication device. We're not like limiting and saying, "Choose," or, "You can only get one." We want the kid's life to be maximized. But I was a little skeptical because for those of you listening around the world who wouldn't know, Pennsylvania has a lot of rural areas. And I wasn't sure if everybody would be able to apply online, if they would have broadband access. But right now, in the last couple years, 40% of our applications are coming online. Now, it still can be mailed in, it still can be faxed in, but I'm encouraged that that's another option for families, especially in the pandemic. So what I would encourage everybody is to check it out. You don't know. We've made the process very tailored for the therapists, so that we're not taking up hours and hours of their time. And so, yeah, I would encourage them, go to the website. It just might, it just might be true, and it might be another holiday gift. It's been fun to give this equipment out at this time of year because some of the parents are using their bikes, obviously, if they believe in Christmas, as Christmas presents. But anytime the kids get it, Yeah, I would check it out and apply online. They can see where we're located, and, um, yeah, they can also send us an email. They think they need more information, we'll respond.

All right. Hey, I hate it, but we've come to the end of the show, and you know I end every show with a quote. Charlie, guess what? I'm going to let you do the quote, and it's going to be what you have on every signature. Your quote. Go right ahead with it.

This would be from, um, Mr. Rogers. I'll quickly do two. Mr. Rogers would, would, uh, two things, and this one's about Joyce. The only unique gift you have to give is your authentic self. Thank you, Joyce, for being authentic. And then finally, Mr. Rogers would always say, anyone who does anything for a child is a hero to me. And I love that.

I love that quote. Well, hey folks, sorry, we gotta go, but I can't wait to talk to you next week when we review the year with Maria Towne and Kelly Buckland and Perry Jude. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters. At voiceamerica.com, check out Variety, the Children's Charity. Talk to you then.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters, right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.