This foundation has been a labor of love for Jay and me for the past 12 years.  It has been a wonderful way to honor our dear Sydney.  In the initial days after Sydney died, we started building this foundation as an outlet for our grief, and a place to focus our energies.  And in the early years after losing her, SMT did just that.  But other wonderful things evolved out of our efforts. Through SMT we have been blessed to meet many terrific people and touched dearly by the love, support and incredible generosity of so many of you who are reading this today.  We
have had the opportunity to support so many amazing young “heart” kids as they worked their way through college.  We have celebrated several graduations of our scholarship recipients.  We have two graduates in law school, one who is a pediatric cardiac nurse, a special needs teacher, one who is pursuing post-graduate education in the medical field, one who is a fundraiser for a heart defect charity, and one who is serving our country in the Army!  We have other students who are currently studying to be nurses, jazz pianists, missionaries, and environmentalists.  No matter what these young people are doing, they are incredibly hard-working and have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to beat very frightening heart defects as children.  We could not be prouder of these young people we have grown to know and love.  Sadly, we even had to say goodbye to one of our students a little over a year ago as she succumbed to cancer after beating the odds with her heart defect.

This foundation has been a wonderful blessing in our lives and we are so very grateful to all of you for the support you have shown to us
over the years.  We could not have done a fraction of what we have done without you.  You all have volunteered your time, your talents, donated generously, attended our events, offered ideas, suggestions and encouragement, and love.  It continues to amaze me how many blessings Sydney brought into our lives the day she was born.

We will continue to support the young people we currently have in college until the last two graduate in three years.  But this year’s 12^th annual SMT Memorial Golf Tournament, which was held on Monday October 8, 2012 at Laurel Creek Country Club in Mt. Laurel, NJ was our last fundraiser.

Thank you once again from the bottom of our hearts.  We are truly lucky to know you.

A great time was had by all at the 11th annual Sydney Mae Taylor Memorial Golf Tournament. This year’s tournament was dedicated to the memory of Megan Daddario, who was one of our newest scholarship recipients for the 2010-2011 school year.  Half-way through her freshman year of college, Megan was diagnosed with non-Hogkin’s Lymphoma and died this past summer.  Megan had dreamed of becoming a nurse to give back to other children who would go through similar things that she went through, and we know she would have made an excellent nurse.  She will be sorely missed.

This year’s tournament was a success.  We raised almost $9,000!  This will help us to fund our 17 scholarship for 2011-2012.  Thanks to everyone who supported our efforts!

For our part, SMT is currently part of Terracycle’s juice pouch brigade and energy/granola/breakfast bar wrapper bridage.  This means that for each of these items we send in, Terracycle donates $.02 to SMT.  This helps SMT to raise money, and keeps all that potential trash out of the landfills.  Terracycle takes this trash and melts it down to make other products that are sold at retail stores.  Visit their website for more information.  To date, SMT has collected and saved 14,597 juice pouches and 10,068 bar wrappers from going to local landfills!  We started this project in September, 2008 and look how much of an impact we have already made on our world!

In addition we are now part of the Scott toilet tissue wrapping brigade, the cork brigade, as well as the scotch tape brigade!

The 3rd annual Healthy Hearts Day was held on Thursday, May 26, 2011 at Ashbrook Elementary School in Lumberton, NJ.  This year’s program featured a visit by two exercise physiologists, Eddie and Lori, from Virtua Hospital’s Cardiac Rehab Department who worked in conjunction with Ashbrook’s principal and gym teacher to develop a program that targeted areas of health that the chilren are already learning about.  The 3rd graders had a great time and it was encouraging to see how much they have learned and how much knowledge they have retained about how to live a healthy lifestyle.

A great time was had by all at the 4th annual casino night held on May 14.  Rick Williams was the celebrity MC and guests enjoyed a delicious dinner and casino games at the event.  Supporters of the event helped to raise over $7300 for the foundation!  This will go towards funding scholarships for deserving “heart” students, sending “heart” kids to Camp BraveHearts this summer, and funding our heart-healthy presetation with Virtua Hospital at Ashbrook Elementary School!  Thanks for your support!

Sydney Mae Taylor will hold its 4th annual casino night on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at Laurel Creek Country Club in Mt. Laurel, NJ from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Mark your calendars!

This year, Rick Williams from Channel 6ABC will be joining us as our celebrity guest MC. We are very excited to have Rick join us this year as his colleague Karen Rogers has done for the past several years. We appreciate the support that 6ABC has shown us!

As in previous years, we will have many exciting prizes to win through our gaming that night and many silent auction prizes to bid on, including Phillies tickets. New this year, we have a one week stay at a 3 Bedroom condo in Rehoboth Beach, DE! Check back here soon as we are working on a silent auction sheet to get the bidding going on this incredible prize before the night of the event!

Tickets for casino night remain the same as last year’s prices at $100 per person or $180 per couple. We hope you will join us!

Please email us at sydneymaetaylor@comcast.net if you have any questions. We hope to see you there!

Register Now

# of People

1 Person $100.00 2 People $180.00

Here is this year’s list of Silent Auction Prizes

1. Two Tickets to Phillies v. Marlins, June 16, Section 102, Row 9
   Value $65 – Minimum Bid $30
2. Four Park Hopper Passes to Walt Disney World
   $50 Gift Certificate to NJ Travel Agency
   Value: $600 – Minimum Bid $100
3. Two Hour Bowling Party at Pinsetter’s Bar & Bowl in Pennsauken, NJ
   Includes 2 hours of bowling, shoe rental and appetizers for up to 10 people
   Value: $350 – Minimum Bid $50
4. Tumbling Dice Party includes
   3 Hour Use of Poker or Blackjack Table and Dealer
   Value $400 – Minimum Bid $75
5. One Night Stay at Colonial Inn B&B of Historic Smithville, NJ (good thru 5/30/12)
   $25 Gift Certificate to Andreotti’s Viennese Café in Cherry Hill
   Value $200 – Minimum Bid $75
6. $500 worth of Personal Training with Anthony Rolon, at gym or at home
   Value $500 – Minimum Bid $75
7. 3 Hours of VHS or miniDV conversion to DVD or 3-5 min. Photo Montage
   Donated by Rich Corbin
   Value $100 – Minimum Bid $50
8. Two VIP Passes to the Late Show with David Letterman
   Value Priceless – Minimum Bid $50
9. One Week Stay at 3 BR Condo in
   Rehoboth Beach Visitor’s Guide
   4 Buy one, get one rounds of golf at Midway Par DE
   $50 Gift Card to the Greene Turtle Sports Bar in Rehoboth
   $50 Gift Card to the Greene Turtle Sports Bar in Rehoboth
   $30 Gift Card to Timothy’s of Delaware
   Value Priceless, or $1000 to $1400 – Minimum Bid $500
10. Bradford Renaissance Portraits in New York
    Includes an 11×14 Wall Portrait on Canvas with Rich Artistry by Renown
    Photographer Bradford who will fly in from California to his New York Studio to take your portrait (Sitting Fee Included; No Additional Costs)
    Value $3000 – Minimum Bid $300
11. Bradford Renaissance Portraits in New York
    Includes a 16×20 Wall Portrait on Canvas with Rich Artistry by Renown Photographer Bradford who will fly in from California to his New York Studio to take your portrait (Sitting Fee Included; No Additional Costs)
    Value $5000 – Minimum Bid $300
12. Flyers Mini Helmet signed by Blair Betts
    Flyers Puck signed by Brian Boucher
    Signed 76ers Tony Battie Photo
    Value $150 – Minimum Bid $50

Auction Baskets

Here are the auction baskets that you can win!

1. Food and Photos
   $50 Gift Card to Dadz Bar and Grill
   $100 Gift Card to EMA Photography
   $10 Gift Card to Philly Pretzel Factory
   2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
2. Food and History
   4 Tickets to American Civil War Museum in Gettysburg
   Lunch for 2 at Benihana
   2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
3. AC Bound!
   Annual Membership to Atlantic City Aquarium
   $50 Gift Card to Melting Pot of Atlantic City
   2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
4. Relaxation
   $200 Gift Card for Cut/Color at Phoenix Salon in Center City
   Bottle of Wine
5. Expanding Your Horizons
   2 Tickets to Hagley Museum in Wilmington, DE
   Lunch for 2 at Hagley Museum
   Souvenir Book
6. A Day Out
   $30 Gift Card to Blue2O in Cherry Hill
   4 Tickets to Brandywine River Museum in PA
   Gift Card for Woman’s Haircut at Salon Escada in Marlton, NJ
7. Another Day Out
   $25 Gift Card to Ponzio’s in Cherry Hill
   4 Tickets to American Helicopter Museum in West Chester
   2 Tickets to Longwood Gardens
8. Fun and Flowers
   2 Tickets to Garden State Discovery Museum
   $25 Gift Card to Shoprite
   $25 Gift Card to Bakanis Florist in Marlton
   2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
9. Out on the Town
   4 Tickets to Delaware Museum of Natural History
   $50 Gift Card to Lamberti’s Restaurants
   $10 Gift Card to Philly Pretzel Factory
   2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
10. Extreme Room Makeover!
    $300 Mealey’s Furniture Gift Certificate
11. For Girls Only
    American Girl Doll
12. For Kids and Grown Ups
    2 Tickets to Sesame Place
    $50 Gift Card to TJ Maxx
    2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
13. Gourmet
    Gourmet Food Basket
14. Food and History 2
    Annual Membership to American Jewish History Museum in Philadelphia, PA
    $50 Gift Card to Maggiano’s
    2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
15. History and Photos!
    2 Tickets to Hageley Museum in Wilmington, DE
    $100 Gift Card for EMA Photography
    2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
16. More fun!
    2 Tickets to Clementon Park
    2 Tickets to Winterthur Museum
    2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
17. Pampering
    Assorted Mary Kay Items
18. A Day out in Philly
    2 Tickets to Philadelphia Orchestra
    $50 Gift Card to Mexican Post
19. Food and Fun!
    Dinner for 2 on the Spirit of Philadelphia
    2 Tickets to the Please Touch Museum
20. For Kids Only!
    4 Tickets to the Children’s Museum of the Arts in Manhattan
    2 Tickets to the Garden State Discovery Museum in Cherry Hill
    2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
21. Lenox
    Lenox Christmas Set
22. Pampering and Fun
    4 Tickets to the Children’s Museum of the Arts in Manhattan
    4 Tickets to the Camden Riversharks
23. More Pampering
    $100 Gift Card to Bernard’s Salon in Marlton
    $75 Gift Card to Wegman’s
24. Summer Fun
    4 Tickets to Ambler Theater in PA
    2 Tickets to Winterthur Museum in Delaware
25. Fore!
    Associate Membership to Apple Mountain Golf Course
26. Ski Bunny
    2 Lift Tickets to Belleayre Mountain in New York
27. Ski Bunny 22 Lift Tickets to Jack Frost/Big Boulder
28. Ski Bunny 3
    2 Lift Tickets to Pat’s Peak Mountain in New Hampshire
29. Burger Time
    White Castle Crave Case
30. Fore!
    Free Registration for 10^th Annual SMT Memorial Golf Tournament
    Monday, October 10, 2011
31. Food and Fun
    $25 Gift Card to Bertucci’s
    $100 to Spice Salon in Cherry Hill
    2 free Milkshakes from Chick fil A
32. A Little Romantic Lighting
    Candle with Decorative Holder
33. The Last Hurrah
    Gift filled with ???????

Good luck!

Monterrey is the third largest city located in northeast Mexico. The summer project lasted from May 17, 2010 to May 25, 2010. The total cost of the trip was about $2000 and thanks to the prayers and support, I was able to raise all of that.

I am a bit of a procrastinator so once again, I was trying to pack up for this trip the night before, knowing I would forget something. Time raced by and I eventually become too tired to continue so I fell asleep, woke up really early (too early) and had to finish packing. The trip was long. I like plane rides because you can reach your destination quicker but you are so cramped. Of course, being in a vehicle for extended amounts of time isn’t much better. The plane took off from Evansville at about 6:30AM. I flew from Evansville to Memphis, TN and then from Memphis to Houston, TX. On the plane from Memphis to Houston, I sat next to this girl. I generally don’t talk to people on the plane because I am a bit shy. She pulled out her bible mid-flight and started reading. At that moment, a lot of thoughts flowed through my mind; one in particular was “Is she going on the same trip?” I know this is a random thought but she appeared to be college-aged, she was flying to Houston, and she was reading the Bible which made me assume that she was a Christian. I then sparked up a conversation and found out that she is the same age. I thought to myself, “She could be one of the team members!” After conversing with her for several minutes I found out that she was just visiting a friend in Houston. I was just so anxious to meet the team that I kind of was hoping that she was going on the trip. Plus, I really had no idea where to go once I arrived in Houston and if she was going on the trip, I could just follow her. I finally arrived in Houston about 11:30am on Monday May 17, 2010. I called for a van to shuttle me to the hotel and I waited there in my room for the rest of the team to arrive. When I arrived, I noticed that the hotel was not in that great of condition. The thing that frightened me was that the hotel staff had me sign a waiver before receiving my key. The waiver said that the hotel is not responsible for anything stolen. I have never signed a waiver at a hotel before. I found myself asking “God, why did I choose this project?” I took a nap since I arrived a lot earlier than most of the team and when I woke up my roommates were already in the room. CAN YOU SAY AWKWARD??? We introduced ourselves and I found out that they are pre-med students as well! At this time I felt rather uncomfortable.  As more of the team began to arrive, I felt a huge cloud of nervousness travel over me. We were split up into small groups of about 5 people and then we drifted over to a buffet restaurant across the street. It was there that we started to bond in our groups. The stress of feeling out of place was relieved. After eating, we went to a conference room within the hotel. There we briefly went over the general itinerary of the trip. We played some ice-breaker games and prepared a skit for the children in Monterrey. Since we had to be up quite early (I had to be outside for the shuttle by 6:30am) for the flight to Monterrey, most of us went to bed shortly after our meeting.

Many of us started off the morning by playing ultimate ninja while waiting at the check-in desk at the airport. I still had not really met everyone on the team and so I really didn’t know that many too well. On the plane, I was a little anxious to find out whom I was going to sit beside. It might be someone from the team or just a random person. Eventually, a girl named Christine who was part of the team came and sat down beside me. She had actually gone on the trip last year and decided to go again this summer. After speaking with her for a while, I found out that she originally attended the same university that my aunt teaches at. HOW CRAZY!!!!

When arriving to the Back2Back campus, I noticed that a large cinderblock wall surrounded the land with barbed wire on top of that. It seemed like we were blocked off from the rest of the world at first but after the first few hours, I hardly even noticed the wall. The remainder of the day, we spent the time staining a fence, preparing food for a cookout, playing soccer with the students that live in the Hope homes on the campus, and taking a dip in the pool. The views from where we were staying were just breathtaking. Mountains surrounded us in every direction.

The second day started at 7:30am. I am used to waking up in the early afternoon. This morning we went out and toured one of the homes. It was actually pretty nice. We then went out to one of the orphanages, El Retiro Juvenil (ERJ). At this particular orphanage, there was a ropes course and a series of obstacles. It was rather intense; one involved a tire and a 14-foot pole, another involved a log and the last involved a spider web made of rope. The leader, Juan, asked us a series of questions after each obstacle such as why can’t we always work together like the way we worked together to accomplish and overcome these obstacle courses. He also asked us why we can’t become this personal and close like we did there and also why we think we can do everything on our own. We then went into the orphanage and worked on putting up drywall in the bathrooms. I never expected drywall to be so heavy. The afternoon concluded with hanging out with some of the children and tossing a Frisbee. Each evening, after dinner, we would all gather together and reflect on the days’ events and talk about each of our “pictures’ of the day.”

On Thursday, we traveled to an orphanage known as El Rio 1 or Meme’s Rio. The conditions in the area were devastating and depressing. We split up into groups and walked the streets and began inviting people from the village to join us for lunch. Along the journey, I met a young boy whose name was Jesús. He was 8 years old, liked the color blue, and enjoyed playing soccer. Since I forgot a lot of Spanish, I could not ask him a lot of questions. After finishing lunch, several of us went straight to work, putting up a tarp for shade and gradually cutting down a tree, branch by branch because it was entangled in electrical wire. We also spent the remainder of the workday hanging up chicken wire around the building. We ended our time at the orphanage with a walk throughout the village, along the river, and by a tree used for witchcraft.

Friday, we went to the nearby university. We were split up into groups and partnered with some Christian students who spoke fluent English. My group was designated to go to the engineering faculty, which is the largest facility at the university, containing around 12,000 students. To put that into perspective, over 40,000 students attend the university. It was quite overwhelming to walk into the center and have everyone staring at you. There were so many people gathered in this plaza-like area for “student day.” Booths run by the various organizations and clubs on campus filled the area and American pop music was blaring. We decided to divide the group a little more and then we approached a group of about seven Hispanic students. It was amazing how patient and welcoming the students on the campus were.

On Saturday, the team went to an orphanage known as Casa Hogar del Norte. At this orphanage we were able to see the work that was done by last year’s team. Last year, the team had started building a library and it was just recently completed. The work we did here involved removing a tree and a few tree stumps as well as digging a few holes and building a playground. I spent a lot of the time working on removing the tree and tree stumps. After a couple of us removed the tree, we felt so strong and mighty. We then moved on to the tree stumps. That was another story. We dug and dug. The dirt was so hard and the soil was full of everything imaginable (bricks, trash, cement, etc.) which made the process that much more difficult. It was so devastating to have to give up on the stump but we just had to accept the fact that we just couldn’t remove it at that moment. Another guy, Matt and I volunteered ourselves to work on cleaning out a septic tank. Now that was an experience. Unfortunately, we were not successful in unclogging it. After much hand-washing and sanitizing, we were able to spend the rest of the day playing with toy cars alongside the kids.

The orphanage that we all went to on Sunday, Casa Hogar Douglas, was close enough to the area we were staying that we could just walk there. Immediately, when the team arrived, we noticed a lot of children, youth, and adults scurrying around, getting prepared for the church service. At that moment, a young boy named César ran up behind me and took a hold of my hand. It was so surprising and comforting. He led me to the service and directed me where to sit and sat down right beside me. The church service was absolutely amazing. Even though the worship songs were in Spanish, the music was the same and so I understood the meaning and it was actually more powerful and uplifting to hear them sing in Spanish. After the church service, we had lunch and then went straight to work. I started out repairing a chain-link fence. After finishing with that, I started to help some of the others filling wheelbarrows with dirt that was on top of a hill and moving it toward the bottom to fill in holes. The afternoon ended with hanging out with the children, coloring, and playing on the swing-set.

When Monday rolled around, I was in complete shock. The trip was almost over. This was our last full day in Monterrey. We had planned on spending the morning working at the same home that we worked at on Saturday but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time. That was not too disappointing because I was just not feeling too well that day. We ended up taking the children from the Casa Hogar del Norte orphanage to a play center that had videogames, inflatable “bouncers,” a mini soccer field, a mechanical bull, and many other exciting toys for the kids and us. I felt so achy and exhausted. When we returned back to the campus, I passed out and went to sleep right after debriefing. I was so disappointed because I was planning on staying up really late the last night and hanging out with the team.

The trip home was not too fun. Not only was my body feeling horrible, but I had to say goodbye to everyone.  I finally arrived in Evansville at about 10:30pm and somehow my mother had found out that I was not feeling well (probably from my dad) and after she took my temperature, she demanded that I allow her to take me to the ER. Within a few days and with a few medications, I was feeling better than ever. Reflecting on the trip overall, I went there planning to teach these kids about the love of Jesus but in all honesty, they taught me more than I could have ever imagined. Throughout the entire trip, I was challenged mentally, physically, but most of all, spiritually.

Kevin Bell