As most of you know, my cousin Heidi's 26-year-old son, Raejaun Jones, was shot and killed Saturday night Dec. 20th by someone he thought was a friend. The heartbreak and numbness and absolute horror of something like this happening to Rae, especially just a few days before Christmas when his presents sit beneath the tree and his family has no way to process it during a season that's supposed to be filled with joy - well, I don't have to tell you.

And the horror is compounded by the fact that the man responsible has not yet been brought to justice AND there are thousands of dollars in sudden funeral costs that no mother ever should have to expect or plan for.

We need to come together and help. No, this will not bring Rae back to us. No, this will not bring peace or justice. But this WILL alleviate the one thing we CAN all take care of and so I ask you from the bottom of my heart to please give what you can and share this to help Heidi and her other children give their son, their brother, their uncle, their nephew - for he was all of those things to so many people - the memorial he deserves for the life he did not get to finish.

With love and prayers,

Stephanie