Meet five Kidsburgh heroes doing cool things for kids

Whether in the arts, education, sports or nonprofit sector, Kidsburgh heroes are using their talents to make a difference in children’s lives. Meet the adults throughout the Pittsburgh region doing kind, creative and downright cool things for kids.

The Arts: Lee Robinson

Lee Robinson has been a part of the Pittsburgh jazz scene for over 30 years. The saxophonist and composer, who began pursuing music at age 9, has appeared in and written soundtracks for film, collaborated with visual artists on a number of projects and played all over the world. He also works to bring the joy of music to children in the Pittsburgh area.

Around 2007, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh approached him to create an outreach program for children. He developed an improvised one-man show that took him all over the city introducing kids and adults to various forms of music and world instruments. He also demonstrated instruments made from recycled materials.

“I think the most I performed for was around 250 to 300 kids in a theater. It was kind of a head rush,” says Robinson with a laugh.

Though he stopped doing the program three years ago, he continues to work with the museum by roaming throughout the space putting on free mini solo performances.

“I’ll play one or two tunes in each spot,” says Robinson. “You might find me in the cafeteria playing, or you might find me in the nursery, you might find me in the studio.”

The program also inspired him to organize the Countdown to Noon event at the Children’s Museum, which allows kids to enjoy their own version of a New Year’s Eve ball drop. Led by Robinson, along with an accompanying piano player, the annual event entertains children, parents and grandparents with balloons, confetti cannons, costumed characters and comedians before playing Auld Lang Syne at noon.

When it comes to children, Robinson believes that music possesses both an entertainment and educational value.

“When they’ve done research on a broader level, they find out that kids who get into music are better at languages and math and better at presenting,” says Robinson.

Check out Robinson’s website for more information on his appearances at the Children’s Museum and throughout Pittsburgh.

Sports: Rashad Colvin and Erik Cooper, Penn Hills Flag Football League

When Rashad Colvin, a veteran with over 20 years of military service, served overseas in Iraq, he and his fellow soldiers passed the time by playing flag football. When he came to Pittsburgh, he saw an opportunity to bring the game to area youth.

“It was something I was good at, so when I came back, I thought we didn’t have anything like that for kids,” says Colvin, an income maintenance caseworker with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services whose background includes working with kids at camps and coaching football and basketball.

In 2004, Colvin, with the help of the Penn Hills YMCA, founded the Penn Hills Flag Football League, a co-ed sports organization for kids ages 6 through 13.

He soon teamed up with YMCA employee and gym teacher Erik Cooper, who took on administrative duties and stepped in to referee. Like Colvin, Cooper has an extensive background working with youth as a basketball coach. He also serves as the assistant supervisor for the YMCA’s after-school program and as a summer day-camp counselor.

Together, the men coach boys and girls for 10 regular games each season. They also organize a traveling all-star team and other activities.

The league, which practices behind the YMCA on Frankstown Road, attracts around 90 players each fall season and around 70 players each spring season.

Colvin says one of the reasons the low-contact sport appeals to parents is that it combines the fun of football without the heightened risk of injury.

“We’ve never had a severe injury,” says Colvin. “No concussions, no broken bones. The worst we’ve had in 10 years is maybe a small cut.”

Cooper also notes the league’s ability to bring families together as they congregate to watch games and cheer on players.

“There’s a great community aspect that we build here,” says Cooper. “It’s always great to see the kids grow and develop, especially if they’ve been playing with us for a number of years.”

Parents can now sign their kids up for the upcoming Penn Hills Flag Football League fall season.

Nonprofit: Judy Bannon, Cribs for Kids

When Judy Bannon served as the executive director of the advocacy group SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) of Pennsylvania in the 1990s, she noticed a sobering trend.

“At one point, we were losing about 54 babies a year to SIDS in Allegheny County,” says Bannon. The number dropped by nearly half after the nationwide Back to Sleep campaign, which encouraged parents to place sleeping babies on their backs instead of on their stomachs, took effect in 1992. But by the late-1990s, Allegheny County was still losing around 28 babies a year.

To understand why SIDS was still prevalent in the area, Bannon did a study with the help of former Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht. She discovered that around 90 percent of infant deaths happened to babies born in low-income areas, where parents often couldn’t afford cribs.

“They were in bed with parents, they were on couches, they were put on chairs, on ottomans – just all unsafe sleeping environments,” says Bannon.

After trying out few different approaches, Bannon founded Cribs for Kids in 2004. Based out of an office and warehouse space in Hazelwood, the organization provides low-income families with Graco Pack ‘n Play kits, which serve as a portable crib option for babies. The kits are purchased directly from the Graco corporation and sold at a discounted rate to Cribs for Kids’ 700 partners throughout 14 states.

Bannon traces the success of Cribs for Kids in her book Five Ladies and a Forklift, which she wrote and published with the help of her daughter, Jennifer Bannon.

“It’s the story of how you can take a little organization and build it, and at the same time save thousands of lives,” says Bannon, who describes how the organization grew from having only a few thousand dollars to now having a budget of over $6 million.

While Cribs for Kids is run like a business, all profits go towards fulfilling its mission of preventing SIDS on a local and national level. Because of Cribs for Kids, birthing hospitals in Allegheny County can give out Pack ‘n Play cribs and safe sleep literature to new mothers who need them. Bannon says they also work with the Pittsburgh police and fire departments, who contact the organization whenever they encounter a baby in need of a crib.

Education: Denise Morelli, Allegheny Intermediate Unit Non-Public School Program

When special educator Denise Morelli started teaching remedial reading with her therapy dog, she remembers a particular moment between a mother and young daughter who expressed interest in taking her class.

“She said to her daughter, ‘You don’t have to, that’s only for dumb students,’” says Morelli. “I turned to her and said, ‘You’re so mistaken.’ I wanted to take away that stigma that just because they had a reading disability they didn’t have gifts.”

The exchange was also personal for Morelli, who has struggled with a reading disability since youth. She overcame her condition to earn her doctorate in education from Duquesne University and currently serves as the director of the Non-Public Schools Program at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, where she oversees 50 reading and speech therapy specialists. Her highly trained staff teaches students in non-public schools throughout the Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

“It’s amazing how they walk away with a better understanding of what it is like,” says Morelli, who adds that some teachers confess to feeling exhausted after completing the program. “Some people will be in tears.”

Morelli believes tools like the simulation workshops, and access to resources such as the recently opened Provident Charter School for Children with Dyslexia in Troy Hill, may finally provide real solutions for teaching dyslexic children in Pittsburgh and beyond.

“It’s a long time coming and truly, truly needed,” says Morelli.

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