Briarcliff Manor – March 16, 2010 - Everyone has the power to change lives.

And it really doesn’t take much. Just ask those at Elant at Brandywine, a Briarcliff Manor non-profit nursing home and rehabilitation center. Both residents and staff there helped to collect roughly $650 over several weeks recently.

Some may not think that’s much, but it turns out that it is just enough to send a child in Namibia to school. In fact, Shalet Xagus was able to begin Grade 6 at A.I. Steenkamp Primary School last month, thanks to the efforts of the Brandywine crew.

“The residents now feel as if they have adopted their own African child,” said Elant at Brandywine Associate Administrator Maura Brennan. “We are really looking forward to Shalet’s letters as she shares her progress throughout the school year."

The fundraising idea sprouted from the mind of Jackie Rittie, an Elant at Brandywine rehabilitation aide who wanted to assist those less fortunate. To help facilitate the effort, the Rehabilitation department reached out to Erica Frerking, the 20-year-old daughter of Vivian Frerking, Elant at Brandywine’s Rehabilitation director.

Erica, a graduate of Ossining High School who is currently a student at SUNY Cortland, has spent three months in Namibia (two months in high school and a month during her freshman year of college) working at a center for AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children.

Erica worked with the Elant at Brandywine staff and Ossining native MaryBeth Gallagher, who has traveled the world with the Maryknoll lay missionaries and has worked in Namibia as a Maryknoll volunteer, to work out the fundraising details.

The efforts of the staff and residents were rewarded recently when Gallagher brought in updates about Shalet’s progress in school and details about her various activities.

“Shalet is just an average kid. She's young, and smiles all the time, and is eager to go to school and learn. It is heart-warming to me that people here want to help and give of themselves to do that, even though they've never met her before,” Erica said. “It just makes me smile to see how generous people are, and how easy it can be to connect to another person, no matter their age, or their color, or where they come from.”

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Elant, Inc., a community-based, not-for-profit organization, is a leading provider of services for older adults and chronically ill people of all ages. Elant is a comprehensive network of organizations that provides a full range of health and housing services to the Hudson Valley and beyond. On any given day, Elant serves more than 3,500 people through its network of communities, home care agencies, and services. Elant’s mission is to provide personalized, high-quality care and lifestyle options to persons of diverse generations, cultures, means, and needs.