Mission Statement:

The Paul Rabil Foundation (PRF) is committed to helping children across the country realize their full potential, especially those with learning differences, by supporting programs and partnerships that advance their lives and opportunity through sports.

What is DRD (Dyslexia)?

Developmental reading disorder (DRD), also called dyslexia, is a reading disability that occurs when the brain does not properly recognize and process certain symbols. Dyslexia is the most common form of reading, writing and spelling difficulties. It is a syndrome of varied symptoms affecting over 40 million American children and adults.

DRD occurs when there is a problem in areas of the brain that help interpret language. It is not caused by vision problems. The disorder is a specific information-processing problem that does not interfere with one's ability to think or to understand complex ideas. Most people with DRD have normal intelligence, and many have above-average intelligence.

DRD may appear in combination with developmental writing disorder and developmental arithmetic disorder. All of these involve using symbols to convey information. These conditions may appear alone or in any combination.

True dyslexia is much broader than simply confusing or transposing letters, for example mistaking "b" and "d."

In general, symptoms of DRD may include:

1. Difficulty determining the meaning (idea content) of a simple sentence
2. Difficulty learning to recognize written words
3. Difficulty rhyming

DRD may occur in combination with writing or math learning problems.

Dyslexia may lead to:

1. Problems in school, including behavior problems
2. Loss of self-esteem
3. Reading problems that persist into adulthood, which may affect job performance, particularly if the problem was not addressed early in life

Every person with DRD requires a different strategy. An individual education plan should be created for each child with the condition.

The following may be recommended:

1. Extra learning assistance, called remedial instruction
2. Private, individual tutoring
3. Special day classes

Positive reinforcement is important as many students with learning disabilities have poor self-esteem. Without this, many children and adults will face learning and coordination or klutzy difficulties often leading to ridicule and/or self-recrimination. Many drift into drugs and alcohol — even crime. Their loss and cost to society is incalculable. And tragically, this staggering loss was, and is, preventable!

Personal:

"I grew up with learning differences and know many people that I am close with that deal with similar deficiencies, on many different levels, that continue to fight to overcome these challenges each day. What I've learned that hit home for me, is that dyslexia is often referred to as a "hidden disability". Over 40 million children and adults in the United States have some form of dyslexia. In almost 100% of the cases, you would never have known. The learning differences that many children face are in the classroom, and can be very damaging to confidence, reputation and future goal setting. I want to positively affect those that face these challenges by giving them the opportunity to succeed through sports, or financially with the opportunity to go to school in an environment that fits their specific needs.

I chose to use the color indigo blue for my foundation. Indigo symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery and spiritual realization. While blue is the color of communication with others, indigo turns the blue inward, to increase personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings. Often times the most successful people in the world are those with some form of dyslexia. Those that have to work harder to achieve, often times achieve more. For me, Indigo represents the thought process of engaging my foundation.

For more meaning, I began looking at different shapes to properly explain any child's learning deficiency. Every shape, every number and every move we make usually has an underlining tone. Tapping into the inner-creativity of a child is a great way to find what they are best at. It's in this creative mode where we often discover what we love to do as adults. Thus, a spiral represents tapping into our creative-side and finding what's best for each one of us. Our partners at The Lab School dedicate their lives to helping children tap into their creative. I want to help the youth do the same".

- Paul Rabil

DYSLEXIA IN THE COMMUNITY

Courtesy of, "Famous People with the Gift of Dsylexia": http://www.dyslexia.com/famous.htm#ixzz1W3y35S63

In an effort to identify with our Foundation's color, indigo blue, Warrior Sports will be making blue lacrosse balls, specifically signed by Paul Rabil in silver, permanent ink to be sold on our website with 100% proceeds going to the PRF. The lacrosse balls will be sold during specific months of the year. Announcements will follow shortly.

Cost: $9.99 [COMING SOON]

The Lab School Gala

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Annual Scholarship

In 2012, The Paul Rabil Foundation will raise funds to grant an individual with a micro-scholarship for the following term at the Lab School of Washington DC.

Become An Applicant

A detailed will begin upon request. Please fill out the form below or contact our Executive Directors to find out more.

About the Lab School

For over 40 years, The Lab School of Washington & Baltimore has been providing children with college-preparatory academic experience for grades 1-12. In many award-winning years of excellence, The Lab School has helped position children with ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning disabilities into avenues of choice where they will be most likely to succeed. Their innovative, arts-infused curriculum is experiential and multi-sensory, helping young people to overcome difficulties with reading, spelling, writing, and math, while preparing them for a rewarding range of college and career choices. Take a look and learn about all The Lab School has to offer at: http://www.labschool.org.

Located in Maryland, the PRF is looking to support The Lab School in many different ways. Being that Paul's passion and life quest is in lacrosse, his first short-term objective is to fully-fund a lacrosse program at The Lab School. We are currently working in association wait Warrior Sports and The Lab School of Baltimore to raise the proper funds to outfit a team in full lacrosse equipment, one of the biggest financial hurdles in the sport. From there, we will work to put the proper coaches in place to help orchestrate our goal. This will be a challenge that we look to overcome, and if only in the immediate short-term we start at the Physical Education level at The Lab School before beginning a program, than we will certainly accomplish that.

Executive Board:

Paul Rabil: President
Jean Rabil: Vice President
Michael Rabil: Secretary of Treasury
Allan Rabil: Chief Marketing Officer
Kelly Berger: Event Director

Scholarship Committee:

Marty Cathcart: Director of Institutional Advancement
Katherine Schantz: Head of Lab School

Event Committee:

Karen Berger
Richard Rabil Sr.

Fundrasing Committee

Ira Rainess
Jay Duffy
Carl Tuvin
Ryan Kauffman (legal)

Conflict of Interest Policy:

The purpose of the conflicts of interest policy is to protect the Foundation's interest when it is contemplating entering into a transaction or arrangement or making a grant that might benefit the private interest of an employee, officer or trustee of the Foundation. Recognizing that the Foundation encourages the active involvement of its employees and trustees in the larger community and in organizations addressing issues that are also within the Foundation's mission, charitable purpose and programmatic interests, a further purpose of this policy is to protect the Foundation's reputation and support its fundamental commitment to integrity by establishing processes to address actual and potential conflicts openly and fairly.

This policy is intended to supplement but not replace federal law prohibiting self dealing, private inurement or certain transactions benefiting disqualified persons or any applicable state laws governing conflicts of interest applicable to nonprofit and charitable foundations.

If you would like to read the entire policy, please download the pdf.

Donations to the PRF are welcome, and thoroughly appreciated. Every dollar contributed will be put towards a child's scholarship to attend The Lab School of Washington, D.C. or Baltimore. You can make a tax-deductible donation to the PRF online using all major credit cards, both safely and securely, or write a check to:

The Paul Rabil Foundation

P.O. Box 2081

Montgomery Village, MD 20886

We will accommodate any group event contributions. To verify, please email info@PaulRabilFoundation.org with your group event, date and contact information.

For information on corporate giving towards the Holiday Magic Gala, Rabil Assists initiatives, or if you have any other questions about making a donation, please contact us at info@PaulRabilFoundation.org.

Company TAX ID: 45-3149830