Butterfly Fundraiser Honors Slain Malibu Teen

MALIBU, CA — Sometimes, out of unspeakable tragedy, comes butterflies.

On Dec. 9, the Emily Shane Foundation, named after a young girl who was struck by a car on Pacific Coast Highway ten years ago, will host its annual Butterfly Magic Fundraiserthrough a virtual event featuring butterflies and a surprise celebrity guest.

Ten years ago, Ellen Shane of Malibu lost her 13-year-old daughter to an enraged driver speeding down Pacific Coast Highway. That very night, Shane knew she needed some way to honor her daughter’s legacy.

“The night of Emily’s death I remember my husband saying, we have to do something to honor her memory - we don’t want it to be for naught,” she said.

Shane and her husband started off creating a website that promoted performing good deeds in the community, but Shane decided she needed a project specific to Emily. Remembering that Emily had struggled but improved with the intervention of caring university-level tutors, Shane decided to form an organization to connect struggling students with tutors and mentors.

“I tried very experienced teachers, I tried different routes, and interestingly, she did the best with university students, and I realized why: there was an immediate relatability, they were young, she could talk about music and fashion and stuff she was interested in, plus they were perfect role models,” Shane said.

With Emily in mind, Shane founded the Emily Shane Foundation and its flagship program Successful Education Achievement, which partners struggling, low-income middle students who need extra motivation with university-level mentors who meet with them one-on-one a few times a week to coach them back to success. The organization is working with select schools throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties, but during the pandemic, this has been much more challenging than usual.

“Kids who were doing well were having a tough time, so imagine our population,” she said. “I have kids in this program, they’re babysitting their siblings, their parents or a single parent is out of work, they’re trying to do their classes and trying to keep up with their work when they’re watching younger siblings, some have been evicted and don’t have a permanent place to stay, some are in very cramped quarters with their family members.”

Indeed, a Los Angeles Times report has found that poor grades are surging in Los Angeles Unified schools in lower-income districts.

Tutors have gone online, and helped many students in difficult positions get back on track. “This program now is not only getting them engaged, getting them caught up,” said Shane. “Two things that drive the program: the accountability. They’re meeting with this person, and even though this person is not a parent or a teacher, they’re not going to berate them based on a mark or a grade, but what happens is they build a bond or a rapport with them, and in most cases, they don’t want to let them down … in most cases, they’re gonna start trying a little bit.”

To raise funds to help the foundation expand its reach, they are once again hosting a $50-per-person butterfly-themed Zoom event featuring a butterfly presentation from the Malibu Monarch Project, music from Lisa Loeb and Les Sabler, magic from Jon Armstrong, and a surprise A-List celebrity who has championed the foundation.

The butterfly theme comes from Emily’s love of butterflies, and the fact that they represent transformation - either of a student from failing to thriving, or of a family coming to terms with a senseless tragedy.

Shane says that the foundation has helped her find a sense of purpose. “When I first started it, it was a response to grief - it was a way to do something. When you go through a tragedy or when you lose someone, that’s it. There’s nothing you can do. So this is kind of a next best thing, where okay, I can’t do anything about her death but I can help other kids keep her memory alive in this beautiful way.”

The event will run on Dec. 9 at 6:30 p.m. Click here to register and donate.