In 2014, Donna Streett Imbierowicz’s 16-year-old daughter, Carly Imbierowicz, and Carly’s friend, 17-year-old Daulton Pointek, tragically died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning stemming from their car’s cracked emissions pipe. Two years later, Imbierowicz ’86 Agr established the Carly Imbierowicz Foundation to raise awareness of the dangers of carbon monoxide—an odorless, tasteless, and colorless lethal gas.  

Through advocacy and education, as well as fundraising for and distributing carbon monoxide detectors, the Imbierowicz family has turned the personal tragedy into a lifesaving legacy. The foundation has distributed over 1,500 CO detectors throughout southeastern Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland through its Save a Family, Save a Pet program. Imbierowicz hopes to continue expanding that effort across Pennsylvania and into Delaware, where Carly was born. “We know we’re saving lives,” she says.

Since 2018, the foundation’s efforts have been recognized by the state of Pennsylvania, which officially designates November as Carbon Monoxide Awareness Month. “They even light up the Capitol Building yellow at night,” Imbierowicz says. She has also worked with state lawmakers on legislation that would require CO detectors in hotels and day cares, and her efforts have ensured the addition of carbon monoxide awareness to the Pennsylvania driver’s manual.

The foundation helps Imbierowicz through the pain as it champions Carly’s memory. Carly—a would-be Penn Stater, as her photo at the Lion Shrine attests—was passionate in all she did: She was elected president of her school’s Future Business Leaders of America program, played three sports, was a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol, volunteered at her local hospital, and aspired to be a pediatrician.

“She was loud,” Imbierowicz says. “She could have done anything.” —Jeff Hodgdon