SAVE THE KID FUND INC

aka Save the Kid / Robbies Riders   |   East Lyme, CT   |  www.savethekid.org

Mission

Save The Kid Fund (STK) is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of children who have physical, medical, educational and economic challenges. We are committed to providing these children with opportunities that create a more positive living environment that will enable them to live more comfortable lives and reach their potential to the extent possible.

Notes from the nonprofit

Save the Kid is a dedicated organization to funding the support needs of children with disabilities. Our organization is a 501c3 all-volunteer organization the has a very low (usually <3%) overhead that serves children up to the age of 22. Our most popular and exclusive program is Robbie's Riders, which provides therapeutic and adaptive cycles to children. We regularly service all of CT and RI and southeastern FL.

Ruling year info

1986

President

Tina Pappalardo

Vice President

Heather Dierberger

Main address

153 Boston Post Rd #455

East Lyme, CT 06333 USA

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EIN

06-1158140

NTEE code info

Children's and Youth Services (P30)

Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (L12)

Health (General and Financing) (E80)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Many children with disabilities require an abundance of support in medical interventions, therapies, adaptive equipment, and financial support to cover those expenses. We seek to support as many children and families as we can in the community. This year we plan on an expansion in raising funds to facilitate the needs of so many children in dire need.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Robbies Riders

Robbies' Riders is our most exclusive program. This program provides children with disabilities adaptive therapuetic bicycles at no cost to families in the states of CT, RI, and Southern FL

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Adults

Fund to reimburse families for travel to treat cancer.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

Miscellaneous requests for donations associated with supports for children with disabilities.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
People with disabilities
Young adults

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

State of Connecticut Award for Community Giving 2020

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Save the Kid Fund seeks to provide children in need with whatever will improve the quality of their lives. Our focus is on needs that insurance or other organizations do not cover. We seek the best value without sacrificing quality when providing material goods. Our exclusive adaptive bicycle program, Robbie's Riders is an excellent example of that. We continue to provide a wide variety of assistance to children, which include basic needs such as food and clothing, to medical or physical needs such as adaptive equipment.

We have a procedure for reviewing requests to make a decision on funding that is requested. We first determine need, many times during an actual visit from one of the STK Board members. We verify that there first is a child in need, get an estimate on the cost, and determine if the family is capable of bearing some of the cost. Additionally, we have spending guidelines that allow spending down to $5000 in our treasury. More strict voting requirements are imposed as reserve cash is depleted so as to never be in a position that we can't help in some way should an emergency need request is submitted or a routine operational bill come due. The STK Board then weighs the request based on need, available cash in the treasury, and if more than one request is received prioritizing the requests. Spending is therefore not the problem, but fundraising is. Over the years STK has used a variety of methods to raise funds. Cashing in empty soda cans morphed into a motorcycle raffle which gave way to grant writing and apparel sales. All along the mainstay of funding has been the payroll donations received from the employees of Millstone Power Station in Waterford CT. The payroll deduction program has recently been stopped but STK is attempting to get employees of Millstone Station to continue to give and have their donations matched by Dominion Resources - the owner and operator of Millstone Station. We will continue to nurture the relationship with Millstone to keep that avenue of funding open for general needs, and use grant writing as a primary source for funding specific activities like our most exclusive program Robbie's Riders. We have joined Grampy's Charities fundraising via Robbie's Run and will continue to nurture that source of funding. We also recognize that donations via the internet are yet to be fully developed.

We have limited our service area to CT and RI. Since the majority of our funding comes from Millstone Power Station employees, and those employees live in CT and RI almost exclusively; it made sense to have as a service area consisting of those two states. Recently we have added southwest Florida to our service area as we now have a Director there and maintain relationship with Grampy's Charities in that geographical area.
Our mission is such that help to any child in need that is considered. That covers a wide range of needs, from food and clothing to educational materials to adaptive equipment to travel for medical treatment to special educational opportunities. It is up to the Board of STK to prioritize requests when more than one is submitted for consideration. Obviously, not all requests are approved to be acted on. Any need that is within our financial means and is not provided by insurance or other charities we will consider. We have found that some needs such as wheelchair vans are too expensive for us to manage, and are rejected. Last year was typical and our aid spending amounted to ~$49,500.
Our ability to identify need has grown over the years. Specifically with the exception of reading of a need in the newspaper or hearing it on the TV news, our clients are referrals. We have built a network of contacts with hospitals, schools, clergy and physical therapy centers across our service area. From these “front line" personnel come many of our referrals.
Many of the board members presently belong or have belonged to other volunteer organizations. These experiences, ranging from Knights of Columbus Council Secretary to volunteer community Redevelopment Agency membership, demonstrate the charitable spirit of the STK Board members. We literally have hundreds of years for volunteerism as a board. Additionally, most STK Board members work or have worked in the highly regulated nuclear industry, a background that adds to our level of professionalism, teamwork and thoroughness.

Our cycle program has supplied over 400 special needs cycles at an average cost of $1162. After the first 40 to 50 bikes the average cost was ~$1500. Through careful monitoring of which cycle is chosen without sacrificing quality or functionality, and knowledge gained along the way, we have cut dramatically into that average cost while at the same time putting more and more children on quality cycles.
In our early years spending $2000 a year was considered large, today that has ballooned to over $50,000, with spending in several years of $60,000 to $90,000. To date we have supplied over $1,000,000 in aid to children.
We have not yet tapped the possible income from internet donations. We are working in that direction, as well as bettering our internet presence. We will pursue social media and have added a donation section to our website that is simple and easy to use while offering a high degree of protection.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To make sure we are doing our best to serve the community.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

Financials

SAVE THE KID FUND INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

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SAVE THE KID FUND INC

Board of directors
as of 02/22/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Tina Pappalardo

Joel L'Heureux

John Johannemann

Trudy Llasky

Charles Massung

Tina Pappalardo

Heather Deirberger

Tina Pappalardo

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 4/7/2021

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Decline to state
Sexual orientation
Decline to state
Disability status
Decline to state

The organization's co-leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Decline to state
Sexual orientation
Decline to state
Disability status
Decline to state

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

Transgender Identity

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 04/07/2021

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.