Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter to whole- heartedly thank the Clarkston, Goodrich and Ortonville communities for their generous support of a recent fundraiser held at Bullfrogs in Ortonville (‘Teaming up to help Danny,? The Citizen, March 8, page 3).
Dan Burke, a 25-year-old Goodrich resident, suffered an unexpected stroke Jan. 24 and is faced with a lengthy rehabilitation. On short notice, during a tough economy, hundreds of people donated time, energy, services and most importantly, much-needed financial support to this worthy cause.
I, the Burke family, as well as the hundreds of contributors, participants, and volunteers, were truly touched and blessed by the waves of support and overall turnout.
Strangers showed up and dug deep into their wallets and purses to help a young family in need. Even those folks without financial means offered raffle prizes, services and time to help the cause. One of the toughest things about thanking people is running the risk of possibly leaving someone out. As a result, please allow this to serve as a formal thank-you to each and every person that attended, donated time, services, etc., or even passed me on the street wishing me luck with this endeavor.
‘Thank you, thank you, thank you!?
I should, however, specifically mention a few people.
First, John and Kim Hager were kind enough to host the event at Bullfrogs, which included donating all the food, overhead of staffing and costs of operation. This is, of course, in addition to the opportunity costs of not being open to general business Sunday, March 16.
Robert Navarre of Full Effect DJ Service in Goodrich volunteered his services on one hour’s notice. It is times like this when I cherish the opportunity to live in the Village of Goodrich, and this general area. My decision-making is generally dictated by trying hard to make this community a nice place to live by helping others. I try to make all decisions in my family’s best interest. It was nice to see this community turn out to help out one of their own. It is refreshing to see a wonderful, caring community pull together rather than allow rabble-rousing divisive elements work in a counterproductive manner. I wish there were more ‘Sunday, March 16ths? and less criticisms, sniping, bickering, recalls, special elections, and unsolicited superintendent attacks.
In conclusion, I have personally learned a great deal from helping my friends try to overcome this tragic event. I have learned not to take things for granted. I appreciate the efforts of each and every person involved. It is such a nice reflection of this wonderful community. Working together is so much more rewarding and constructively beneficial.
Constructive behaviors, rather than destructive divisiveness, make this area a much better place to live.
Rick Reickel
Goodrich