“Wayne, Sonia and Colin are safe and living with their father, Dewayne and their dog, Biscuit.”

That sentence has been the single constant good headline since Claire Duggan’s health took a tragic turn this past spring. Her struggle did not end the way we wanted, but she’s now at peace, and for that we’re all grateful. Now…we pivot to supporting her family.

Many of you have privately asked how you can directly help Dewayne and the kids, and this outreach is your chance. If you want to honor Claire’s memory by contributing a gift that will go directly to the kids, this will be your best opportunity.

For a myriad of bureaucratic reasons, social assistance has been slow to activate for the four of them, and while we anticipate that changing soon, unfortunately we’ve been anticipating that since April, and with no luck yet.

Dewayne has performed admirably as their constant guardian, but it’s summer, and the 2024-25 school year won’t start for a few weeks and that means his job search can’t commence until they all have the structure provided by a normal weekday school schedule.

The funds will be tended to by family and distributed on an as-needed basis. Members of the Duggan, Trimble and Messihi families will be constantly assessing and reassessing their needs. As I’m sure you can imagine, there are considerable start up costs to relocating a family to a new state in the best of times, which, let’s face it - these are not.

The funds that will be disbursed to Dewayne to help meet the basic needs of the family. Food, shelter, doctors and dentists appointments, clothing, school supplies. Everything we need to make sure that their health and safety is maintained, and never interrupted again. And therapy. Lots of sweet, sweet therapy. That’s our goal. The funds will be disbursed as needed, and collect interest while awaiting any rainy days. Should the money exceed current needs, they will be managed for any later higher education needs.

Thanks in advance for helping us help Claire’s children.