Zach is a normal, happy, healthy and active child. You would never know it, now, but life did not start out that way! Zachary was born 3.5 months early, was 12 inches long, and weighed 1.6 pounds. As you can imagine, we were sick with worry. My wife quit her job and spent the next six months “living” at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. I worked my day-job and each night commuted 40 miles to Philadelphia to stay in the NICU until 11:00 pm and then would travel home again.

It was a miracle that Zachary lived through those first months. After which he was home- quarantined for two years. The decision was difficult, yet "Mom" stepped off her career path to nurture her son. And it is to her credit that he is the kind, smart, cool little kid he is, today. Most

kids have their hardships in life and we are thankful that Zach is not affected by those early years. He enjoys swimming and karate, and is doing very well in school.

Why are we doing this?

When my alma mater called asking for a donation, I asked the caller what the freshman tuition was. She responded that it is $50,000 per year. A little over 20 years ago, I paid $6,700 per year and that included room and board. When she told me the current tuition, I knew that no matter what school Zach would attend we would have to start saving now!

As forward thinking parents, we know that by saving as much as we can we will be more likely to be able to afford college when it's time. We know all families are facing the problem of affording college for their children, not just us. When we learned about the Upromise program we set up Zachary’s 529 Education Account and began asking friends and family to join. From 2001 to 2008, over $1,100 was collected just a few pennies at a time through the Upromise program. It was made possible by family and friends like you, and we thank you.