Sadly, a
student who attended CHAT a couple years ago,
passed away this
summer from a tragic accident during
his summer job. Joe was well loved by
our student body. He had many friends and stories
about him still circulate around CHAT. When I
remember Joe, I think of his big smile and his
kind heart.
We
recently learned that Joe's family is filling
backpacks with items to donate to the ICU where
Joe spent his last days on earth. They hope these
backpacks will minister to other families in
need that find themselves unexpectedly in the
ICU. I have
attached a note from Joe's CaringBridge site
written by his sister if you want to read it.
Our
Student Council is organizing a
Service Project in honor
of Joe's memory, and hope you
will join us by filling 15 backpacks for the
family to deliver to the ICU.
There
are 3 ways you can help with this project:
1. Purchase items: We have
set up a Sign
-Up
Genius with a list of items to go into the
backpacks. Here is the link if you would like to
help by purchasing an item
(s): Joe's
Backpack.
2. Donate
cash: If you would rather donate cash, we
will have a jar at the Monitor Table for this.
The cash will be used to purchase items not
donated and to purchase non-perishable snacks to
go in the backpacks.
3. Venmo cash: For those
who would like to help but need this to be
easier 😊, you can donate to my venmo account
(add 'backpack' in the note section), and I'll
put the cash in the jar for you.
(@laura-johnson-259)
Deadline
to bring in items is November 21 (last week before
Thanksgiving break). . .
that's 3 weeks away. There
will be a box inside Door 2 next to the Monitor
Table where donated items can be placed.
We will
be packing the backpacks on Wednesday, December
4th at 2:30, and we invite anyone
to join that would like to help. We will also be
praying for those families who will be receiving
them.
Here's
the link again to
the sign up if you want to participate.
We
have also included some
links on Amazon to give you an idea of what
can be purchased. These are just
suggestions - feel free to pick your own
items from wherever you want.
Student
Council members (and Laura)
Joe’s Backpack
As many are aware,
my little brother Joe passed away in
May
following a tragic work accident at
his summer job. In the hours and days
following his accident, his
compassionate care teams worked
tirelessly to
resuscitate him and try to protect his
brain from when he was without oxygen.
Those days in the hospital will always
be some of our family’s most treasured
yet most difficult and heartbreaking
days. We are so grateful for a
wonderful
community who rallied around us and
made sure we had everything we needed
while
we were at the hospital with Joe so
unexpectedly.
Like our story, I
know that many patients and their
family’s
find themselves unexpectedly admitted
to the hospital every day. I will be
making some backpacks filled with
items to make an unexpected
hospitalization a
little easier and donating them to the
unit where Joe was a patient. If a
patient is in need, a backpack can be
offered to them. If anyone would also
be
interested in making a backpack to
donate, please let me know! Lastly,
if
you feel pulled to make a backpack,
would you say a prayer as you make it
for
the person who receives it? Prayer is
the best thing that could go into
making
a backpack.
The backpacks will
be donated in Joe’s honor as a nod to
the
fact that he was so excited to go to
college in Arizona this fall. This year has
been
hard. And it has turned out so
differently than we could have ever
imagined. I
am hoping to turn this tragedy into a
launching pad to love others who might
find themselves in a hard situation.