The Gabe Fund

A lifelong educator, Gabrielle Benson worked her way up the ladder. She started as a classroom teacher in 1998 in the Archdioceses of Los Angeles, eventually getting her Masters and developing the first ever inclusive education program at the high school level for the system. A devout Catholic, she jumped when a principal position opened in her own parish just 4 miles from home, eventually being named Principal of the Year in her district. Experience like that led the system to ask her to take on more, and she was named Assistant Superintendent for the San Fernando Valley in 2017. 

All that experience meant she knew the strains that her fellow teachers were under. Over the years, her husband Mike estimated that they put thousands of dollars into her classroom and the schools where she worked. "The last year she was principal we put almost $25,000 into St Jane's. We were paying for one underprivileged student to attend school, supplies, food for the faculty, TV's, computers, whatever was needed." Whenever anyone asked, Gabe told them that it was paid for by the Benson Family Fund

Then one morning in August of 2018 she woke up and was having trouble breathing. Mike called an ambulance to take her to the hospital. There the doctors think she threw a blood clot from her leg to her lung, causing a massive heart attack. Mike was with her as they fought to save her life, but to no avail. Gabe was only 47, and she and Mike had been married for just over 20 years.

Said Mike, "The night she died, I could not sleep. And while lying awake it came to me that rather than have folks send me flowers I wanted to give back to the schools to which she gave her life." The idea wasn't to fund anything big or splashy, but to contribute in her memory for those things that schools always have need but for which they never have funds: equipment, a water bill, a new paint job. "So I came up with the idea for the Gabrielle Benson Fund."   

Mike started a GoFundMe page, and brought in nearly $18,000 from friends and family. He contacted the school district to see which schools could use the kind of assistance he had in mind. Together they came up with five, including St. Catherine of Siena, where Gabe started her career and where she and Mike were married, St. Jane Frances de Chantal, where she was principal, and three others.

One by one Mike went to deliver the funds in person and to talk about Gabe. One school in a poor neighborhood was trying to reinvent itself as a STEM school and needed equipment, an area near and dear to Gabe's heart with her Bachelor's degree in biology. Another was going to use the funds to plant a memorial garden to use for teaching, as well as to help pay for repairs due to rain damage to the office. For others the connection was more personal: one principal talked about all the support Gabe had given him when he took the job, and how he had he saved one of her voicemails on his phone and listens to it on tough days to give him inspiration. He was hoping to use the money to paint two of the classrooms that were in bad shape.

Losing someone you love is never easy. Losing someone who is young is orders of magnitude harder. And losing someone young suddenly, who was here yesterday and not today, presses the needle to the limit. Of course it happens everyday, and those left behind try and find some way to console themselves, keep memories alive, and perhaps bring some good from the tragedy. For Mike, the Fund hits all three marks. "Even though she could make 3 times the money in the LA unified system, her spirituality and love of the church is what lead her to teach in the Catholic Schools," he said. She did so to fulfill her own calling, one which Mike said was only reinforced by every principal he visited. "To a person they all talked about how Gabe helped them, and gave them the inspiration to be the best they could be." As a legacy, you can't ask for a better teachable moment.

-END-

You can contribute at gofundme.com/gabrielle-benson-fund. Marc's column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Peeps Update

Those that follow this space regularly know of my interest and love of all things sweet. Cakes, candies, cookies: all are ripe for discourse. And while this weekend marks a solemn religious moment for some, a byproduct of that is it is also important on my calendar in a related way, as ground zero for Peeps. 

Indeed, over the years I have written a number of scholarly treatises on various issues related to that marshmallow confection. In 2006 there was "Food Sciences" talking about some of the tests and trials to which people subject the yellow bunnies. And 2014's "Everyday a Holiday" noted the expansion of their retail presence in both line extensions and physical stores. So with all the current action in this particular space, I feel duty bound to dive in one more time. In fact, this year has seen a bumper crop of Peeps news. Each by itself is but a minor blip the sugar-coated universe. But taken together they represent a major hop forward in the Peepification of our world. 

It all started back in January with the announcement of International Delight's latest offering. That company fields a full line of flavored coffee creamers, from vanilla to hazelnut to Irish crème. Most recently they have released co-branded products featuring the flavors of Cinnabon and Almond Joy, turning your morning brew into something more akin to dessert. Well, not to miss out on an opportunity, they've recently rolled out Peeps coffee creamer. Yes, it tastes marshmallow-y, but unlike most creamers it also makes your coffee yellow-y. Considering that it starts out as black, that means that whatever the taste, the resulting blend might be more suitable for a travel mug, one with none-see-thru lid. 

Hot on the heels of that big announcement came the one from cereal behemoth Kellogg's. Makers of such iconic brands as Cheerios, Rice Krispies and Fruit Loops, they have also been gussying up their line with new contemporary flavors like Frosted Mini Wheats in Vanilla Latte and Pumpkin Spice varietals. Also fearing they could be left behind on this particular parade, they have introduced Peeps cereal. While most breakfast offerings might add a few little chips of candy sprinkled in amongst the flakes, this one goes all in. Its red, yellow and blue whole grain rings carry a marshmallow taste, complimented by actual marshmallows to gild this particular lily. Again, all that coloring turns the milk you pour into your bowl a shade of, well, think tie-dye and you're in the neighborhood. 

Back at Peeps HQ, they are working at expanding this year's flavor roster as well. After all, just because something is made of marshmallow doesn't mean it has to taste like marshmallow. And so they now offer numerous takes beyond the subtle tang of Pink and Yellow. There's Pancakes & Syrup, Root Beer Float and Cotton Candy flavors, each of which gives you that spongy consistency and form of the original with the taste of something completely different. And their Delights line, which seeks to take the candy upscale and appeal to more adult tastes by dipping it in chocolate, added Orange Sherbet flavor, which according to one review, "nails that delicate tropical sunscreen aroma found in a Dreamsicle." 

They are even stepping out of their home turf into other neighboring areas. You can now get classic chocolate bunnies under the Peeps banner. Similar to the usual solid Easter offerings, they come wrapped in pink, blue and yellow foil as a nod to their heritage. They have also rolled out, no pun intended, Peeps jelly beans. They come twinned as strawberry and marshmallow, lemon and marshmallow, and blueberry and marshmallow. Because a strawberry jelly bean just isn't sweet enough without a marshmallow flavored clone next to it. 

The US population is a bit north of 300 million. Estimates are that this Easter about 600 million Peeps will be consumed. Even if you are bad at math, you can see that works out to about 2 for every person in the country. You may not be a fan, nor the person on either side of you or behind you. That only means that person in front of you is eating an entire package. In the holiday spirit, no judging.

-END-

Marc Wollin of Bedford has a serious sugar issue. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Step Master

It happened again today. I was minding my own business, not hurting anyone, just trying to get from one place to the next. My smart watch buzzed, which usually means someone is trying to get in touch with me. Because of the inclement weather, I had on a fleece jacket topped with a parka, which meant that getting to my wrist was problematic. No matter: I slid my phone out from my pocket to see who needed me. But there were no popup indicators of any kind: no emails, no calls, no texts. Yet something had summoned me. I stepped out of the line of march, leaned against a wall under an overhang and peeled up my sleeve layer by layer to see what was going on. 

"Congratulations! You've achieved your goal!" it read. For the record, my only goal was to get to my next appointment on time (also to eat less cookies, but that's an issue for future discussion). The goal my watch was trumpeting was based on a built-in program to which I pay no mind, but many do. If you look around you will see lots of folks with bracelets on their wrists pursing that objective, one that is supposed to be the mark of the fit and the energetic: 10,000 steps a day.

To be sure, anything that gets you off the couch is a good thing. For years doctors and researchers have been encouraging us all to make physical activity a regular part of our lifestyle. Or as the official Health and Human Services recommendations say "Adults should move more and sit less throughout the day. Some physical activity is better than none. Adults who sit less and do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity gain some health benefits." And no, going to the refrigerator while the next episode of "Game of Thrones" loads doesn't really count.

According to those guidelines, adults should engage in 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, or half of that if it's more intense. That works out to about 30 minutes a day and sleeping in on weekends, or punting the gym Monday to Friday, as long as you take some serious bike rides on Saturday and Sunday. It's also not necessary to do it in a block. You can spread those minutes out over the day, using the stairs vs. taking the elevator, getting off a stop early on the subway and hoofing the rest of the way, and the like.

Nowhere in any of the guidelines does the phrase "10,000 steps" appear. That's because it's not a fitness goal with any scientific backing, but rather a marketing slogan from the 1960's. In an attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a Japanese company called Yamasa designed the world's first wearable step-counter. Looking for a catchy name, they called it "Manpo-Kei" which translates as "10,000-step meter." Designed like a pocket watch that hung on your belt, it wasn't encouraging people to use 10,000 steps as a goal, that's just how many it counted before it turned back over to zero.

Just as Malcolm Gladwell's "10,000 hours of practice leads to greatness" oversimplifies that concept, so too has 10,000 steps become an inexact proxy for fitness. Research hasn't shown anything magical about the number: it might actually be that 8,000 steps can add years to your life, or maybe 12,000 is the number it takes to live to 100. In fact, studies have confirmed that these numbers are associated with health benefits not because they signify reaching some amazing threshold. It's simply that they are a lot of steps, and the more the better. But we humans like round numbers and goals, so 10,000 it is.

As to my watch and your Fitbit or whatever wearable you have, they are good as indicators if you care to track these things, as millions do. And so if the little flower on the display growing, or the watch face lighting up, or a display like mine congratulating you on your "achievement" helps you to huff and puff a little if not actually develop a sweat, then by all means use what works. Peloton is making millions with your ilk in mind. As for me, I'll take the stairs, but I won’t count them.

-END-

Marc Wollin of Bedford tries to work out everyday. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Looks Good?

On a shelf in our kitchen is a collection of cookbooks. Spanning our favorite cuisines, regions and chefs, they used to be an essential part of our daily routine. Not so much anymore; in fact, I can't remember the last time I cracked one open. That's because it's much easier to go online and plug in the name of what we want to make, or even just the ingredients that we're trying to use. Up pops a laundry list of possibilities, some with pictures, some with descriptions. We scroll through them until we find the one that looks attractive, and take a deeper dive into the details. 

But with so many to choose from, how does one decide which to pick? After all, type in "apple pie" and half a second later you get 354 million possible approaches. You need some criteria to weed out the winners and losers. Ingredients are certainly one aspect: if upon further examination one possible starts with "take a dozen eggs" you might take a pass. Or perhaps there are exotic ingredients like sumac or saffron not found in your everyday pantry, and so you move on down the list. You might also examine the steps it takes to make it happen: if there are more than 6 or 7 you might look elsewhere. Likewise if unusual equipment is needed, more than an hour is required, or the recipe includes the directions "Separate one hog's head into halves." 

Almost as important as all of the above are the reviews. This is based on the underlying assumption that those weighing in have been there before you and are reacting to their experience. Mind you, we have no idea who these people are, their taste or frame of reference. Do they like things spicy or not? Do they like one sugar or six in their coffee? Do they consider boiling water a difficult task? No matter, we assume they are somewhat similar to us in taste and skill, and use that as a starting point.

In general these comments seem to fall into three classes. The first are the straight up reviews, a thumbs up or down on a dish. About a Bourbon-Pecan Tart with Chocolate Drizzle, Trishia64 said "I made this for a birthday celebration and it got rave reviews." ." In reference to Skillet Chicken in Sun Dried Tomato Sauce, Linda posts "This was delicious and easy!! Husband said this is a keeper and not to miss any leftovers!!" Of course, they are not always raves: for a recipe for Maryland Crab Soup, Roli said "I grew up near the Chesapeake Bay and I think this soup didn't taste anything like Maryland crab soup. The broth was bland and had no depth whatsoever." Or to paraphrase Thomas Wolfe, you can't taste home again. 

The second group sees a recipe as a starting point, and offers helpful suggestions along the lines of "Great recipe, but I added more chocolate chips" or "Love it, with some mushrooms thrown in." Then there‘s this one for Creamy Italian White Bean Soup: "Only an average 3-star recipe as written with obvious flaws. The fixes: double the garlic, l/4 more beans, use chix broth in place of water, add onion salt and chix bouillon to taste, add 3 teaspoons fresh Rosemary, double the lemon juice." Translation: I had to tweak it so much I should have just used another recipe to start. 

Then there're the ones that mystify me. The writers haven't actually cooked anything, but still feel compelled to contribute, as if they are handing out "Best Trier" trophies to second graders. For a Berry Buttermilk Cake, Anna says "I feel really, really positive about this recipe. i can't wait to make it!" Reacting to one for Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Vegetables, Arcelia writes, "These look great! I'll let you know how they turn out." And for a Lemon tart, Elaine gushes, "The amount of yellow in this recipe is mesmerizing!" Uh, Elaine, it's lemon. And it's yellow. And yet somehow you seem surprised. 

It's up to each cook to filter all these and decide which to try and which to avoid. Personally, I take an approach akin to judging a figure skating competition: I throw out the highs and the lows and average the center. And based on that I decide if I'm dealing with the Tonya or the Nancy of Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Cakes.

-END-

Marc Wollin of Bedford likes to bake. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.