Ophelia Project 20th Anniversary

John Shimer, Leon Bennett, Aurora Wilson, Kathy Felci, Bill Powers, Gale Hackshaw,
Susie Harvey, Scott Bailey, Donald Griffith

 

Ophelia Project is a program of John F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation
The luncheon on April 26 was the 20 year celebration of Ophelia Project in Coachella Valley
Founding chairwoman Sue Wellman flew in from Erie PA to attend and was honored
Patti Gribow, the woman who first contacted Sue Wellman to bring the program to the desert was honored
Gale Hackshaw (one of the first mentors) and Vice Chairwoman of the board has continued to work with the program through all 20 years
Bill Powers, JFK Founding chair who gave the Ophelia program a home with JFK
Susan Francis, Chief Executive Officer molded the program into the Ophelia Project model of today
Since 2014 we have been National Headquarters of Ophelia Project
We started in one school (Indio High School) with 5 girls and 3 (or so) mentors
Today we run 16 independent programs in 14 school sites, in all 3 school districts, serving 500 to 600 girls per year
This requires a volunteer force of 100 mentors and another 100 people who serve on program committees and a professional staff of 5
Some 4900 Coachella Valley girls have gone through the program in 20 years
The Scholarship program began in 07/08…now each year scholarships amount to a value of approximately $71,000
Ophelia has a very important partnership with COD giving 15 girls a 2 year scholarship every year including a $4,000 assistance cash
Ophelia Project serves girls 8th grade through Associate Degree
Gideon Cohn, local artist, added an arts component to the program in 07/08 increasing the program curriculum significantly
We are always recruiting new mentors!! Anyone interested in mentoring should contact Susan Francis at susanfrancis@jfkfoundation.org