I am honored to be the hands and feet of what God has directed and created, Light Up Hope! It has always been my goal to help children see the beauty in childhood and reach for their own future truths, no matter their current circumstances.

I am a single mom of 4 sons, with an age span of 17 years between the oldest and youngest child, all of whom God brought into my life in various ways, a couple biological and a couple through 2 separate adoptions. In addition, I have spent 17 years nurturing, guiding and helping children grow, as a special education teacher. As an educator for a local school district, God guided me and a colleague to start a program called: Helping Our Own, which brought Christmas dinner and gifts to some of our schools most in need families. This program ran for over 17 years and helped more than 8 families a year, including up to 25 children.

During my 17-year teaching career, there was a break where I stepped away and became a foster parent. Over the course of 3 years, I had 13 foster children, adopted 2 sons and this is when God prompted me to create: Light Up Hope!

This has all led me to where I am today! I am back to full-time teaching, as a middle school Emotional Support Teacher. I have a home full of family, including my adult son and his fiancé (getting married in July 2025), my 13-year-old, 6-year-old and 3-year-old sons, as well as my teenage kinship daughter. In addition to the human children living here, we have pet family! Of course, in my spare time (as if this were a thing), I run a quickly growing, God driven non-profit, with the mission to bring light to a positive future by providing hope and empowerment to under privileged youth living in residential facilities. May God continue to bless this journey that He has guided me to, and may He bless You!

Alyssa Staaf

Vice President

I am honored to be a board member of Light Up Hope and I’m grateful that this organization and the wonderful women involved are in my life.

I am a married mother of 2 kids, an 8 year old daughter and 3 year old son. My professional career is a chemist and lab manager of a local chemical company in Erie, PA.

My personal philosophy that I live by is: “ You must put good into the world in order to receive good in your life”. Over the last 10 years, I have been searching for an organization that I could continually be involved in. I have volunteered with many different organizations, but none of them were something I felt truly passionate about. They didn’t speak to me the way that Light Up Hope does.

I came across Light Up Hope during the summer of 2023 at one of their fundraising events. I was approached by the President and Founder, Nikki Moyer. Her passion and excitement about Light Up Hope and their mission was infectious. Immediately I knew this is where I needed to be. I was looking to add a positive purpose into my life and to give back to others, and Light Up Hope came into my life.

Light Up Hope has not only brought purpose into my life, but also friendships and a community of giving and love. I was not expecting to have God brought back into my life after years without feeling his light. Light Up Hope and the other board members have made me realize that he has always been there, but I’m just starting to feel his presence again through our mission. Everything we do through Light Up Hope, we do through God.

Kim Condor

Secretary

My name is Kim Condor, and I am honored to be a part of Light Up Hope. I am a wife and mother of 3 daughters and 1 son, plus various pets.

Years ago, my husband and I owned our own business. This allowed me to work from home. It also gave us the opportunity to open up our home to become foster parents. After 10 years and 3 adopted children, our home is full.

I've always been devoted to volunteering my time to help others. I was looking for a way to continue to help the children in the foster care community. After considering a couple different avenues, God showed me the next path my life would take. One spring day, I was visiting with a friend when she proposed starting a non-profit that would help children and youth in residential care. I was on board!

In order to make the world a better place, we need to start with the children. Support, teach, guide and love them. Show them that they matter and are important. Through our actions, show them that they, too, can be a positive force for good in this world!

Darlene Weigel-Schrecengost

Volunteer Coordinator

Hi, I'm Darlene Weigel-Schrecengost and I'm the Volunteer Coordinator for Light Up Hope. It is my job to keep track of volunteers, assist with recruiting, and working with volunteers and staff on events.

In 2012, my better half, Greg, volunteered to start coaching kids baseball again. So what's a gal to do? Yep, I volunteered to head up the parents group. I made sure our snack bar and field day were maned.

Most recently, 2017, I went to volunteer to hang out with some really fun, fascinating and amazing seniors at a nursing home that lead to a great job as the activities assistant.

A little bit about me, I'm a mom of two adult children, Nicole and Scott, and step mom to two adult sons, Greg Jr and Justin. And Nana to 8 beautiful grandkids, ranging in age from 21 to twin 4 year olds. When the twins were born, they were diagnosed with Krabbe. Because the twins were born during COVID-19, the boys were in separate rooms in Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. Mom was unable to bounce between rooms, so of course I packed my suitcase and moved into Brendan's hospital room with him for 6 months. Now Brendan is battling cancer in his back.

With all this experience, love of people and God, life has brought me to Light Up Hope. Heather French Henry said ‘Volunteering is at the core of being human. No one has made it through life without someone else's help.’