Celebrating the Spirit of PEPS

Group leaders, board members, volunteers, guest speakers, sponsors and supporters gathered Friday, May 8 at FareStart in Seattle for a celebration to recognize our many volunteers and supporters and to recognize the 2014 Spirit of PEPS Award recipients. The Spirit of PEPS Award was created in 2011 in honor of outgoing Board member/volunteer, Cliff Meyer, and is given annually to those who have truly gone above and beyond in giving back to PEPS.

PEPS is pleased to present the 2014 Spirit of PEPS Award recipients

Mia Edidin

Mia Edidin is a licensed independent social worker who has a private practice and also serves as the Program Manager for Perinatal Support Washington. She joined the PEPS Program Committee in 2012 and has provided valuable consulting for our curriculum and leader training on two very critical topics: postpartum mood disorders and self-care for new parents. Mia has also been leading or co-leading “Adjusting to Parenthood” – a group we launched in 2013 in conjunction with Perinatal Support Washington. This drop-in group is for new moms who need extra support, and now it’s offered every Friday in Greenlake. Mia also helped us develop new policies and procedures for managing potentially stressed or unsafe families. And, on top of all of that, Mia contributes to our blog!

Kim Sciarrone

Kim has been pivotal to the success of one of our founding PEPS Network Members – Seattle Families of Multiples. While at the PEPS office we’re focused on connecting parents based on their babies age and the neighborhood they live in, we know that some parents want to be connected based on special circumstances as well.

We worked with Seattle Families of Multiples and trained them to facilitate Parent Peer Support groups for families of multiples. Kim took on the program coordinator role for SFOM, along with the SFOM Board, she helped establish parameters for new PEMS (Program for Early Multiples Support) programs. Kim scheduled 12 groups in 2014 which served 120 parents. She also recruited 16 group leaders who came through the PEPS Group Leader training and worked on adapting the curriculum for multiples families.

Jen Winckler

Jen has led 6 groups in Snohomish County, both Newborn and Baby Peppers and she seems to be tailor made for the role. She’s one of those rare facilitators who can ride the sometimes fine line between sharing her relevant experiences without participating as a parent. Jen has consistently received the highest possible feedback on our leader evaluations. She’s taken advantage of additional training opportunities and has also become a great source of feedback to the PEPS program staff. She’s proactive about making suggestions that might help leaders and participants as they navigate through the PEPS experience.

Amy Daly-Donovan

Amy is an instrumental ambassador of PEPS and an amazing resource for the PEPS staff and board. She receives the 2014 Spirit of PEPS Donor Award in recognition of her ongoing guidance, loyal support and dedicated, generous and impact-full investment in PEPS.

Amy’s PEPS journey started in 1994, when she participated in a PEPS Group with her first child. Since then, she has supported PEPS in almost every role possible: from leading a PEPS Group to providing facilitation skills training for our group leaders; from attending the first PEPS Luncheon in 1999 (and since then all but 3!); to chairing the Luncheon in 2003, co-chairing in 2004, hosting a table at 8 Luncheons and doing the ask at 2 Luncheons (one with her husband, one with her daughter!); from facilitating board meetings and strategic planning sessions to facilitating organizational capacity assessments; from donor to founding member of our PEPS Sustainer Circle.

Plus, Amy created and led PEPS in West Seattle (a "satellite" group) between 2002 and 2007 including organizing several volunteers; creating and maintaining a local website and branding/logo, sending monthly e-newsletters, hosting playdates in the park and adult get-togethers and more.

Jana Barber

Jana receives the 2014 PEPS Donor Award in recognition of 19 years of loyal support and generous, dedicated and impact-full investment in PEPS. After participating in PEPS in 1998, Jana attended her first PEPS Luncheon in 1999, has since then attended all 16 Luncheons, has hosted a table at 11 Luncheons and has done the ask at one Luncheon together with her daughter! In 2000, Jana joined the PEPS Board and in 2001 was one of the founding members of the PEPS Sustainer Circle. Jana, as a West Seattle resident, was part of the volunteer team with Amy Daly-Donovan helping the PEPS satellite in West Seattle.

The Guaranteed Education Tuition Program

The Guaranteed Education Tuition Program (GET) receives the 2014 Spirit of PEPS Sponsor Award in recognition of their multi-year generous investment in PEPS. An annual partner since 2012, GET joined PEPS as the presenting sponsor of our Annual Benefit Luncheon and committed to a partnership until 2016, continuing being the presenting Luncheon Sponsor, and the presenting sponsor of our Grandparent Initiative. GET, through its multi-year commitment, is crucial in making sure PEPS is here for future parents.