Support for Teen Comforts Family, Aids Renovation

UPDATE: More than $47,000 has been raised by the community for Archer Senft and his family; he is the 18-year-old who broke his neck last summer and is a quadriplegic. 
The funds, earmarked for renovations needed to their summer home to accommodate Senft’s medical needs, include $19,000 raised Aug. 14 at a benefit for the family.
“I was blown away about how much we’ve raised,” said Susan McGrail, one of the organizers behind the fundraising and benefit. “Originally, I thought we would try and scare up $5,000-$10,000. We are so happy Archer will get most of what he needs to come to Cape May and feel comfortable being there.
“It was so much work, but we are so happy to see it come to fruition,” she added. Renovations to the house are estimated to cost about $58,000.
McGrail said the money was raised by personal appeals to friends, local and distant business owners, companies and “just about anyone with an email address. I tell you and you spread the word kind of thing,” she explained. “It came in waves of $50, some $250, some $1,500. It just added up and kept rolling in. It’s still coming.” 
McGrail thinks the day of Archer’s accident (Aug. 5, 2015) “a community’s heart broke” and “whether you thought about him just that day or every day since people really wanted to help him and his family.”
That was evident at his benefit, she noted, with over 400 people in attendance. “That was their way of getting the opportunity to make a difference in the situation and help Archer since they had no way of doing that prior,” she said. “Alone it would have been impossible to make much of a difference, but together, wow, look what we have done.
“I am so thrilled,” McGrail said, “and it went way past my wildest dreams. My heart is overflowing with love for this community, and I am so proud to be part of it. As Louise (Senft, Archer’s mother) said, ‘I was the spark’ but as I say, ‘everyone else fanned the flame.'”
Long-term donation boxes have been set up at Sunset Liquors, West Cape May, and Uncle Bill’s Pancake House, Cape May. 
If anyone wants to donate, it can be done through the non-profit DeSatnick Foundation (http://desatnickfoundation.org) and is tax deductible.  
Donations should be earmarked for Archer Senft, or a check can be made out to “Archer Senft special needs trust fund” and sent to McGrail at 272 Sixth Ave., West Cape May, N.J. 08204.
WEST CAPE MAY – Throngs of family, friends, and supporters of the Senft family converged on Beach Plum Farm Aug. 14 to show support at a benefit for Archer Senft, 18, who broke his neck over a year ago and is paralyzed from the neck down. 
The event, organized by community members Susan McGrail, Claudia Von Savage, the DeSatnick Foundation and others, brought people together to share stories, food and drink, and good times while raising funds to help the Senfts renovate their summer home to accommodate Archer’s needs.
According to Von Savage, renovations required to the Senft house will cost about $58,000, covering a hospital bed, ramp off the back deck to access a renovated shower, and installation of a ceiling Hoyer lift. She expected that by the end of the evening’s benefit, they would have raised about $30,000.
“I’m a member of the Beach Club where Archer had his accident,” Von Savage said, “and I have wanted to do something to help. I thought I’d have some sort of community raffle, but Susan came up with this idea.”
Senft was a cook at the Cape May Beach Club when he decided to cool off with a swim before cleaning up at the end of his shift Aug. 5, 2015. He dove into a sandbar and broke his C5 neck bone.
Von Savage said she and McGrail are friends, and as they say, “the rest is history.”
McGrail saw an article in the Herald last May about the Senfts needing some house renovations so they could bring Archer to their summer home. Because McGrail’s deceased husband was in the carpentry trades, she thought she could reach out to tradespeople she knew to help with the renovations. She also thought she could help by bringing the community together at a benefit to show their support for the family.
“What an amazing event,” McGrail noted, expressing her thanks to everyone who supported the event in some way.
The Senfts also thought the event and show of community support were “pretty amazing.” Many of their family and friends from Maryland, their home state, attended the event as well as locals.
“This is a complete blessing,” Louise Senft, Archer’s mother, said about the fundraiser response. “I hope this event brings unity to everyone who is here and expresses our gratitude to God for all good things.”
Archer, also, thought the event turnout was “amazing,” as he was all smiles and surrounded by his cousins and family. The Senfts had spent the week at their home in West Cape May where Archer said it was “pretty relaxing.”
“It was an amazing week,” his mother said, “with some poignant moments, and some other moments of ease. We are so blessed.”
Archer said he has been to the Cape May promenade since the accident but has not returned to the ocean yet. He started aqua therapy recently at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Md. where he undergoes medical treatment.
“I was nervous at first, but then it was OK,” the teen said about starting aqua therapy. “They lowered me into the water, and I guess because of the water density, I have a little more support around my middle so it helps me to sit up.”
His mother noted that he is up to sitting on his own for 24 seconds, working on his core strength in his arms to support himself longer. Eventually, he may be able to sit on a mat by himself.
As the first-year anniversary of the accident was earlier this month, the family reflected on the progress made by Archer and his medical team. “The first year was getting the right medical providers onto Team Senft,” his mother wrote in her blog recently. “Getting the right nursing and caregiver folks onto Team Senft and tackling the costs will be the goals for this first part of the new anniversary year.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.
Anyone wanting to donate to Archer’s cause and medical expenses may do so at www.beingrelational.com/donate/.