Teachers Saving Children® Inc. - National
Newsletter
Volume 19, Number 5
June 2009
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I always try to be very careful with sharing verbal information second hand because it can be unintentionally distorted or miscommunicated. I reported in the February 2009 newsletter that in mid-January we had received a report from two different organizations stating that the National Education Association (NEA) had given $5000 to Planned Parenthood. These reports referenced NEA’s financial disclosure report for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, which is a report required by federal law. While in Washington DC on January 22, 2009, six individuals visited the NEA building and met with NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. One of these individuals asked President Van Roekel about the $5000 given to Planned Parenthood. At that time, I also asked President Van Roekel send me his response in writing. Unfortunately, I was using an incorrect email address and my correspondence to him did not reach his desk until early April. Here is our correspondence:
Connie’s January 28, 2009 email to President Van Roekel:
President VanRoekel:
First of all, thank you for taking time to meet with us while we were in DC for the annual March for Life. We had only expected about 10 minutes with you and were blessed with almost 40 minutes. Thank you. We were also appreciative of the opportunity for sharing and open dialogue. Thank you.
You and I had discussed some follow-up dialogue by email so that I could have some of the information in writing. I want to make sure the information that I share with others (and many others do contact me for questions/information) is accurate. Thank you for your willingness to dialogue by email.
During our meeting, Erika asked the question about the $5000 that was given to Planned Parenthood during the 2007-08 fiscal year as has been reported. Your response, I believe, was that a $5000 check was sent, but returned. Besides confirmation in writing for your verbal response, I need clarification on the following – what is the name of the financial disclosure report that is required by law that analysts use for information such as this check to Planned Parenthood? And a follow-up question – why did NEA send a check to Planned Parenthood to begin with – and then have it returned?
If I understood you correctly – whenever any organization receives monies from NEA – it is for projects where there is partnership between NEA and that particular organization. What project(s) or types of project(s) would NEA and Planned Parenthood partner together on?
Connie Bancroft, NEA Member from Ohio
Dennis Van Roekel’s Email Response date April 8, 2009:
Dear Connie:
I am writing to follow-up on your email of January 28, 2009. I apologize for the delayed response. As you know, your email failed to reach me due to an incorrectly formatted email address.
After investigating the matter, it was discovered that Planned Parenthood reached out to a new staff member in early 2007 to purchase tickets for their annual luncheon. When it was brought to our attention that a contribution had been made, we immediately asked for, and received, the return/refund of our contribution. As such, Planned Parenthood has not received any contribution from the NEA.
As you may know, NEA partners with and contributes to a wide variety of organizations that include the Children’s Defense Fund, the League of Women Voters, People for the American Way, America Votes, and Health Care for America Now, just to name a few. NEA does not partner one-to-one with Planned Parenthood and as a practice, does not make contributions to them.
In response to your other question, the financial disclosure required for our contributions to outside organizations is the LM-2 report required by the Department of Labor.
Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention, thank you for the opportunity to clarify the information we discussed on January 22. I hope you find this written response helpful.
Sincerely,
Dennis Van Roekel, NEA President
The Jacobs twins, both weighing 4 pounds at birth, made the trip home from the hospital 3 weeks later. Catherine, their mother, describes what followed. “I nursed them around the clock as they were so tiny that they needed to eat every two hours. I stayed home [from teaching school] for a year with them and while home, I began sculpting a baby at the age of viability to show to others what these little ones looked like. It was the first preemie model I ever made. I made it out of sculpey clay, made my own molds and cast it in porcelain. I entered it in a few local doll shows, and it won First Place ribbon. I called her ‘Hope of God.’”
That began the ongoing project that would continue for years to come. Catherine went on to use photos from several pregnancy books “to make this doll life size and as realistic and beautiful as I could,” she says. “I contacted a pro-life publisher and asked him what an artist could make to help the pro-life cause. Paul Broughton of Life Cycle Books told me to make a small set of tiny babies from 8-12 weeks gestation that could fit into your pocket. I did this and sent him samples. He loved them and ordered hundreds of sets.” Later, after developing an allergy to porcelain dust and after returning to her teaching job, the busy mom, now with twin toddlers, had to, regrettably, stop making the sets for Life Cycle Books.
Catherine began researching on-line, she says, for a different way to make her models. “I found a doll guild, and over the summer I paid another artist to teach me resin doll making. I used my summer vacation to make models and molds of my little baby sculptures. I took them to another doll show and met a woman who had a nephew who was born premature as well. She wanted me to contact her sister to show her my dolls. I did, and this mom wanted me to make a ‘portrait doll’ of her preemie baby. She sent me his photos and birth measurements and wanted me to make [the sculpture] life size.” Catherine agreed. This became her first preemie portrait doll. “His name is Phillip,” she says. “He was born at 27 weeks gestation. He had a little brother that was miscarried at 20 weeks gestation, named John, who I also sculpted. [The woman] told others of what I had done, and I started getting orders from other parents for preemie portrait dolls.”
Parents send Catherine photos and birth measurements, and she sculpts the babies in clay; then makes a silicone mold of her original sculpture. She then casts the dolls in resin. Catherine adds, “The dolls have been checked by physicians for accuracy in detail and gestational development.” She dresses the portrait dolls and makes them as beautiful as she can so children can look at them and hold them in their arms.
“I pay a woman in our church to make the clothes for the dolls. . .Most people ask why my dolls are dressed. The first reason is that they are anatomically correct by request from physicians and nurses who use them for prenatal educational models, and I have designed them to be shown to children. Secondly, they are portraits of real preemies and micro preemies. In many neonatal intensive care units, preemies are dressed when they are stable as a way for parents to bond with their babies. . .Many of my orders in the past have been from grieving parents. The clothes help moms who are grieving from loss through miscarriage, or abortion, to bond with the babies they lost but never got to hold.” Catherine further explains that the clothes help establish personhood; that people wear clothes; animals don’t. She says that her reasons even go beyond this; that there is a symbolic reason for the clothing, too. It reminds us “that all human beings deserve the love of Christ, who covers our sins with His precious blood of salvation. . .The clothes point us back to our Creator providing a sacrificial covering for our sins.”
Catherine Jacobs puts the money made from the dolls, right back into the cost of making the next doll. “I make no profit from the sales,” she says, “and I have invested much of our own family income into making these dolls for others to see, hold and heal with.” What a legacy this artist will someday leave to her family. Her talented hands have given abortion-minded women a reason to reconsider and have helped provide healing to women who have miscarried. Catherine’s “preemie doll sculptures” extend to children who see them and hold them, an appreciation for the amazing, wonderful development of human life.
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2009-2010 MEMBERSHIPS
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING1. Election of Officers for the 2009-2010 fiscal year was held. Connie Bancroft will serve as the Executive Director; Gary Winney will serve as the Assistant Executive Director; Juanita Sattler will serve as Secretary; David Kaiser will serve as Treasurer. 2. The Board of Trustees accepted the reports of the State Affiliate Chapters. Both the Pennsylvania and Michigan Board of Trustees currently need individuals who would be willing to serve as Board members. 3. The Board of Trustees approved by consensus a recommendation to print and mail 5 newsletters annually rather than 6 per year. The October and December newsletters will be combined into a November newsletter beginning in the Fall of 2009. 4. The next Board of Trustees meeting will be Saturday, October 17, 2009 in Dover, Pennsylvania. Any member interested in attending this meeting should contact the National Office for meeting details.
"THE WONDER OF LIFE"A special thank you to each person who has given $5, $10, or more to this special ministry opportunity. The Lord has once again graciously provided through you the funds needed for the exhibit space rental fee, miscellaneous fees, and the materials to distribute free to educators who visit our exhibit. We have also been able to purchase some videos and DVDs to distribute free to selected educators who would use them in their classrooms. Any additional funds received will be used for unexpected expenses that may occur as we finalize the details of the display. Thank you for your continued prayers as we make those final preparations. Please pray for the Lord’s special anointing as we minister to individuals during the exhibit hours. Reminder: Those individuals still desiring to support this exhibit financially should make their checks payable to “TSC Inc. – National”. Please carefully note how the amount given is to be designated (“NEA Exhibit”) so that the contribution will be appropriately allocated.
2009 NEA CONVENTIONIt is vital that you contact your delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly, letting them know your philosophy on various issues and candidates. If you have a delegate(s) from your local attending the NEA convention, contact should be easy. However, many locals do not or cannot send delegates to the NEA RA. Therefore, state at-large delegates or cluster delegates need to be contacted. If you need the names and addresses of your delegate(s), please contact your local president or your NEA State Affiliate office. Get involved by contacting your NEA delegates! Remind them to vote according to the wishes of the membership they represent! And then hold them accountable by requesting a written report upon their return! Remember: They are your representatives!
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©2009 Teachers Saving Children® Inc. - National ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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