Friends, last Saturday, June 20th, my beloved brother, Mateo Williams, passed away at the age of 28, eight days after his birthday. He had been fighting a rare form of throat cancer for what seemed like an eternity. The major surgery went well, but he suffered from serious complications with the post-surgery radiation therapy. He grew very frail, but seemed to be recovering. Those of you who were aware of his journey know this: we all, universally, thought the worst was behind us. We were sure he was going to fully recover. The Lord had other plans. Mateo was like a shooting star, and he seems to have fulfilled his mission in that short amount of time.

I ask for your support today  As many of you know, I grew up during my adolescence in a single mother home with modest means. My mother still supports my youngest brother by herself, and we are not able to cover most funeral related and end-of-life expenses by ourselves, and we are still sorting out other loose ends related to Mateo's passing.

Everything in total comes out to a sizable sum. What I am putting down as my goal is not the entire thing, even though it seems like a lot. That said, I know it is a lot. Please do not be deterred by the "sticker price." WHATEVER you can give helps, and it helps more than you could possible know. If we don't meet the mark, it doesn't matter, but let's try to put a big dent in there and get as close as we can.