Doug and Rachel Ellis co-founded The River Ellis Foundation in 2018 when their daughter, River, passed away. Along with the Foundation, Doug is involved in a range of different community organizations. He is Past President/Current Board Member of the Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue...
When her car was totaled in a car accident, a mother found herself in the middle of a difficult situation. She relied on this vehicle to transport her 17 year old son with cerebral palsy to all of his medical appointments. Still making payments on her previous car, she was unable to afford a new...
At 22 weeks pregnant, a Newport News mother learned that her baby had Down Syndrome along with heart failure so severe that there was no way he would survive. The mother went on to carry him until 28 weeks and 4 days when she gave birth to her baby boy weighing 1lb 2oz. This little miracle...
When approached by Doug and Rachel about helping with the River Ellis Foundation, the answer was an easy ‘yes’ for Blair. She helps out with development, and comes up with ideas on how to both fundraise and promote the organization. Blair is a Virginia Beach native and has...
Names: Stephen and Cara Cupka City of Residence: Virginia Beach Job Titles/Companies: Stephen – Project Manager (ET Gresham) Cara- Scheduling Engineer (VDOT) How did you first hear about The River Ellis Foundation? When we got the tragic news about River we were at a total loss for words. We...