Northeast plane crash victim wanted his son to go on a school trip to Ghana. Let’s make sure he goes.
Steven Dreuitt Jr. wanted to make sure his son would have the experience of going to West Africa on a high school service trip. GoFundMe might still make it possible.
One of the final wishes of a Mount Airy resident killed in a plane crash in Northeast Philly last month was for his son to travel with his school to Ghana.
Weeks before he died, Steven Dreuitt Jr. created a GoFundMe account to raise money for his son, a sophomore at Imhotep Institute Charter High School, to be able to take part in a school trip to Africa.
On Dec. 10, he uploaded a photo of his son Dominick dressed in his school football uniform. In what may have been his final words written on behalf of his son, Dreuitt posted: “I’m trying to get all the help I can to pay for his trip. Anything will help please and thank you.”
Sadly, he was killed the following month. Dreuitt was the only on-the-ground fatality in the plane crash on Jan. 31. His family was on an outing to Macy’s at Roosevelt Mall when he was fatally injured.
When tragedies strike, we rally together and do what it takes to support each other.
His fiancée, Dominique Goods-Burke, and his 9-year-old son, Ramesses Raziel Dreuitt Vazquez, were critically wounded and remain hospitalized. All six passengers aboard the medical transport that day died.
When I clicked on the GoFundMe earlier this week, I noticed it had raised only about $600. But I know that is only because most people aren’t aware of it. Say what you want about Philadelphians, but we are some bighearted, generous people. When tragedies strike, we rally together and do what it takes to support each other.
I hope we’ll do the same to assist those seriously injured in the crash, and that we will also make sure Dominick gets what he needs to go on this trip with his schoolmates.
Imhotep Charter helps offset expenses by covering approximately half the cost. The expected parental contribution is roughly $2,000, including pocket money.
Dominick is a member of an engineering team that used 3D printers donated by the Philadelphia Eagles to create a bendable prosthetic limb for a girl in a remote village who had lost the lower half of her leg. His team will bring over additional prosthetics for children in the village.
The trip scheduled for this spring will be the African-centered STEM school’s third trip to the West African nation. During previous visits, specially selected student ambassadors from Imhotep developed a water filtration system for a remote village, as well as hydroponic gardening systems.
This time around, the 25 student ambassadors, as they are called, are scheduled to distribute basic medical supplies, shoes, reusable water bottles, and maternal-infant supplies such as prenatal vitamins and cloth diapers. (Imhotep is currently accepting donations that can be dropped off at the school in the 6200 block of North 21st Street in Germantown. Financial contributions can be made via the school’s website.)
A formal send-off for the trip is scheduled for April 19. Student participants — who went through a rigorous selection process over the summer that concluded Sept. 11 with a formal white-coat ceremony — are scheduled to return April 30.
Instructor Shirley Posey, who heads up Imhotep’s STEM program, pointed out that “opportunities like this create a limitless mindset for our scholars.”
She added: “They are really working on university-level research projects. And it’s not just theory.” Students will be trained in advance on basic first aid, which they will administer while abroad.
In other words, this isn’t just a field trip.
I couldn’t be more excited the Imhotep kids get to have this chance to see how their STEM skills can make a difference in the lives of remote villagers.
Before his death, Dreuitt understood just how life-changing this would be for his son. With our help, we can make sure Dominick gets to go on the trip, as his father wanted.