Team Sledd’s Sincavich family, Evan, Rob & Dianne; Gabriel Project’s Faith Hicks; and Serrans Chris Freeman, Jay Prager and Jim Gilligan collaborate to help West Virginia families.
The relationship between the Gabriel Project, Team Sledd and the Wheeling Serra Club has become “a continuing blessing for Ohio Valley families.”
That’s the word from Gabriel Project Northern Programs Coordinator Faith Hicks, who said about 150 women each month are helped thanks to direct and indirect support from Team Sledd and Serra. The Gabriel Project provides practical help to needy pregnant women and to families with infants and children two years of age and younger to give children a healthy and safe start in life.
The Serra Club, a Catholic organization that promotes vocations, holds a Diaper Drive every year to help young mothers provide for their babies. And Rob Sincavich, president of Team Sledd, matches every diaper donated by the Serra Club up to 5,000 diapers.
Sincavich was well aware of the excellent work of the Gabriel project, as his wife Dianne is a longtime, faithful volunteer with the organization. “Team Sledd and the Sincavich family have been extremely generous to us,” Hicks said.
“In addition to matching the diapers donated through Serra Club’s drive, Team Sledd gives us a good deal all year long on things families need: diapers, hygiene products and other baby items,” she said. “And they deliver to our Gabriel Project sites in Wheeling, Moundsville, New Martinsville and Parkersburg.”
Mr. Sincavich explained his family’s support of the Gabriel Project and Diaper Drive. “My wife Dianne and I are so appreciative of the work that the Gabriel Project does in the West Virginia,” he said. “We have been doing and will continue to do whatever we can to support its efforts and those of all of its volunteers who donate their time and resources to assisting mothers and their young children when they need help with basic needs and a healthy start to their lives.”
Serrans Jim Gilligan and Jay Prager chaired the 2020 Diaper Drive, which has so far raised a record $2,000. They’re modest about their success. “It was really a joint effort,” Gilligan said. “We called former Diaper Drive Chair Gary Mulhern and he gave us a lot of great advice.”
The chairs used social media to extend the drive beyond Serra membership. “I posted on my personal Facebook page and friends sent money,” Gilligan said. “We also received support from organizations like the Wheeling chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which contributed $200, and Dr. Hank Drews’ Family Foundation, which added $150.”
Individuals and organizations can contribute diapers and drop them off at any Gabriel Project location. Potential donors can contact the Northern Programs Gabriel Project at (304) 639-5039 for locations in West Virginia; they can also mail a tax-deductible check payable to the Northern Programs Gabriel Project to 1409 Chapline Street, Wheeling, WV 26003.