Bed-Stuy Rallies Around Lailah Thompson

Thanks to the tireless efforts of her mother Veronica Geithers, as well as dozens of people and organizations in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community, , a 16-year-old Bed-Stuy student and resident overachiever, will have the opportunity to attend a prestigious engineering conference in California this July.

For months, Geithers, 44, has been pounding the pavement, networking, posting flyers, devoting most of her days and doing all she can to raise money for her daughter's trip.

It was last Fall when her daughter came upon a flyer for the conference posted on a wall at the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA, where she serves as a co-captain of the swim team. But at $5,000, there was a heavy price tag for the trip. Still, Lailah told her mom about it, although she didn’t think she’d have a chance to go.

Yet, despite dealing with financial strife due to long-term unemployment, Geithers knew she had to do something. “I looked at the paper then I said, I will fundraise it,” said Geithers.

Geithers immediately reached out to her family, friends, neighbors, local businesses, the media, strangers even—all in a bid to obtain the necessary funds so Lailah could attend the 10-day Student Leadership Conference at the University of California.

In December, Martina Neil, one of the parents from Lailah’s swim team, stepped up and paid for the application fee. Then there was an iPod raffle at the Y, which sparked a small surge in community outreach.

A Daily News feature soon followed and brought much-needed attention to Lailah’s plight. “Once that hit, it led to a lot of donations,” said Geithers.

Soon, other organizations and businesses in Bed-Stuy would pitch in, including the Wine Therapy Bar, which sponsored "A School Girl's Dream" cocktail fundraiser.

Richard Beaver’s House of Arts and Mr. Joe from Alabama Joe’s Barbeque co-sponsored an educational fundraiser, which with the help of other groups, netted $2200 in donations.

“Lailah’s a bright star in the community and if there was any way I could help I was going to do it,” said Bed-Stuy YMCA Executive Director Dordy Jourdain, who worked with other local YMCA directors to obtain another $1,000 in pledges for Lailah.

Finally, on March 3, Geithers reached her goal, passing the $5,000 mark in donations to cover Lailah’s tuition, travel and expenses.

“I’m excited,” said Lailah who sports a 91 average while a junior at Medgar Evers College Preparatory High School. “I’m looking forward to it. I want to major in engineering when I go to college, so going to the conference will give me a little bit of a sneak peek in that field and all that’s involved in it.”

Other local organizations that contributed donations include, We Make Us Better, Little Red Boutique, Peaches restaurant, Dazzlin Divas, Those Brothers, Fluff ‘n Stuff and FLUD.

“The community is very happy to hear that there’s a young lady that’s actually doing what she’s supposed to do and more,” said Geithers. “When I speak of her just being a teenager they tell me that you should be really proud of her. And I am.”