Teenage fundraiser dies

On Saturday morning, a 15 year old freshman named Rachel Giblin, was participating in a charity bike ride in South Carolina to raise money for MS research. Shortly after 11am the tandem bike she was riding with her brother was hit by a truck. The Charlotte Observer reports that her father Tom was riding in front of the rest of the family. When he turned around, he saw his wife, son and daughter laying in the road, bleeding. Rachel died of her injuries.

Rachel's passion was animals, and she wanted to be a veterinarian. She volunteered at a local veterinary clinic, and helped Friends of Feral Felines trap and neuter feral cats.Then there was the time Giblin came home to find 11-year-old Rachel, who had always wanted a horse, doing a series of calculations on a sheet of paper.

"She said, `Dad, I've figured it out. I can afford a horse if I baby-sit six nights a week.' "She eventually got her horse, her dad said. But first she had to help him build a barn and clear a horse pasture on their 10-acre property.

There are times when a donor should be strategic and demand to know how their donation is spent. However, there are other times when we make donations because it's the only thing we can do. Where it's okay for pure emotion to drive our desire as donor to support a cause that is important to someone else. I cannot image the pain of the Giblin family at a time like this... our hearts go out to them.

The Giblin family has requested donations be made to the Morrison Family YMCA, 9405 Bryant Farms Road, Charlotte, NC 28277.