A Note From Our Founder
Updated: Mar 7
The Work Of The Uvalde Foundation For Kids, Across The Nation; Was Birthed On A Tragic May 2022 Morning In Uvalde, Texas. The Tragedy In Uvalde, Texas & The Pain Suffered By The Community & Families Who Bravely Faced It; Belongs To Them Alone. None Of Us Outside Of That Experience Can Completely Understand The Sense Of Loss & Emotions Resulting. Yet, Sadly, Students At Robb Elementary School That Day Who Thankfully Were Not Injured Or Killed; Still Added To The Over 331,000 Other Students, From Across The Nation; Who Have Experienced School Gun Violence Since Columbine High School, In Colorado - As Of 2022.
I Recall Flying Out Of Los Angeles, California, Following The School Shooting There; Along With A Small Team Of Volunteer Chaplains & Crisis Response Professionals. We Were To Provide As Required, Additional Intervention & Counseling Services To Those Many Traumatized From Day.
Myself, Just a Few Years Before, Had Left My Studies At Loyola Marymount University In Los Angeles To Pursue Full Time Community Work With Youth & Other, More Specialized Educational Pursuits; While, Simultaneously Dealing With The Tragic Death Of My Brother. I was serving primarily at the time as a Chaplain for Anhaeim General Hospital in Anaheim, CA; As Well as Their Buena Park, SubAcute Unit.
I Knew I Wanted To Make A Difference For Kids In The Classroom Ever Since I First Stepped Inside One To Teach In 1992. BUT, Dealing With Students Being Killed In Their Classrooms? I Knew Loss BUT NOT THIS KIND!
We Had Never As A Nation Experienced Such Before. Our Classrooms Across the Country Were Changed Forever & Sadly, Columbine Would Only Be The Beginning... And Here We Are, America.
However, Just As Educators Seek To Empower Students In Classrooms Across The Nation To Bring Their Knowledge Into The World For Good - The Uvalde Foundation For Kids Seeks To Bring The Lessons Learned In The Halls Of Robb Elementary School & Others To School Communities Across The Nation & End School Violence - BEFORE It Happens.
We ALL Can & MUST Learn From The Circumstances of Columbine, Sandy Hook, Uvalde & Sadly - Many Others! We Not Only Can, But WE MUST! With That Knowledge, Ever Growing - Comes An Added Responsibility To Take Those Lessons & ACT Upon Them - Not Just In Uvalde, Texas - But In The Numerous School Communities Across This Nation Who Are Dealing With An Increase In School Violence.
Hence, In Honor Of Deserving Students In Classrooms Across The Nation Today, The Uvalde Foundation For Kids Exists & Works ; Not Only On A Local Level, But A National Level As Well.
Our Work WILL CONTINUE - One Community, One School, One Life At A Time; Until That Day Our Students Can Be Just Students & Maybe, Just Kids Again.... They Deserve It...
Daniel Chapin
Founder
The Uvalde Foundation For Kids
"OUT OF TRAGEDY- HOPE"
888 685 8464
