Alyssa Sandmeier Foundation

WHO WE ARE

The Alyssa Sandmeier Foundation is home to three very special scholarships. The Alyssa Jane Sandmeier Memorial MLS/CLS Scholarship is a $1,000 scholarship for clinical laboratory science (CLS) students at the University of Nebraska Medical Center or medical laboratory science students at the Nebraska Methodist Health System. This scholarship is awarded each year to one of the program's top students. Candidates must demonstrate financial need, academic excellence, and the spirit of Christ in their daily lives.

Our second scholarship is the Kirsten Demmel Scholarship for Excellence in Pediatric Physical Therapy. Kirsten Demmel is a physical therapist it UNMC. She was the first physical therapist Alyssa encountered after receiving her bone marrow transplant in February of 2008. Kirsten has positively impacted our family and we have grown to know and love her. Although firm when the situation required it, she always treated Alyssa with kindness and patience. The Foundation is delighted to be able to offer this scholarship. The Kirsten Demmel Scholarship is a $1,500 scholarship for physical therapy students entering their 3rd clinical year at UNMC, intent on working with children for a significant portion of their careers.

Our third scholarship takes the form of a $600 creative writing competition. Alyssa loved to read and write. Before her passing she started writing a fantasy novel entitled The Chronicles of Alexandria. With just under 70 pages written by hand the task remains unfinished. To the ordinary person this may not seem like much, however, Alyssa was coping with severe hand pain at the time due to her graft vs. host disease. As much as it hurt, she would continue to write. The Foundation is very excited to offer this scholarship in memory of Alyssa and her love for writing. Eligible candidates will be college-bound seniors from central Nebraska high schools. The entries will be judged in the Spring by a panel of writers, high school English teachers, and college English professors.

PURPOSE

The purpose of The Alyssa Sandmeier Foundation is to provide funding for individuals, organizations, and activities in which Alyssa showed a particular interest, or that simply played a significant role in Alyssa's life. In fulfilling the purpose of this foundation it is the desire of the foundation board, as it was Alyssa's desire, to honor Jesus Christ by constantly drawing attention to Him in all the efforts and activities of this foundation. One of the ways this foundation draws attention to Jesus is by sharing Alyssa's hope with all those in need. Please click on the link provided below to connect with Alyssa's Hope.

WHAT ARE WE UP TO NOW

The Alyssa Sandmeier Foundation celebrates two very special days each year: Alyssa's birthday on April 17th, and her eternal homegoing on September 1st. We affectionately refer to these days as Lissy Day and Super Lissy Day, respectively.

Super Lissy Day 2015 brought back fond memories for the Sandmeier family of their time attending the Nebraska Medical Center for Alyssa's many appointments and treatments. A check for $500 was made out to Nebraska Medicine for the Pediatric Oncology Patient/Family Need Account. On more than one occasion Alyssa's family was blessed with a gas card that would get them home one more time. By God's grace the pediatric oncology social workers would always seem to know just when our need was the greatest. What an opportunity for the Foundation to bless others in their same situation. With these funds the social workers will have several $25 and $50 VISA debits cards with which to bless many other families as we have been blessed. Please continue to pray for these families as they endure struggles that are all too familiar.

For Lissy Day 2015 the Foundation has donated $500 to the Camp Quality Heartland craft room. If you haven't yet read what follows, as you do you'll notice our Lissy and Super Lissy Day donations always total $500. What a thrill for us to then see that Camp Quality Heartland was requesting this very amount to stock their craft room with supplies for 2015. Alyssa was always counted among the children that spent much of their time at camp in the craft room, partly because she enjoyed crafts, but mostly because aspects of her disease demanded she stay out of the sun as much as possible. Obviously, the Foundation is delighted to provide these much needed funds for the enjoyment of campers just like Lyssa. To find out more about Camp Quality Heartland just click the link below.

On September 1, 2014 the Foundation had the opportunity to present Kaycee Hartley with a $500 scholarship to the Word of Life Bible Institute in Hudson, Florida. You can connect with Word of Life at their website: www.wordoflife.edu. As long as we've known Kaycee she has wanted to devote her life to Christ and His mission on earth. What a privilege to financially support one of His missionaries as she takes this next step in her journey toward advancing His kingdom.

The Foundation celebrated April 17, 2014 by donating $500 to the Timberlake Ranch Camp Horsemanship program. We requested these funds be used for underprivileged children. Alyssa loved horses. She never was able to experience Horsemanship camp for herself, but we're convinced she would have loved it. We honor Jesus Christ by remembering the person He transformed by His life, death, and resurrection. We believe Alyssa would have been very pleased to see other, less fortunate, children have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty and strength of Timberlake's horses up close.

The Foundation is celebrating September 1st, 2013, by donating $500 worth of books to the Alice M. Farr library in Aurora, NE. The books are Christian fiction and non-fiction intended for the youth of our community. Alyssa loved to read and we're sure she would be proud to have so many quality Christian titles in her local library.

The Foundation has chosen to celebrate April 17, 2013 by presenting the Hamilton County Food Pantry with a check in the amount of $500. The Foundation counts it a distinct privilege to honor Jesus Christ by remembering Alyssa's heart for those less fortunate than herself, a heart derived only from the one who is Lord of all and Savior to many, Jesus Christ.

VISION FOR THE FUTURE

At this time The Alyssa Sandmeier Foundation awards three scholarships each year. One for a CLS student at either UNMC or Methodist, one for a 3rd year physical therapy student at UNMC, and one as part of a creative writing competition for local, college-bound high school seniors. As the foundation grows and our funding increases we will begin to provide additional scholarships for other allied health professions and increase the amounts of the current scholarships. Specifically recognizing and awarding individuals that show the character of Christ in their daily lives and seek to bring hope and courage to children whose lives are impacted by cancer. The Foundation would also like to support efforts such as Christian missions globally and locally, and Bible donation and translation, as well as helping to feed and clothe the poor and homeless in our community. Other programs that were special to Alyssa include: Camp Quality Heartland, Give Kids the World Village, Make-A-Wish, Hampton Lutheran School, etc. We look forward to growing our endowment, enabling the Foundation to support these wonderful programs that mean so much to Alyssa's family.

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