by River Ellis Foundation | Jul 23, 2020 | Sunrise Story, Who We Help
When her car was totaled in a car accident, a mother found herself in the middle of a difficult situation. She relied on this vehicle to transport her 17 year old son with cerebral palsy to all of his medical appointments. Still making payments on her previous car,...
by River Ellis Foundation | Jul 1, 2020 | Sunrise Story, Who We Help
At 22 weeks pregnant, a Newport News mother learned that her baby had Down Syndrome along with heart failure so severe that there was no way he would survive. The mother went on to carry him until 28 weeks and 4 days when she gave birth to her baby boy weighing 1lb...
by River Ellis Foundation | Jun 29, 2020 | General
When approached by Doug and Rachel about helping with the River Ellis Foundation, the answer was an easy ‘yes’ for Blair. She helps out with development, and comes up with ideas on how to both fundraise and promote the organization. Blair is a...
by River Ellis Foundation | May 14, 2020 | Giving Back
Names: Stephen and Cara Cupka City of Residence: Virginia Beach Job Titles/Companies: Stephen – Project Manager (ET Gresham) Cara- Scheduling Engineer (VDOT) How did you first hear about The River Ellis Foundation? When we got the tragic news about River we were...
by River Ellis Foundation | May 12, 2020 | General
Annabelle Stiffler focuses on helping to find funding for the River Ellis Foundation through a combination of Donor Gifts, Grants, and Public Engagement. She has been involved with the Foundation since its beginning and has long been a friend of the Ellis Family. In...
by River Ellis Foundation | May 5, 2020 | Who We Help
A five-year-old boy ended up in the ICU after he was shot outside of his Portsmouth home. After being recently furloughed due to the COVID-19 crisis, his mother needed help purchasing a cell phone to communicate with family about the child’s condition as only...
by River Ellis Foundation | Apr 28, 2020 | General, Giving Back
REF Volunteers have been hard at work making PPE for our local healthcare workers. We also provided masks for the moms and dads at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital in order to protect their new babies from COVID-19. These times are difficult for all of us, and we are...
by River Ellis Foundation | Apr 7, 2020 | Who We Help
When a Chesapeake mother passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in her sleep, her six year old son went to live with his grandparents. With very limited income, the grandparents required immediate, short-term assistance to cover the costs of caring for their grandson....
by River Ellis Foundation | Mar 26, 2020 | General
In these difficult and uncertain times, we just wanted to take a moment to say that we are with you. There are a lot of people in need of a sunrise right now, so remember to check in on your friends, neighbors and family. The need may be closer than you think....
by River Ellis Foundation | Feb 12, 2020 | General
Name: Gibby Hall Job Title/Company: Realtor, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services City: Coastal Virginia How did you first hear about The River Ellis Foundation? When River Ellis passed, I was beyond devastated for my friends. It is impossible to make...
by River Ellis Foundation | Feb 5, 2020 | Who We Help
After celebrating their one year anniversary in 2013, a young husband experienced a spinal cord injury resulting in paraplegia. The primary caretaker since the injury occurred, his wife suffered a stroke in December 2019 that left her in the ICU. The husband suddenly...
by River Ellis Foundation | Jan 21, 2020 | Sunrise Story, Who We Help
As a single mother of two young girls, I found myself down on my luck a few months ago. I had just escaped a domestic violence situation that I had been in for years. I had moved to another state and had absolutely nothing, not even a vehicle to get myself and my...
