On August 8th 2007, the Algayer family received a Sunshine Kids Radian80. Many thanks to Michelle Martin, CPS Tech for her time, expertise and assistance with the installation.
Michelle Martin, CPS Tech, talks about the experience:
"Thank you for allowing me to be participate in the delivery of the Radian80 to the Algayer family. Melissa Algayer is a very sweet woman, and I enjoyed working with her.
The delivery and installation of the Radian80 car seat took place today. Her son, the recipient of the seat, currently weighs 39lbs. In light of this, I chose to install the seat using the seat belt, even though her car was equipped with LATCH, since I was unable to find the upper weight limit on LATCH in Kia automobiles. The seatbelt installation was very easy, and is rock solid. After I installed the seat, I uninstalled it, and had Mrs. Algayer repeat the installation, which she did very successfully :). She then placed her son in his new seat, and I showed her how to properly secure him in it.
When we finished with the Radian, I reinstalled her one year old daughter's seat. The seat was installed rear-facing, but was far too upright (the install was apparently done by a local police officer, and Mrs. Algayer expressed concern about the recline when I mentioned it), so I reinstalled it using a rolled up towel to give it the proper recline. This install is also rock solid. I also adjusted the height of the harness straps on her daughter's seat, explaining that they needed to be below her shoulders. And I spoke to Mrs. Algayer about rear-facing her daughter to the upper rear facing weight limit of the seat, which it seems she was planning to do anyway.
I very much enjoyed meeting Mrs. Algayer and her children! I felt that the donation process went very smoothly, and I very much enjoyed being a part of it. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this donation, and I hope to be able to assist the Kyle David Miller Foundation in future car seat deliveries and installations :).
Sincerely,
Michelle P. Martin
Mrs. Algayer talks about the experience:
"I wanted to tell you that yesterday we met with Michelle and she installed our new car seat for our son. We forgot our camera, but took pictures once we arrived back home. I felt really bad, because we picked the hottest day of the week for Michelle to be sitting in our car and installing the seat. She assured me this is what she loves doing. She was really wonderful. Very kind and knowledgeable.
She was surprised at how big [our son] is for his age. I told her, as I tell everyone who comments on his size that he has been big since he was born. At 3 months old he outgrew his infant seat, and now, he is just 1lb away from outgrowing the seat he was in previously. Not only is [he] heavy, he's also quite tall for his age. People kept telling us to either just leave him in the harness (disregarding the 40lb limit) or to move him into a booster. Michelle explained how dangerous both of those ideas were and brought up the fact that boosters have a maturity issue as well which I never even considered. Thinking about that alone, I know my son would never willingly sit in a booster when he would quickly realize he could easily get out of it.
Michelle showed me how to install the seat and then checked our daughter's seat (which we weren't using correctly). A few months ago I requested a car seat check with a local police officer. He checked our daughter's seat but never checked our son's, which I was very upset about. We had a lot of trouble with his old seat, making sure it was installed properly, and making sure it was tight enough. Plus, I really wanted more information on booster seats and the laws and regulations. Even after asking him questions, he simply did not know the answers and referred me to a brochure. After meeting Michelle, it's clear the police officer is not knowledgeable enough to be doing car seat checks, which is scary.
I am so thankful that we were given this opportunity, not only to receive this wonderful seat for our son, but also to insure the safety of our daughter also. I really cannot emphasize enough how thankful I am, for this foundation, for the donors, for Michelle and the knowledge she gave me. This really is a wonderful organization. I know this has all happened at the loss of Kyle, which I am very sorry for. Thank you for giving us this wonderful gift of safety for our children.
Thanks again!!!!
The Algayer Family"
