Cynthia Earley Biography
The
Story of the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim - Year 1
With
Passion and Purpose - The story of the Earley family and the Bay
Swim.
CEEF Newsletter 2005
CEEF Newsletter 2006
CEEF 2008 Pledge Form
Drop us a note with questions about the
scholarship and how you can qualify to:
Brian
Earley
A special thank
you:
Chuck Nabit and
his staff at the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim Foundation
Linda and Mark Toretsky of
Lin-Mark Computer Sports, Inc.
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Penn State Sophomore Grabs 2007 CEEF Scholarship at GCBS
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Annapolis, MD. - The 2007 CEEF Newsletter welcomes you to another year of tremendous personal achievement from young people making their way through school and life.
Erin Luley, a strong 18-year-old from Mechanicsburg, PA,
won this year’s Cynthia Earley Educational Foundation
scholarship award at the 4.4 mile Great Chesapeake Bay Swim
(GCBS) held Sunday, June 10th 2007.
Already in her third GCBS, the sophomore raised over $800 for the
GCBS charities. She finished 19th overall and the second woman to finish
from 640 participants from all over the United States.
Brian Earley did a Q&A with Erin as she was prepairing to start
her sophomore year at Penn State University.
Brian - What is it like to swim in the GCBS and what
is your sense of accomplishment from these efforts?
Erin – “The Bay Swim is a really impressive race
for a great cause. It certainly gives me a great sense of accomplishment
and pride to compete in something so meaningful. It’s quite an honor
to finish 2nd in the women’s race in an event with 600 other swimmers.”
“It is definitely a challenge, both mentally and physically. This
year, I started getting really nervous about two days before the
race. I kept thinking about the currents and the choppy water and
being out alone in the middle of the bay."
"But during the race,
I actually stayed very calm, and had fun. It was tiring, but I
knew that if I could just keep pushing myself I would be to the
other side before too long.” |
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Brian -
How did you handle the Chesapeake and it's tidal changes?
Erin - “I did have some problems
with the tides. I was prepared for the slack tide at the beginning
of the race, but I did not expect the ebb tide at the end of the race. I
had a tough time getting over to the south bridge span in the last
mile and a half.”
Raising over $800 for Bay Swim Charities, Erin Luley accepts the $1000
CEEF Scholarship.
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Brian – What
role did your family play in helping you prepare for the event and
fundraising?
Erin- “My family has always
been very supportive of me in both swimming and school. My
mom has gone with me all three years to the Bay Swim, and
last year, one of my sisters was able to come as well. They
also helped me with contacting sponsors and collecting
funds.”
“Fundraising really wasn’t a very difficult process
for me. I started by sending out emails to friends, family,
and teammates, and the response was overwhelming. Nearly
everyone I talked to was willing to support me. The weekend
before the Bay Swim, I went to some of my neighbors, who were also
very willing to sponsor me. I was amazed by the generosity of my
sponsors."
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Brian - What does it mean to you to fundraise
for the GCBS Charities like the March of Dimes and the Chesapeake
Bay Trust?
Accepting congratulations from a family friend, Erin Luley enjoys her
role as one of the event’s top athletes and uses her own family
experience as motivation to give back.
___________________________________
Erin – “Both of these charities are very
important to me. It means a lot to me to be able to swim for the
March of Dimes because of my cousin and my sister. My five-year-old
cousin Audrey was born 12 weeks prematurely. Thankfully, she is a
completely normal five year old, but her first few months were really scary. Audrey
and my aunt and uncle were very big supporters."
“My sister Anne was
born with a birth defect in her brain, which affects a lot of her motor
skills. Because of these two, the March of Dimes has special meaning
to me. It was really important to fundraise for this event
because of
people like Anne and Audrey.“
“The Chesapeake Bay Trust
is a very important charity because it seeks to preserve such
an important resource. The Bay is home to so many species, and
definitely not as clean as it should be.”
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CEEF contributors take credit for helping
the scholarship winners finish their education goals. Why not
count yourself as contributor?
Thank you to the following people for their generous and thoughtful contributions
for the 2007-08 Scholarships.
Linda Adams
Bagley & Rhody, P.C.
James & Linda Brice
Darren and Betsy Earley
Ron and Eileen Melton
Al and Sheila Traylor
Mary McNamara
Allen and Ann Hubbard
Alan and Cecily Mermann
Pete and Bobby Reichwein
Megan and Rick Slifka
Louis Tommasino, CPA
John and Carol Winterson
Kit Winterson-Hall
Since 1999, the Cynthia Earley Educational Foundation awards educational
scholarships at The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim (GCBS)
held just outside of Annapolis, MD every June.
The GCBS celebrated its 25th year and many CEEF contributors were original
sponsors of that event and are still involved today. The Foundation
is humbled by your generosity for these students while honoring our parents,
Joseph and Cynthia Earley. It is what ties us together and
for this we are truly grateful.
Sincerely,
Brian, Megan, and Darren
For more information about Cynthia Earley, the GCBS, and the CEEF scholarships,
visit the CEEF website.
www.CEEF1.org
Cynthia Earley Educational Foundation
4405 Caminito Cristalino
San Diego, CA 92117-3615
Tax Deductible Corporate ID: 2254889 |
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