For those of you who don't already know, Lainey has been nominated and selected to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF): Pathways to STEM program. This is a week-long residential summer camp program, which is being held at Bowling Green State University. The NYLF program will allow Lainey to explore the fields of Medicine, Engineering, and Crime Scene Investigation coupled with an emphasis on emotional awareness, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and goal setting.

The nomination and selection is a tremendous honor and opportunity for Lainey, a talented, diligent, hard-working and exceptional student who always seems to excel when presented with a new challenge. Along with the unique challenges Lainey will be introduced to during the NYLF program, she also faces something entirely new, fundraising. In conjunction with the GoFundMe campaign, Lainey has already written a 350-word essay for a partial scholarship and has formulated a plan to make and sell crafts over the summer. The scholarship, which we are still waiting to hear back on, would potentially cover up to $850 of the nearly $3000 total cost. Every little bit helps, large and small, and we are gracious for it all.

Lainey is currently in 4th-grade, earning straight "A"s, participating in the new beekeeping club, girls on the run, book club and Show Choir. She was a featured artist in the NASA Space Place art challenge depicting what the James Webb space telescope would discover as well as placing second in her school for the Imagine Engineering state-wide coloring contest. Some of Lainey's favorite interests include learning sign language, understanding how things work, singing, dancing, baking, being a highly talented artist and most of all, taking care of animals.

Lainey works extremely diligently and always tries her best to set goals and challenge herself. As we type this, Lainey is memorizing the numbers of pi as a part of Pi day (3/14). Memorizing the digits of Pi is a voluntary and fun activity for the kids at her school to challenge themselves on Pi day. Last year Lainey was able to recite the first 95 digits of Pi. This year, she set an initial goal of memorizing 100 digits, which she achieved, moved to 150 and completed, then strived for 200 and, of course, has surpassed. She is currently at 210.

The invitation to the NYLF program came as a complete surprise to all of us. Upon receiving and reading the invitation, we were taken aback by the opportunity and elated by the recognition of Lainey's hard work, excellent academics and budding leadership skills. The invitation noted that her science teacher, Mr. Bortz, and her 4th-grade teacher, Ms. Cole, were the ones to nominate her. These teachers have played a significant role in Lainey's growth, maturity, and ability to lead her peers, making this nomination even more special.

Each summer, we select a handful of week-long summer programs for Lainey to choose to attend. Typically her choices consist of a week of each music/dance, art, nature, and a week of inventors camp through the Inventors Hall of Fame. These programs are more affordable as they are either through her school, YMCA or local community. The cost is further offset in the weeks where she is not enrolled, as work schedules are adjusted, and childcare needs are minimalized. We would like this summer to still include a couple of weeks of her typical programming options, which is why this GoFundMe is so important. It's our duty to provide Lainey with every opportunity possible and remove any roadblock, so that she may reach her fullest potential. Please help us send Lainey to NYLF this summer.

Thank you for your time in reading ALL OF THIS, and thank you in advance for donating to a phenomenal opportunity and investing in Lainey’s future.