Huntingdon County PRIDE makes a difference

By: Lindsay Ward

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- There's a unique nonprofit in a local county that we're told is the only one of its kind in the area. It's called Huntingdon County PRIDE, which stands for promoting rehabilitation, independence, dignity and education. In this week's Making a Difference, Lindsay Ward finds out why those from birth to elderly go to them for help.

Just looking at Izzy Kazmaraski, you think she's just like your typical, happy 7-year-old.

But soon after she was born, her mom Chris knew something wasn't quite right because Izzy hardly made a sound.

"She never babbled as a baby, never had any speech," Chris Kazmaraski said.

Izzy was diagnosed with childhood apraxia, a speech disorder, when she was a baby. At 20 months old, she began speech therapy at Huntingdon County PRIDE.

"They wouldn't just set her down and say, "Say this.' They would do what she needed, and for her that was movement in doing things like jumping on the trampoline, jumping on the bed," Chris Kazmaraski said.

She would also participate in the nonprofit's "Horsepower" program where therapists would help with speech by having their patients ride horses.
It's just one of the 11 services PRIDE offers.

"We consider PRIDE a community of people caring and sharing," PRIDE Executive Director Adam Pfingstl said.

Pfingstl said the organization has been around since 1951. It's gone through a few names, but PRIDE was created in 1994.

He likes to think of the nonprofit as "filling in the gaps."

"We recently added a senior care program because there were no programs that help senior citizens doing something as simple as vacuuming their house or washing their windows once a month," Pfingstl said.

However, Pfingstl said they "pride" themselves on lending a hand for all ages.
"It's trying to rehabilitate these children in a way they don't realize they're being treated, that they're having fun, and a way to grow faster," Pfingstl said.

None of this, along with their several other programs, would be possible without the fundraisers it holds each year, including its popular telethon - a four-day event in March.

"We auction off over 1,000 items donated to PRIDE," Pfingstl said. "And it's live on TV or on the website."

It accounts for over one-third of its budget.

Last year, it raised just over $160,000.

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