Solid Rock Church helps Raising H.E.L.L. for R.A.V.E.N.

To the Editor,This letter is to express our deepest thanks to Pastor Jim Richmond and his congregation at Solid Rock Church in Clinton. They were so gracious to host our nonprofit group The Raising H.E.L.L. for R.A.V.E.N. Foundation, created in memory of our daughter, Raven Elisabeth Galloway, during the festivities of the Clinton Fall Festival. Unlike so many, Pastor Richmond, is very aware of the current problems our area is facing and is in support of our efforts to educate the public of a prolific epidemic that is currently sweeping our country and destroying families, seducing our youth, and contributing to every societal problem our nation is facing, and most importantly killing our young people in record numbers. They all were welcoming and gracious to our message and understood the principals behind our message, which though offensive to some, the intent is not, nor is the principals upon which it stands. Those who took the time to stop and ask also deserve applause. They did not judge. It was a good test of the community as many stories were shared, tears cried, friends and bonds were made. Most importantly, progress; AGGRESSIVE AWARENESS of heroin abuse as well as other narcotics. It was a learning experience for all, as greater understanding was gained. Those of all denominations need to take the lead that the Pentecostal Church Solid Rock made, to lay down the dispute of religious doctrine, gain understanding, and realize, every person lost is someone’s son or daughter as we are in this battle together. We all hold a piece of the truth and must defeat public enemy number one of our most precious resource, our youth, now commonly referred to as Generation Rx. Our family has many diverse agendas in forming weaponry against this enemy. Please visit our website, www.raisinghellforraven.org which remains a work in progress, and make the loss of a loved one matter by adding to our Memorial Wall. Those of you in the trenches, please realize you are not alone in the wilderness, there are those who do understand your turmoil. Nearly every family we know has been affected by this affliction in some way. Shame and judgment does nothing but help the enemy gain ground by using our most basic parental instincts against us. So little is available in the way of help and information. Our greatest hope is that people gain understanding and learn from our experience and realize our daughter did not want this affliction and she fought hard. We want her legacy to be that of prevention and resource, even if only one life is saved, this was not in vain, nor our profound loss. We will continually update and there are resources currently available on the website. The Memorial Wall is our attempt to honor and show that this problem is literally everywhere. Perhaps with that, others will see if it is in their community, we as community are socially responsible, as it does take a village to raise a child. Special note of thanks to Tianna Monell and family. The Youth Pastor Landon and his wife Stephanie, and last but not least Jessica, Chella and Ann. We are very grateful to those true servants. Visit us on twitter.com/rh4raven and see where we will be next. kNOwMORE“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” — C.S. Lewis“Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities…because it is the quality which guarantees all others. Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak: courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time—a tremendous whack. If you are going through hell, keep going. — Winston Churchill“The world is a dangerous place to live: not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” — Albert EinsteinRaven’s family John, Elizabeth and Rourke SolomonsonTecumseh