Helping out

Thumbs-up to members of the Synergy Athletics All-Stars cheerleading team who recently volunteered their time helping with the 15th annual Megan’s Wish dinner and live auction April 14 at Celebrations in Seymour. Team members involved were Olivia Hendrix, Alyssa Caceres, Savannah Stoffregen, Emily Jackson, Memphis Stoffregen, Ava Collier, Maddy Schepman, Hana Elmore, Mallory Shoemaker, Angel Poole and Hayle Elmore. Coaches Janelle Adams and Lydia Maupin also helped out. After expenses, $12,361.81 will be turned in to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Megan Cravens, 20, is a former member of Synergy and has had cystic fibrosis since she was born. Over the years, Megan’s Wish has brought in more than $123,000.

Fathers helping fathers

Thumbs-up to Head Start’s fatherhood |initiative, a special after-school program designed to help strengthen relationships between fathers and their kids. The little-known support group, which has been in place for several years, also gives men a support group to spend time with and learn from other dads. Head Start is funded through federal grants and operated by Human Services Inc., which serves families in Jackson, Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Johnson and Shelby counties.

Rescuers

Thumbs-up to Valerie Eckert of Seymour and Shannon Jones of Clearspring. The pair took it upon themselves to track down and reunite Cayden. The large brown male tabby had escaped from the vehicle of his owner, Amber Williams and her husband, on March 28 when they stopped along the driving lane of southbound Interstate 65 just north of Seymour to switch places. Eckert runs the Seymour, Indiana Pet Lost and Found Facebook page, while Jones operates the S.O.S. Saints on our Side Animal Rescue Facebook page, which reunites pets with their owners and finds homes for stray, abandoned, injured or abused animals in Jackson County.

Falling down on the job

Thumbs-down to property owners who allow the houses they own to stand empty and deteriorate to the point where they become an eyesore and a hazard to the public. Taxpayers also generally wind up footing the bill for demolishing those structures when absentee landlords don’t respond when they are asked by the city to repair or tear down the structure.