Jeanette A. Koncikowski is fundraising
Dr. Mark Koncikowski Memorial Fund 2020
Dr. Mark Koncikowski was a chiropractor, counselor, writer and devoted family man from Buffalo, NY. Mark passed away from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) on October 30, 2014. He has left behind our two beautiful girls, now ages 14 and 10. Mark was only 36 years old when he died. Today, February 9th would have been his 42nd birthday.
(Mark outside of Geneva Lake)
It is hard to believe Mark has been gone five years already. We started this fundraiser the first birthday after our loss to carry his legacy forward. We want to honor how Mark lived and what was important to him. The first year, we raised over $4,000 to send 11 children to the beloved summer camp Mark worked at in his youth. The second year, we raised over $1,500 to give guitars to school music programs who were lacking instruments. Our third year, we raised $2,000 to care for a seizure support dog for a child and last year, we provided a $2,000 scholarship to a working parent enrolled in the chiropractic program at D'Youville College, where Mark received his doctorate.
While Mark had gone back to school in his thirties to become a chiropractor, his first love was literature. Poetry, specifically. He loved everyone from Frost to Neruda and Martin-Baro to Ginsberg. From the time I met him as a teenager, Mark was writing poetry. His poems were published in several national journals over the years but none was as important to him as the first time he was published when we were teenagers. While students at Hutch Tech High School in the late 1990's, Just Buffalo Literary Center published a collection of youth poetry that Mark's work was included in. This gave him the confidence to pursue an undergraduate degree in English writing and study with Dr. David Landry, his mentor at Buffalo State College.
(A few of the journals and books his poems were published in).
This year, our girls and I have chosen to honor Mark's love of writing by supporting other young writers at The Writing Center with Just Buffalo Literary Society. We hope our collective support will give another young writer the confidence to share their story with the world.
(Mark and Jen at 16)
In my day job, I work with Just Buffalo as a community partner. I can't say enough good things about the amazing work they do for our community. Thank you for your ongoing support and love. It means so much to us that Mark is remembered on his birthday and always.
Peace and blessings, Jeanette Koncikowski and Family
(Mark outside of Geneva Lake)
It is hard to believe Mark has been gone five years already. We started this fundraiser the first birthday after our loss to carry his legacy forward. We want to honor how Mark lived and what was important to him. The first year, we raised over $4,000 to send 11 children to the beloved summer camp Mark worked at in his youth. The second year, we raised over $1,500 to give guitars to school music programs who were lacking instruments. Our third year, we raised $2,000 to care for a seizure support dog for a child and last year, we provided a $2,000 scholarship to a working parent enrolled in the chiropractic program at D'Youville College, where Mark received his doctorate.
While Mark had gone back to school in his thirties to become a chiropractor, his first love was literature. Poetry, specifically. He loved everyone from Frost to Neruda and Martin-Baro to Ginsberg. From the time I met him as a teenager, Mark was writing poetry. His poems were published in several national journals over the years but none was as important to him as the first time he was published when we were teenagers. While students at Hutch Tech High School in the late 1990's, Just Buffalo Literary Center published a collection of youth poetry that Mark's work was included in. This gave him the confidence to pursue an undergraduate degree in English writing and study with Dr. David Landry, his mentor at Buffalo State College.
(A few of the journals and books his poems were published in).This year, our girls and I have chosen to honor Mark's love of writing by supporting other young writers at The Writing Center with Just Buffalo Literary Society. We hope our collective support will give another young writer the confidence to share their story with the world.
(Mark and Jen at 16)In my day job, I work with Just Buffalo as a community partner. I can't say enough good things about the amazing work they do for our community. Thank you for your ongoing support and love. It means so much to us that Mark is remembered on his birthday and always.
Peace and blessings, Jeanette Koncikowski and Family
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