Letter bag

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my 17-year-old son, Jack.

In late February, Jack lost feeling in two fingers in his left hand. Over the next several weeks, he continued to lose feeling and strength in his limbs to the point where it became impossible to run and difficult to walk. In early April, he was diagnosed by Mayo Clinic with a rare spinal tumor that was crushing his spinal cord. Mayo Clinic’s talented pediatric neurosurgeons were able to remove the tumor completely, but had to sever some nerves around it. Already facing months of rehab to get feeling and strength back in his limbs and core, Jack was dealt another blow when we learned that the tumor was not benign.

A meningioma outside of the cranium is rare. One in a young person is rare. And one that is not benign is rare. This has all been very overwhelming and scary for my family, but your text messages, cards and words of encouragement have made it easier to manage. Your support has meant more than you will ever know! I have no doubt that the many prayers lifted him up and community support have made a positive impact in his recovery. He is getting stronger every day and is now walking without difficulty. And, for once, I think the use of video game controllers is a positive thing as it is a sort of therapy for his hands!
 
Again, thank you! I love my Rotary family!
 
Jennifer Bennerotte

 

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Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be a part of Camp RYLA. I really enjoyed the activities like the ropes course and FMSC. The challenges from RYLA High School (the mock high school budget that we worked on for three days) helped me find my strengths and locate aspects I need to work on. I'm excited to bring the skills from Camp RYLA back to my high school.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Natalia Alfonzo
Academy of Holy Angels
2018 Camp RYLA participant

 

Thank you for allowing me to come to this camp. I really enjoyed being able to experience bettering myself as a leader. I will forever remember all of the experiences that have changed my perspective and outlook on life. I hope to use everything I learned and impact the lives of those in my community. 

Sincerely,

 

 

On behalf of our entire staff and all the children, youth and adults we serve, thank you to the Edina Rotary Foundation—as well the Rotary District 5950, Bloomington Rotary Club and Maple Grove Rotary Club— for your $5,000 grant award to support our efforts in ensuring we have reliable transportation in order to meet the needs of victims accessing Cornerstone services. We are incredibly grateful not only for your willingness to respond to our request, but the initiative you took in generating additional support within the Rotarian community. That was unexpected—and amazing!

Already in the first quarter of 2018, Cornerstone has served 1,604 unduplicated individuals through our full continuum of services. It continues to be our experience that those who have been impacted by domestic violence, sexual violence, human trafficking and/or sexual exploitation frequently face many challenges and barriers in reaching their goal of long-term safety and stability.

 

Cornerstone staff work hard at ensuring access to resources (both internal and external) that help to reduce as many barriers as possible; transportation is essential in order for that to happen. So thank you.

 

Never satisfied with the status quo, Cornerstone has a long history of innovative, effective program development. Earlier this year we were pleased to be awarded the Association of Corporate Growth's BOLD Award, which honors and highlights the innovative and inspirational organizations that make Minnesota great. This only highlights that we remain deeply invested in serving the needs of survivors in our community.

 

So thank you for your investment with us—and your confidence in our ability to positively impact our community. We do appreciate it. And it does make a difference.

Sincerely,

Ann Harrington