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Community Corner

Warminster Rotary Honors Fundraiser Recipient

This year, the rotary club honored 8-year-old Andrew Kocher, who will receive a cash donation raised by the club. Kocher is diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

The banquet rooms at the were packed with tuxedos, elegant dresses, and dancing on Saturday night, as part of the Warminster Rotary Club’s annual charity ball.

This year, the rotary honored 8-year-old Andrew Kocher, of Warminster, who will receive a cash donation raised by the club. Kocher was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was 18-months-old.

“I feel honored to have [Kocher] picked,” said Kocher’s mother, Diane Charlton.

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Charlton said that it was difficult for her when she first learned that her son had the disease.

“The doctor pretty much just walked in and said ‘Oh, your son has cerebral palsy’ and then walked out. I was 25 at the time and had no idea what that meant for my son,” Charlton said, “Emotionally, I was feeling everything and anything.”

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Despite his disease however, Kocher is always in high spirits. Saturday night at the ball, Kocher smiled and danced and gave peace signs to the cameras that walked by.

Kocher is also extremely active and has been playing for the Hatboro Little League Baseball team for the last three years.

This is partly due to the constant encouragement from Kocher’s twin brother, Kevin.

“[Kevin] pushes him a lot. [Kocher] wants to do everything that his twin does,” Charlton said.

Kocher said that he has good and bad days, but hates having to wear his leg braces when he sleeps at night.

As Kocher has proven by his active lifestyle, he will not let his condition hold him back from his dreams.

Kocher said that he wants to play football when he’s older and that his favorite team was the Philadelphia Eagles.

“My favorite player is Michael Vick. I want to be a quarterback,” Kocher said.

The yearly charity ball is the club's largest fundraiser and is accompanied by a plethora of donated raffle items. Two tickets to the Philadelphia Flyers vs. New York Islanders game were one of this year’s hot items.

Each year, after the charity ball, the board of directors chooses from a list of nominations as to who they will help raise money for. Warminster Rotary Club Director Antonello Ianieri said that the winning nominee is usually a child that has some form of disability.

“We look at financial need as well and we try to find residents of Warminster, but we’ve gone out of the township in the past as well,” Ianieri said.

100 percent of the money collected from coin-jars set up in businesses around Warminster and a significant portion of the proceeds from the charity ball will go to the chosen recipient and their family.

The rotary club also celebrated their 50th year of service on Saturday and was presented with a certificate of congratulations by District Governor Bill Jahn.

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