Our on our second annual “A Cup of Soup Or Bowl Week,” we welcomed a trio of ladies to Kooper’s North whose volunteerism and work through the Greater Chesapeake Foundation benefits several groups focused on children and cancer and helping families in the fight. Let Monique Spagnola, Katie Caple and Gabby Reagoso tell you how you can help the kids.
Nestor Aparicio hosts a discussion at Kooper’s North, highlighting the work of the Chesapeake Greater Foundation and Horizon Day Camp for children battling cancer. The foundation, led by Katie Capel, focuses on supporting children and their families through initiatives like a year-round toy drive and partnerships with local organizations. Gabby Reagoso from Horizon Day Camp explains the camp’s mission to provide free, fun activities for children with cancer and their siblings. The camp, which operates year-round, offers various activities tailored to each child’s energy levels. The conversation also touches on other supported organizations, such as Andrew’s Laughing Gas and Calm Acres Farm, emphasizing the importance of community support and volunteer opportunities.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Chesapeake Foundation, Horizon Day Camp, cancer support, toy drive, community outreach, financial professionals, health insurance, volunteer opportunities, free camp, child cancer, sibling inclusion, respite retreats, caregiver support, Maryland Food Bank, fundraising events
SPEAKERS
Katie Caple, Gabby Reagoso, Nestor Aparicio, Monique Spagnola
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive. We are positively no longer in the studio. We’re here at Cooper’s north, beautiful UMBC. Towson, there’s pictures of old dogs named Cooper, as well as Woody. Here we’re in the mace chapel, Timonium. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. I have a scratch offs to give away. I’m gonna have to match eight balls. I left them in my bag over there, and I don’t want to knock I’ve had a rough week already. I mean, I had to cancel Tuesday on fadelies. I’ve had equipment dumped, equipment spilled, weather related issues, but I’ve made it to the end of the week. It’s Friday of a cup of soup or bowl. I have bags of stuff back here for the Maryland Food Bank and I have great, great guests. First time we’ve had three guests on the set, so I’m trying to squeeze everybody together. I’m trying to get headsets working for two groups of folks that are interconnected. But it’s Monique Spagnola that has hit me and said, you know me from smart CEO years ago. We met long time ago, and I absolutely remember you now, and I’m appreciative you want to come out here and promote a couple of great organizations. The greater Chesapeake Foundation, Executive Director, Katie Capel, is here, Gabby RIA go. So I knew I was going to get it right and get it wrong. There you go. Horizon walks, coordinator for Horizon day camp.org as part of everything we’re doing here, talking community organizations. And this goes back to the old LinkedIn. You know, I knew you back when you had another gig, and now she says her official gig is with Renaissance, dental, vision, life, disability. I need all of those, especially the life part. She’s a group sales executive, and I knew you in a former life as a CEO, leadership executive. How are you? I’m
Monique Spagnola 01:46
fabulous, and you can see my Cooper’s hat as we’re at Cooper’s. I used to work for Patrick, so this all comes full
Nestor Aparicio 01:52
circle. Well, he couldn’t be here today, but he did serve me up the burger of the month with Terry. And Terry’s a cancer survivor, so we’re gonna have him over a little later on, I tended bar the original Coopers when John SATA, Richard Belzer, yep, yafik Cotto, they were all down there for homicide. They put me through college. They were, they were your patrons. It was very, very clear when John Seder was working the bar that he knew his way around back there that night. I have pictures of that night. Was that 97 eight? Give me a year on. I graduated
Monique Spagnola 02:26
college in 98 but I started working there probably 96
Nestor Aparicio 02:30
Gabby, were you alive then? I’m just, you know, I didn’t think you were you look love this century. Tell me about what you guys are doing here today, because I’m really appreciative of anybody that educates me on new things. Last year, I learned so many things, and somebody had a listener Bill who came up beautiful, gave me stuff, and he’s like, last year, you did like, eight hours live every day. And I’m like, tonight, yeah, well, I did that last year. And I’m like, you know, I got my Jerry Lewis out, and I’m done. So this year it’s cool, it’s chill, and I was gonna bring a lot of last year’s people back. But I’m like, I want to learn some new things this year. So I know we’ve been connected online and whatnot. You’ve thrown me some information about this. Give me the lowdown on Horizon day camp and everything that’s going on with the greater Chesapeake foundation. Well,
Katie Caple 03:13
I’ll kind of take the lead here, because I’m the current president of the greater Chesapeake Foundation. We are a group of health insurance professionals as well as financial professionals that our sole mission is to give back to our local Maryland community. We do try to focus on things that surround children and their families. Our big signature event which Patrick here at Coopers as well as his wife, all their businesses helped with as well, and a bunch of other partners. They collected toys here, and well as their other locations, and also helped, which was a huge thing in delivering them. We have a huge event at the B and over ailed road Museum. DJ Kopec, I’m sure you’re familiar with him, and I have
Nestor Aparicio 03:56
never seen him work, but I see him on online, and I’ve never had him. Well, I never, I don’t know DJ Kopec, but I know the reputation. Yes, great energy. He has, well, I have good energy. I think we like each other. So
Katie Caple 04:09
it’s weird, like during COVID. Do you think that the toy drive has been going on for over 80 years? We like donate toys to, like, about 26 plus schools, Head Starts hospitals. I mean, this
Nestor Aparicio 04:22
is not a holiday thing. This is year round thing, right?
Monique Spagnola 04:25
So we focus over the holidays, but the toys are used year round, all right?
Nestor Aparicio 04:29
Well, good, good, good. So anybody can give any time. I think I was in here. I mean, I know I was in here before the holidays. I’m in here a lot, but this is what was going on over on the other side, when things were piling up. I was also here on New Year’s when the party hats were at, and they did the perfect New Year’s here, Cooper’s north. And I want to promote it, because I think I’m gonna be a part of it forever. They decide to make midnight 8pm I love it works out well for me. I mean, you know, I’m in my 50s now, this is good, you know. So I’ve been here for some holidays and different things, and you’ve been in touch with them forever. And these are the kinds of organizations where, like. Somebody like Patrick here says yes to somebody like you. And you know, a lot of organizations collect during the holidays. And one of the reasons this week that I’m doing the food bank is because the food banks in the pantries dry up this time of year. And there is a thing about giving Tuesday and Thanksgiving and Christmas in the holidays, and then we get into February, it’s like, all right, other things got to be going on here, because they are year round initiatives for all of these people, right?
Katie Caple 05:24
Well, to piggy on that COVID thing, we did partner with Coopers as well and the Maryland Food Bank, I delivered a big, well, we a small check that with the like we,
Nestor Aparicio 05:37
I found that out. I mean, I want to get stuff, get stuff, and they’re like, no, no, no, it’s it’s way more cost efficient if you give us money, because we can buy food for less than delivering it around and running it from Timonium. What I’ve taken to do, and the food bank loves, is too, is taking care of the organizations in the community, your local pantry. I had Catonsville emergency assistance on this week. Caitlin over there. It’s just that direct thing really impacts the community more than, I think, people realizing that it’s why I’m doing that this week and talking about it because we, we do talk a lot of sports around here and other stuff like that, but I think there is a part for the community where you see the smiles on these children’s faces, you know the work you’re doing, and you know that you’re gonna do it again next year. Once you do it that way, that’s what happened this year. So I’m gonna do it next year. I’m just not gonna do a
Katie Caple 06:19
marathon, you know, but we partnered with Patrick, and we my car smelled like onions for like
Nestor Aparicio 06:26
weeks, onions,
Katie Caple 06:29
but we delivered burgers from here to frontline hospital workers during the quarantine. My daughter helped out with that, because she wasn’t in school at the time, so that was great, but partnered with
Monique Spagnola 06:38
probably six different hospitals and Coopers brought the food truck. But what’s the
Nestor Aparicio 06:43
background on a greater Chesapeake? How long has this been going on? Give me, give me a little full story on this. As the executive director, I’ve got the card out here, Katie, go ahead. So
Katie Caple 06:52
we have, by by the our current name, greater Chesapeake foundation. We’ve been in existence for about 12 years. We came together with a number of different associations in the insurance world, just to do do good in the community. But we go back over 85 years.
Nestor Aparicio 07:07
Wow. All right, so this is, this is old school. And how long has this
Monique Spagnola 07:11
toy thing been happening here? It’s been happening the whole time. So we started off with what’s now the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. We started off over 85 years ago with them, and then as the support has grown in the community, we’ve we’ve expanded our partners, and that’s actually how we got to know horizon day camp. So horizon day camp is one of our recipients of the toy drive, and we met them through the toy drive, but then we got to know so much more about them.
Nestor Aparicio 07:36
All right. So I had a camp on earlier this week in Dundalk, Camp opportunity, one of my childhood friends runs this so I did a halt turn on Monday about my ickiness in the woods and being afraid of camping and what I did in summers versus what other kids do. I sent my kid to camp, my kid’s 41 now, and I sent him out to like, Winchester, Virginia. And I had a long chat, literally, on Tuesday with him about, like, was it good, or was it bad? He’s like, Oh, Dad, still good. The greatest thing ever that I did that. So I think I wasn’t. I was an underprivileged child. My camp was just going to Colgate Elementary and playing tag and kickball and you know, but going away to camp sounds pretty cool.
Gabby Reagoso 08:17
So we’re actually a day camp. So we’re Maryland’s first full summer day camp for children with cancer and their siblings. All offer free of charge. We transport the kids. We everything. They get to go home at night, which is very important for parents, everything they can still do treatment, they can do everything, but still have fun and be children in the day, which is the most important thing,
Nestor Aparicio 08:41
this is an ongoing This isn’t like a summer one week, that what you do is an full disclosure. My wife’s a two time leukemia survivor, 155 nights at Hopkins. You talk about I had that story Esther. Don’t make me cry. I made it the whole week. I cried 13 times last year. I haven’t cried once this week. So don’t make me do it. But we used to come down at the hospital onto the second floor and like, see kids and my wife’s like, 80 pounds bald tree hanging on, and we’d see kids there fighting, like, no tolerance for that. So anything we could do to help
Katie Caple 09:14
anyone that they have, and when you got me half, that’s a half, when you hear the impact that this makes to their families and their children, to have this free day camp, and they do a bunch of really fun events, like I invited you. Due to the Halloween event that they have, they have an event at the living classrooms, which is also, do they have a Santa?
Nestor Aparicio 09:34
I don’t make a good Santa. I like Santa. Are you?
Monique Spagnola 09:38
I’ll tell you what the Santa that we use for our toy drive. He is legit. All right, good. Real Deal. Authentic Santa. Well, there’s only one less I’m saying,
Nestor Aparicio 09:48
Yeah, Brian and Dundalk, he does that work. Yeah,
Katie Caple 09:50
absolutely. But if these stories do not make you cry, you are not a human being. And what there, there’s so many great volunteer opportunities to work with them. Like to come by. Volunteer at the day camp. Where’s the camp?
Gabby Reagoso 10:01
So it was held at the st Timothy school last year. Okay, yes, so super close. But we can get people in from closer to DC, up near Westminster. We go all the way out to Bel Air. They bust them in. Yep. We have kids from all over that come in, and the busses are free as well. We bring them any cancer,
Nestor Aparicio 10:19
if these children are in the fight, or they’ve have, are they in remission? And what? Because, I mean, let’s be honest, cancer is tough, like, just an energy level, you know what? I mean, sounds like fun the, you know, if you’re a child, that you can get to go play, but like, sometimes the energy level is not there for or even, I mean, I know all about being neutropenic and wearing masks and long before COVID. But these children must be doing somewhat well, in a way, to have the energy to participate in this, right? Yeah.
Gabby Reagoso 10:48
So to be eligible, you have to be within five years of your cancer treatment. We have kids that are ongoing treatment, kids who have finished treatment. We siblings are welcome whenever, all throughout this always, whether their sibling is at treatment, they can still come. Whether they’re their sibling has unfortunately lost their battle, they are still able to come. We welcome everyone at any state we we have nurses on staff, 24/7, like every day at camp. So if they need medication, if they need a rest, if they need, you know, fluids. You know, we were very diligent in making sure we’re meeting these campers where they are. We have different level activities through each activity. So if you’re not feeling well and you don’t want to do sports, we’ll have games there for you to play, or crafts or, you know, whatever. We’re not we are so accommodating to wherever you are. Your energy levels, you know? What
Nestor Aparicio 11:45
makes the eligibility? What somebody out listening right now? Child with cancer, they find they don’t know about the program. How? How do they contact you? How do they become involved in some way? Sure.
Gabby Reagoso 11:57
So on our website, Horizon day camp.org, all the information is on there. You’ll contact our registrar, Lisa, who will get that process started with you, and it’s pretty smooth from there. And we’ve already started enrollment and registration for this year. Our campers are so excited and their parents that they get to be able to do this year after year. And yeah, we know it from everyone
Monique Spagnola 12:22
their camp. So the kids can go, they can go one day, they can go all summer, then go one week, just depending on how they’re feeling, because, as you said, they may not feel up to it. Yeah, so, and it’s all free for for the campers. But I think it’s also something if
Nestor Aparicio 12:36
they’re not feeling well, because there’s something look forward to that, hey, maybe next week I can go, oh, man, that was everything. The wife was bad if
Monique Spagnola 12:42
they missed it on Tuesday, but they’re feeling better Wednesday. They can go on Wednesday. It’s not like a steadfast you know, you’re either in or out. It’s you go when, when you feel up to it, and then even when you get to camp. There’s all different levels of activities that meet the kids with whatever energy level they have. There’s these great art stations, there’s sports, there’s all different activities that you know, let the kids do, however active or inactive, but they’re able to be with each other, have a good time, form these bonds. Really special event,
Gabby Reagoso 13:12
yeah, like, like, like you said, we try to make every day the best day ever, because this could be one campers only day of camp for the summer, or their last summer, or we just wanted to be the best day ever, every single day. I
Nestor Aparicio 13:25
love that, you know. And I, first off, I want to reset everything here. If you’re listening, it’s cup Super Bowl. We’re at Cooper’s north, which brought this. I’m trying to get the whole thing. I brought Monique and I together for smart CEO and her time with Patrick at Cooper’s south. Now, I guess the original Cooper Staver down in Fells Point before the she she fu Hotel was built across the street, it looked like a homicide police academy. She’s here. We also have from the greater Chesapeake foundation. Executive Director, Katie Capel is here as well. She brought Gabby RIA go. So I’m learning that feels like a dish that should be added down at amici. She’s the horizon walks coordinator at Horizon day camp. You can learn more at Horizon day camp.org you can learn more about the Chesapeake greater Chesapeake foundation. You do several of these, many of these kinds of organizations in, I guess, the tentacles of everything that that touches your your foundation, tell me more about that, and how many other of these kinds of people you’re going to be bringing me next year, and in other years to tell more stories about what you want to
Katie Caple 14:27
take that question, I was just going to capitalize on that because we did touch on the toy drive, and you talked about like the food bank during the holidays, everyone wants to give but yes, we do that, and it’s grown significantly, but we do things throughout the year that people don’t know about. So horizon day camp is one thing that we do support, but there’s also an organization that we work with. It’s called Andrews laughing gas. I guess it’s I
Nestor Aparicio 14:52
had them last year and they made me ball and I couldn’t you. I couldn’t even fight to go to the bathroom figure myself out, and I was on live radio, and that I don’t sound good from there, you know, and but that they’re unbelievable. Last year I had them on, like, the day before their thing, like, or the week before, because they gave me to I couldn’t do it. Was at wrecker theater. Man, yeah, that sounds right, right. So
Monique Spagnola 15:22
they make stuffed animals for kids in the hospital with cancer, and they tell them
Nestor Aparicio 15:26
why? So, because this is a funny story, and I don’t have enough comedy here this week, so I’m not funny enough. Unfortunately,
Monique Spagnola 15:32
they lost their son when he was 10, but his son when he was in the hospital, he loved to play jokes, and he loved to play jokes on his doctors and nurses. And so one of his friend, one of his parents, friends, made him a farting stuffed animal,
Nestor Aparicio 15:48
right? Basically, unicorn that farted with Lego, and
Monique Spagnola 15:51
they had no control. And so he’d send it out into the hallway and have this stuffed animal fart, and everyone would crack up. And it just, obviously, just lifted his spirits while he’s in the hospital. So after he passed, his parents had a goal. He was at Hopkins. They had a goal of making 50 stuffed animals for current patients. They’ve now expanded to over 5000 stuffed animals. They partner with hospitals all across the country, and it’s just special,
Nestor Aparicio 16:17
beautiful people too. I mean, if you meet those people, amazing couple. So we’ve actually,
Monique Spagnola 16:21
our board has gotten together. I back either, by
Nestor Aparicio 16:25
the way, because I had layla’s gift last year and Andrew’s let and they, they got me at Pappas on the Friday land. And I just, you know, I made it the whole week. I’m going to a funeral, like, don’t make me cry
Monique Spagnola 16:34
today. But we all got together stuffed animals. We put the little farting machine, inspirational.
Nestor Aparicio 16:39
It’s so weird, it’s so funny, that you can’t not love this child, you can’t not want to support it. And that’s more of your work. See this. Keep going. What else? Who else have I talked to that I don’t know that I’ve talked
Katie Caple 16:51
to. Well, House of Ruth is kind of near and dear to my heart. That’s an organization we’ve supported and still support respite retreats. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with them.
Nestor Aparicio 16:59
Next year, I don’t know about them. What does respite Tell me?
Monique Spagnola 17:03
They also support cancer patients, but it’s really a retreat for the patient and the caregiver together, figuring everybody caregiver needs a break and you need to just do fun things together, but the caregiver is always going to be the caregiver, so they bring everybody together and give them a retreat. Of you know, meditation, nature, walks, arts and crafts, all different things.
Nestor Aparicio 17:27
As a former caregiver, and I don’t mean as a parent or as an employer or other ways, there should be a national caregiver day, absolutely, to celebrate caregivers. That’s a day where I want, it’s like Elvis’s birthday. That’s a day I want to go out and do something national caregivers. What else am I missing? More? Yeah, right now I have your little QR code here if you want to donate to the greater Chesapeake foundation. So I got this out. But, um, I, you know, I love groups that get together and do lots of things for other especially for smaller organizations that are trying to seed and grow well. And that’s no offense to LLS, or, you know, America can’t all these big groups that we do things for, but behind all of them, there’s people on the street doing stuff in Baltimore every day to help people.
Katie Caple 18:09
Well, it’s funny that you bring that up, because when we do look to partner with people, and we love the Casey carers organizations and those types of things, but a lot of people know about them, so we try to find organizations that people don’t know about it. So case in point, Katie just dropped a whole bunch of stuffed horses over to the calm acres farm, which is an organization that uses horses that weren’t being used anymore. They were all, I guess, rescued, if you will. And there’s like adults with learning disabilities that go and take care of the horses and ride the horses as therapy, and you can tell more about like with that experience. And I’ve had
Nestor Aparicio 18:44
a group that does that in Anne Arundel County, that in Millersville, there’s a group that does that work.
Monique Spagnola 18:49
Yeah. I mean, it’s so special because, again, it gives people that don’t have certain opportunities, an opportunity to be active, you know, share their feelings a lot of times the this therapy helps them talk about things that might be traumatic or might be troublesome to talk about, and it gives them an easy way to talk with folks that care and just and love them.
Nestor Aparicio 19:09
Well, I appreciate that you all care. It’s really nice to have everybody by if you want to help out the folks at Horizon day camp, go to Horizon daycamp.org, Gabby riogo, so I’m three for three. She is the horizon. Walk Score. I’m trying, you know that I’m trying to get them all right. I know you already did. I pronounce your name right, all right, to make sure it’s Spagnola and I didn’t get a, like, some weird pronunciation on that. What do you do at Renaissance? Plug that for me. Come on. Plug your real world. You got to do what you really do.
Katie Caple 19:36
I sell group, as you said, dental life, short term and long term disability, as well as vision insurance. So I work directly with insurance brokers, which Katie works for an insurance broker, bridge.
Nestor Aparicio 19:50
Well, you know, I can’t all you’ve written the greater Chesapeake Foundation. We all have real gigs. This is just like we took the day off to come to Coopers and hang out. I’m very. Be very appreciative. If folks want to reach out, you said you had an event coming up. Is there an Is there a is there a big event every year that you have for fundraising, that I can promote? Several fun ones? Well, what’s the next one? How about that?
Gabby Reagoso 20:10
So our next one? I mean, just talk about so looking in general. So horizon walks is our fall event. It’s our, one of our largest fundraisers. It’s in October. What’s at power plant? Live more than just a walk. It is a almost fall festival. We’ve got face painters, balloon artists, caricatures, a DJ, food games, oral bird, yes, the Oriole bird.
Nestor Aparicio 20:36
Well, maybe in the playoffs might be busy. It’s October. You never know. You know, I hope the Oriole birds detained and exactly well into late. What do you have a date this year yet or no, we’re working on okay, but it’s gonna be enough soon. Yes. All right, so the Saturday, usually or Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, always a Sunday. Yes, raving, Game Day. Wait for bye week. All right? My thanks to Katie, my thanks to Gabby, my thanks to Monique. I’m glad we put cards out here. I’ve been doing 20 or 30 of these this week. I teared up a little bit on Monday. Kind of got me halfway. You guys kind of got me going. So I’m gonna make it through here. I’m gonna make it to my friends get here. We’re just gonna talk about baseball and stuff later on today, we’re Cooper’s north. We’re doing all of this on behalf of our friends at wise markets, in our wise conversations, as well as our Maryland lottery scratch offs. I swear, if I can get to my bag, and I will get to my bag, hold time. Dance a little bit. Monique, I’ll be right back over. And yeah, there you go. Okay, so I have for you, because I have left these in my bag, and it’s my first segment, and Chris is here talking about the Towson torch. We’re doing all this stuff. I have the lucky magic eight ball scratch off. So the Maryland lottery, you might win the top prize of $8,888 why $8,888 Well, it’s the magic eight ball. We rub the lucky magic eight ball. So one for you, one for you. My daughter will love this. She loves scratch. I know, gab, you’re young. Are you sure you’re a legal agent? All right, just making sure I’m not gonna card you there. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. Big thanks to them. Big thanks to Patrick Terry Smith. Everybody here at Cooper’s north. We are just getting started. We’ve had a huge week here. Cost us on Monday, I screwed up faith these on Tuesday, we’re doing that on the 18th. Wednesday, we were at Cocos. Thursday, we were at State Fair. Today, we are in my homeland, Towson, Timonium, Mace chapel. I live on the other side of York Road. All is well. We’re going to come back here and continue our conversations with good people doing good things. It’s Baltimore positive. Wnst Stay with us. It’s a cup of soup or bowl, and the Gumbo is better here than it is in New Orleans. You.
