Emily’s Gift

Aired Thursday, 1 September 2016, 7:00 PM ET

On April 3 2010, Emily Rose Shane was killed by a suicidal driver
on California’s Pacific Coast Highway. She was just thirteen years
old.

Out of the devastation, grief, and horror at the senselessness of
Emily’s death, her parents, Hollywood producer Michel Shane and his
wife Ellen were inspired a beautiful tribute to their youngest
child.

Emily had been diagnosed with learning and processing issues and
was lucky to have the outside help needed to help her reach her
best academic potential. In honor of her memory, Ellen and Michel
founded a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity, the SEA (Successful
Educational Achievement) Program, which provides one on one
mentoring/tutoring to struggling middle school students like Emily,
who could not otherwise afford this type of support. The only “fee”
to SEA program participants is to perform an act of kindness for
every mentoring session.

In this episode, Michel and Ellen will discuss:

* How one copes with the devastating challenge of losing a
child
* The miracles that occurred after Emily’s death
* How the SEA Program is transforming the lives of both students
and mentors
* The Pass it Forward campaign
* Why the SEA Program addresses a significant need in our
educational system

Ellen Shane graduated from McGill University with a B.Comm in
Management with a specialization in Marketing and Organizational
Behavior. The Executive Director of the Emily Shane Foundation,
Ellen now offers grief support to anyone suffering from loss, and
especially the loss of a child.

Michel Shane is one of the motion picture industry’s premier
independent producers. He is managing partner of The Handpicked
Company based out of Los Angeles & Montreal and has produced
films in Canada, USA, India, Australia, New Zealand, Croatia, and
South America. He has worked with the likes of Steven Spielberg,
Leonardo Di Caprio, Tom Hanks,and Will Smith and continues to work
with world-class talent on his projects at various stages of
development and production.

http://emilyshane.org/