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ANGELLIKA "ANGIE" ARNDT
"Gone from our home, but never from our hearts!
The Pavliks - the family that took
Angie into their homes and into their hearts, suffered a great loss
when
she was killed while she attended Day Treatment in Rice Lake. This
is a truly amazing family. They
recently accepted a foster placement of three siblings -- & continue
to pour their hearts into children.
Message from Jo Pelishek
re Angie's Memorial Event May
10, 2007
NOTE FROM CAICA:
It is our hope the lack of media
attention will not discourage Jo and others to continue to share
Angie's story, to continue to fight for what is right for children,
and to continue to hold out hope that one day the world will see and
understand the injustices happening to children every day. We hope
they will wake up and realize these children who are being abused
are our future. These very children may one day marry our children -
their hurts could be our children's to share.
We realize there are many other
issues that need attention in our world today - we believe that
since children are our future, this issue should be a priority.
Children should be protected, they are the most innocent of all. It
is our responsibility - the adults in their lives - to see to it
they are safe and to press forward for change when they are not!
From Jo:
Some of you asked me to give an
update of yesterday’s event, so here it is.
There were several of Angie’s
family & extended family members present, - & they were most
grateful for the time and attention. I gave them a rosebush from WFT
– and commented that although there were a lot of thorns, we hoped
there would also be some beauty in their lives. Ann & Hugh came,
which was a huge support & encouragement for me – THANK YOU!! And of
course Liz was my back-up & helped with some of the last minute
things I couldn’t do because I was at the hospital with Karl, who
we’d just admitted the night before. What would I do without her?!
Although I’d sent out two notices
to my media contacts, NONE of them showed up! Not sure what that’s
about – but it was certainly disappointing. I’ll be doing a
follow-up story to send out, with a few pictures – that will
hopefully be published in next week’s local papers. To my knowledge,
all but one person there already had a connection to our mission.
Still, I believe it was a healing time for them to be able to
participate. There were close to 50 people, including several
children. I spoke briefly, & Hugh also shared some comments that I
hope to include in the news release. A few people brought their own
flowers – one was a bouquet from the Mikan day treatment center– a
wonderful & SAFE center run by Marriage & Family Health Services,
who at one time had served Angie – with no need for restraint.
Dawn sent seven luminaries with me,
one for each year of Angie’s life - & they were really a special
addition. They were lit while flowers were placed around the sign -
& then I sent them home with Pavliks. This is a truly amazing
family. They recently got a foster placement of three siblings -- &
continue to pour their hearts into children. At the end we released
balloons – pink for Angie, red for love for children (& WFT color) &
white representing hope for the future.
I wish you could have all been
here! Thanks so much for your encouragement through the process! I
assured the group that this event was NOT an end, but a continuation
of our journey to improve services & supports for all children.
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