Community Star of the Week: Kimberly Saltsberg

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Last year, 13-year-old Kimberly Saltsberg raised over $11,000 to support the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation by hosting an escape room event on Long Island.
Saltsberg, who was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease when she was 10, organized an "Escape from Crohn's & Colitis" event at Puzzle Break Long Island for her bat mitzvah project. It was a wild success, hitting the impressive sum through admission and raffle tickets, as well as donations from a highly-supportive local community.

"I wanted to do what I could do to help people, but there's not much a kid can do, so I tried to find whatever I could to make a difference," Kimberly said. "It means a lot to me. I didn't know how many of my friends would actually participate. A lot more than I expected supported me."
The overwhelming response motivated her to host a second event, that was until the coronavirus pandemic negated gatherings like an escape room.
With an assist from her dedicated dad, Jason, Kimberly, now 14, improvised and found a different way to raise money for the Foundation. For a second straight year, she surpassed the $11K total.
"We wanted to do something socially distanced, but still fundraise," Kimberly said. "We livestreamed it so everyone else could watch and we didn't know how much we could actually raise, but we were quite surprised with the end result."

The Saltsbergs put out a call to action online. If they could raise $1,000 Kimberly would cut her dad's hair. If they could raise $3,000, she'd get to shave his head. Five thousand was a head shave and a pie in the face - which Kimberly's sister, Wendy, got to deliver. For $10,000, in addition to everything else, Kimberly's mom, Elyse, would get to dump and ice bucket on Jason.
"Part of it was what I was willing to let them do to me," Jason joked. "We were blown away by the size of the donations coming in. We ended up having to add additional levels of things they could do to me."
They raised $11K - and Jason was happy to go through all of the challenges to help support his daughter. If anyone donated $500 or more, they'd also get a chance to pie Jason when things return to normal. He has more pies awaiting him at a future date.
"It's obviously a very proud feeling to see her stepping up to make a difference," Jason said. "She was diagnosed four years ago and thankfully she's been in remission since she was diagnosed and we know she is a lot more fortunate than others that suffer from the disease. It's a great feeling knowing she's willing to put herself out there to help others."
The Saltsbergs plan to continue to fundraise for the foundation, especially as COVID-19 has stalled the ability to stage live fundraisers.
They have an online donation link available here
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"We're still working with the foundation on other events they're doing, which is all the more challenging in the current environment," Jason said. "There is definitely more to come and we'll continue to work with the foundation. We're not stopping until we find a cure."
Nominated by Islanders Alumnus Steve Webb's Team Up 4 Community Program www.TeamUp4Community.org