one of our own tragically lost his beautiful daughter in a horrific murder in march, 2007.
Alicia (Sears) Castillon and John Mitchell (her boyfriend) were murdered by her former boyfriend - despite having gone to court before and having the judge tell him to "stay away", her killer entered the home and shot both alicia and john while her children were in their bedrooms in the house at the time. they heard the shots. the heart wrenching call to 911 was from from one of alicia's children who identified the killer as their stepdad.
when this happened, kossack got a grip wrote of the tragedy of alicia's death along with sharing much of her life - and photos of her with her dad - our own zwoof.
all too often we stand and shake our heads and wonder "what could i have done" or "what can i do?" when we hear of domestic violence. well, right now - today - you have a chance to make a difference... to DO something... and know that it started here with one of our own.
for an explanation, please follow me beneath the fold...
alicia's voice is an organization started by alicia's mother to give voice to alicia's life and so in death, she would rise again to help those who are vulnerable. out of grief comes good - and this organization does more than print leaflets - they educate, they provide legal, medical, emotional assistance.
please watch this video made with grants from the dept of justice and donations from friends of alicia.
please watch this moving video- then, if you can, help this organization stay to help victims of domestic abuse and violence.
i know times are hard - i know it better than most. yet, as i close and publish this diary, i am sending $25.02 to help try to keep alicia's voice reaching out to those who need help!
michael - zwoof - you are a treasure on this site - my heart still breaks for your loss - and your family's loss. alicia came alive through your words - and now, perhaps, through our help, her voice will continue loud and strong!
please, if any of you can - send something - anything - to keep this organization from disappearing. even one dollar (and 0.02) - times 1000 - adds up! donate on this page at alicia's voice! don't let alicia's voice be silenced a second time!
wiping away the tears as i remember the heartbreak of michael's posts and for the loss of alicia and all those who have been taken away.
9:27 AM PT: it is only 9:23 and the donations are coming in to help magnify alicia's voice and keep the doors open! the immediate goal is to cover the annual rent of $5,000. we can DO this - I KNOW we can - with your help.
i'll do an update with an approximate total of what we've got and what we need throughout the day - so, if you have a chance (to borrow a phrase from all those funding requests) if you could just send $3.00 - or $2.00 - or even $1.00 - let me know and i'll start a tally!
here is the link to zwoof's diary
Domestic Violence: Remembering Alicia, 6 years gone
11:12 AM PT: Oke has made a match offer of $500 when we raise another $500 ! for those of you who might remember, she shared with us her terror then relief when she flew to rescue her own daughter in 2010.
i know that we can do this together - and oke has just brought us a little closer to accomplishing the goal of keeping the doors open at alicia's voice!
Amount donated so far - (this is the "known amount" - some folks didn't give an amount and some are donating from zwoof' diary)
$255 - with $10 toward the $500 match. when we reach that goal, we should have $1045* (i am optomistic, so i'm listing that total-to-be).
that is more than 1/5 the way toward ensuring the doors stay open! (we'll have a full account on monday when the donations manager can check the website! let's make his week start off right, okay?)
3:25 PM PT: WE are CLOSING IN! was able to get a total (as of 1:53pm) reached $1656 - we can DO this!
4:13 PM PT: another donation and we have topped $1,700! we're 1/3 the way there!
4:17 PM PT: i'll be away for several hours - i'm looking forward to seeing the new totals when i get back from taking care of sani...