Arms around Amy

I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~Edward Everett Hale

There are those who go through life with a passion that drives them to DO!  To DO what they can for those in need  regardless of their own situation or the personal challenges they may face. They give tirelessly of their time and talents so others my find hope and an opportunity for a better future.  That person in our community is Amy Kovach.  As a wife and mother of 3 beautiful girls, Amy has volunteered for years in the community working with the homeless and families in need.  Growing up in a household where her mother was a teacher for over 35 years, Amy has always had a special interest in helping children.  As volunteer with Metanoia she has helped to fight child poverty and rebuild struggling communities and was honored in 2009 as Metanoia’s volunteer of the year.  Amy has always felt one of the most impactful ways of breaking the cycle of poverty and improving the quality of life for all children is through education.  In 2011 Amy left the corporate world to follow her passion for helping children.  She took a position in community outreach with the Berkeley County School District and began creating initiatives that would bring the needed resources to students and teachers in her district.  She started the “Stuff the Bus Campaign”  raising money to purchase schools supplies for those underprivileged students whose families could not afford to buy them.  While serving as a volunteer and Chairman of the Education Foundation, Amy lead an effort to launch regional Career Academies that are transforming education in our high Schools.  As the 2011 “Behind the Scenes Hero” for Trident United Way, Amy worked with volunteers to make inroads in breaking the cycles of child poverty, poor health and low graduation rates.  Most recently Amy worked with the residents of Berkeley County to provide for the much needed repairs of existing schools and construction of new schools to alleviate overcrowding.

Unfortunately, as Amy has committed to help others in our community, she now finds herself in one of those traumatic situations that she has helped so many others overcome.  Over the past three years Amy and her family have found themselves with a significant amount of debt that has occurred due to circumstances beyond their control.  It is our wish that we can come together with our “Arms Around Amy” and restore her and her family financially to give them hope for a better future just as Amy has done for so many.