Self Advocate donates Challenger Baseball card and raises money for Riley Hospital

Jeff Gordon, Kelley Schreiner and Dave Calabro Note: Kelley Schreiner is the daughter of Rich Schreiner who is Chief of pediatrics at Riley/Clarian in Indianapolis. Rich is a member of the Board of Directors of the Indiana Down syndrome Foundation along with me, and I have no idea how he is as thin as he is with appetite! He is also a leader in the DADS group. Kelley is a fantastic person, wonderful self- advocate and Nash's daddy went to the Brickyard race with Kelley and Rich her dad....and Joe, but that is a whole different chapter that needs two blogs. Feel free to copy and share this story..... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kelley Schreiner is 18 years old, a former Riley Hospital patient, a good student at North Central High School in Indianapolis (will be a senior this year), a great athlete (Special Olympics, basketball and track, Carmel Dads Club Special Needs Sports Program participant in all sports, Challenger Baseball, Morning Dove Horseback Riding). She is an avid fan of Jeff Gordon and Elvis Presley . . . she also happens to have Down syndrome. Jeff Gordon grew up in Indiana , is one of the best NASCAR drivers, and is a wonderful human being who spends much of his time and resources helping others. He hosts the Jeff Gordon Bowling Tournament fund raiser for Riley Hospital each year, a few days before the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard NASCAR race. Before the bowling event, he spends time at Riley Hospital talking with kids on the Riley Cancer Unit. Kelley Schreiner is lucky that she has been able to participate in the Jeff Gordon Bowling Tournament the past few years. This year, after she was done with her 3 games of bowling, she had an idea – completely her own idea without any input from anyone. She took one of her Challenger baseball cards with her picture on it (#24 – the same as Jeff Gordon , of course) and signed it. Her dad asked what she was doing. She said she wanted to have the bowling tournament moderator, Dave Calabro from Channel 13, put it in the live auction. Kelley ’s dad was a little worried – he figured he would have to spend a little money to “win” Kelley ’s card, as who else would bid on Kelley ’s autographed Challenger baseball card. Dave Calabro started the bidding at $1,000, then it went to $1,500, $2,000 and the first bidder at $1,000 “won” the card for $2,500. The winning bidder was an Indiana native, President and CEO whose sister was a patient at Riley more than 40 years ago. So, one 18 year old young woman had an idea to raise some money for kids and within 20 minutes of having that idea, it was translated into a $2,500 donation to help kids at Riley Hospital .