Inspired by tragedy, teen sets out to make a change

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Through several projects and initiatives, they are encouraged to emerge as young leaders in the BellmoreMerrick community.

Brewer is enrolled in the second installment of the program, and had to plan and execute a civics project — something that would give her a voice in school or community issues.

“I was thinking, ‘What can I do?’” she recalled. “I wanted to help people here so I could actually see the change, and (make) that impact myself.”

Brewer came across a Stop the Bleed website, and learned about training in which people learn how to stop bleeding in an emergency. “There’s these kits that have essential things in them — like a tourniquet, gauze, trauma sheers — that if, God forbid, there’s ever any type of emergency, someone can be saved,” she said.

The school had some items on hand, but Brewer wanted to make sure that every class could be fully stocked with essential, potentially life-saving materials. After discussing her idea with Kennedy administrators and the school nurse, Brewer determined that 60 additional kits would need to be purchased.

“Over the past several years, our school has made it a top priority to train staff and students in various emergency procedures,” Principal Gerard Owenburg said, “including CPR (and) AED, first aid, and Stop the Bleed training.”

She connected with the company iThrive, which supplies the kits. At a price of $50 per kit, Brewer needed to raise $3,000. Working with Kennedy’s student government, in which she’s also involved, she started a raffle, offering people a chance to win a new Apple Watch. From the raffle alone she raised $1,500.

Sydney’s mother, Jessica, added that Kennedy’s PTA recently had a pretzel sale, and would be donating all of the proceeds to her cause. North Star Auto Body, in Bellmore, also donated $300. The rest of the money, the Brewers hope, will be collected at comedy-night fundraiser at the Brokerage in Bellmore. Tickets for the show, on Feb. 9, at 8 p.m., are on sale for $20, and must be purchased ahead of time. Attendees must be 16 or older. For more info, visit Govs.com or call (516) 7815233.

There’s more to Sydney’s mission than simply raising funds, though. “I’m actually going to get doctors from Northwell Health to come into Kennedy,” she said, “and teach students how to use the kits, and how to act in an emergency situation.”

Jessica Brewer stressed that her daughter became

what’s in an iThrive Stop the Bleed kit?

Some of the potentially lifesaving items found in the kits Sydney Brewer is purchasing include a tourniquet, two pairs of gloves, trauma shears, sterile gauze, an Israeli pressure bandage and a card with instructions.

aware of school tragedies at a young age because of Sandy Hook. “I think that was when she learned about school shootings, and it kind of got real,” Jessica noted. “So many people have supported (Sydney’s efforts), because the reality of it is, this is such an amazing cause.”

In her civics project proposal, which Brewer shared with the Herald, she wrote, “While mass shootings are unpredictable there are measures that we can take to help wounded students and staff, and be as educated as possible.”

Since she’s still raising money, there is no set date or time for her Stop the Bleed training, but she hopes to have more information soon. If the arrangement with Northwell Health is successful, Brewer would like the training class to become a yearly event, offered to all incoming Kennedy students.

“As a student in our school and community leadership program, Sydney has put her leadership skills and compassion for others to work with a plan to place Stop the Bleed kits in every classroom of our building,” Owenburg said. “Sydney’s project has the ability to not only save lives, but is also a wonderful example of altruism for other students.”

Special Needs Children and Grandchildren

Parents or grandparents of a disabled child should leave assets in a Special Needs Trust, to avoid the child being disqualified from government benefits, such as SSI and Medicaid. The reasoning behind these Special Needs Trusts is simple — prior to the protection now afforded by these trusts, parents would simply disinherit their disabled children rather than see them lose their benefits. Since the state wasn’t getting the inheritance monies anyway, why not allow it to go to the disabled child for his or her extra needs, above and beyond what the state supplies.

These trusts, however, offer traps for the unwary. Since payments to the child will generally reduce their SSI payments dollar for dollar, trustees of such trusts should be advised to make payments directly to the providers of goods and services. Preserving SSI benefits is crucial since eligibility for SSI determines eligibility for Medicaid.

In other words, if SSI is lost the recipient also loses their Medicaid benefits. In addition, any benefits previously paid by Medicaid may be recovered. As such, one also has to be mindful of bequests from well-meaning grandparents. Similarly, if a sibling dies without a will, a share of their estate may go to the special needs brother or sister by law. The Special Needs Trust must be carefully drafted so that it only allows payments for any benefits over and above what the government provides.

There are two kinds of Special Needs Trusts – first party and third party. The first party trust is set up by a parent, grandparent, legal guardian or court using the child’s own money, either through earnings, an inheritance that was left directly to them or, perhaps, a personal injury award. Recent changes in the law allow the special needs child to establish their own first party Special Needs Trust if they are legally competent to engage in contractual matters. These first party trusts require a “payback” provision, meaning that on the death of the child beneficiary, the trust must pay back the state for any government benefits received.

A third party trust is usually set up by a parent or grandparent, using their own money. Here, no “payback” provision is required because it was not the child’s own money that funded the trust and the parent or grandparent had no obligation to leave any assets to the child. On the death of the child beneficiary, the balance of the trust is paid out to named beneficiaries.