On March 18, 1989, Scott Robert Banke was born to Bob and Carmen Banke.  Upon his arrival, he bonded immediately with his older sister, Leslie, to make their family complete.  As he grew, Scott loved all the things young boys love to do: camping, hunting, fishing, playing with his little dog; Gracie.  He also enjoyed, R.C. cars, collecting Hot Wheels, participating in various sports and, of course, teasing his big sister. One of Scott’s favorite things was telling jokes and making people laugh. He developed a desire and the skill to learn and perform ‘magic tricks’. He frequently entertained family and friends with the tricks that he learned.

When Scotty was ten years of age, a physical check up confirmed that he had developed a bone cancer called, Osteosarcoma. Life for him and his family changed dramatically. The first course of treatment for this condition was chemotherapy. With determination, he began the treatments. Following this, Scotty underwent several surgeries and eventually, he underwent the ‘stem cell transplant’, in hopes that this would overcome the cancer. Through it all, Scott’s attitude was cheerful and upbeat. His positive attitude during his 2-year struggle kept his family and friends from falling apart many times. With his loving spirit, mischievous eyes and his unique ability to entertain, he would make others smile and laugh, even when times were tough!

Scott wanted people to know that, with his Faith, he was OK with having cancer. He was a light that other kids, their parents and even the medical professionals that cared for him were attracted to.

The Foundation’s title came from a video Scott made while on a Make-A-Wish cruise. One of the last clips, Scott turned the camera on himself and told of the day’s events ending by saying “See Ya Later!” The brief but poignant clip ended Scott’s memorial service, telling over 1,100 people “See ya later!”; which began a lifeline of hope for so many families.

The Foundation board is honored to carry on Scott’s legacy, zest for life and undeniable Faith in God. Although the “See Ya Later” Foundation has accomplished a great deal over the last several years, we are truly grateful and humbled by the support of so many. There are a lot of children that need to know they have hope for their future and Scott’s legacy has inspired us to help them find it.

Scott’s struggle with cancer ended on May 6, 2001. And, though our tears still fall, we know that in heaven he is alive and well. Scotty’s desire is that he will… “See ya later”!

The mission of the See Ya Later Foundation is to Inspire Youth and Encourage Families. The “See Ya Later” Foundation seeks to create a hope and a future for our children. We will encourage youth by offering a variety of day camps, annual college scholarships and provide support to families who are struggling with a medical crisis. Our hope is through these events and opportunities; we will help make a difference in our children and their families for years to come.

The See Ya Later Foundation impacts the community in a large number of ways. Our first mission is helping families in medical crisis. A crisis is a serious or life threatening issue involving a child. We work with the family to provide groceries and household goods to sustain some form of normal living. We have assisted families with obtaining low cost internet so that they may work from home and that the children may do homework. We have also provided payment for rent, electricity and other utilities to keep the family in their home and free from the stress of stacked household bills. 

We impact the community with our college scholarships. We offer 4 $1,500 scholarships to youth in the area. Each student applys online and has to answer questions about how they have made an impact in the community and how they have shown compassion and kindness to others. We have several dozen students apply for these scholarships. We personally interview the top 12 best applications and reference letters, then the committee selects the best 4 students to award the scholarships to.  Our foundation seeks to provide these scholarships that students that will make an impact in our community and in their future personal and professional lives.

We also make an impact with our youth sports camps. We provide health and fitness to our campers by providing professional instruction to youth between 6-13 years of age. Our camps are offered for a donation of up to $30 and we offer scholarships for players to attend free of charge if the family is unable to pay. Many of the camps we offer would cost players between $150-$300 per person, but we offer them at a highly reduced cost to make sure all kids have an opportunity at top level instruction. One of the things we have noticed is the amount of kids that attend our camp and hoard food. We have been more proactive in providing snacks and lunches to the kids that attend our camps and giving them information on healthy living and resources.

Board Members

Carmen Banke

Bob Banke

Brian Williams

Wes Thomas

Russ Wilkins

Byron Johnson

Cindy Johnson

Nathan Knottingham

Wendy Buchanan

Jim Detrick

Kathy Emmert

Kirsten Reynolds

Lisa Davies