This past January, New England Cable News did a story about our work with homeless teens. It was really well done and well received. And today, nine months later, an anonymous donation of $10,000 arrives in the mail, from someone who has a bank account in Boston. Whoever that was, thank you so much for your generosity. We have so many kids coming to us for help now that it is getting colder, every donation will be put to good use, you can be assured of that.

I wasn’t there, but this past Sunday, the pastor of the church where my wife and I attend, Fr. Charlie Ranges, announced from the pulpit that “I have lost my wallet, I am praying to St. Anthony to find it, and if I do, any money in there will be donated to Spectrum.” (In Catholic tradition, St. Anthony is the saint you pray to in order to find something lost.)

Fr. Charlie later went into the dumpster behind the church, found his wallet in there, and Spectrum is now wealthier by $141.

Thank you Fr. Charlie!

Our street outreach team is out every day connecting with homeless youth and giving them everything from sleeping bags and tents to “survival kits” to sandwiches and water. This work is funded by a couple of grants and donations, and we are always struggling to scrap together the dollars we need for outreach. A few weeks ago we were looking at the budget for this and I saw we were spending a lot at Costco to buy cases of bottled water. Since our outreach team connects with over 500 young people during the course of a year, they give out a lot of water, which adds up to a lot of money in Costco’s pocket.

So our new development associate, Stephanie Reiss, wrote a letter to Crystal Rock, which produces Vermont Pure water in bottles. She explained what our outreach team does, how many kids they help and our need for free or reduced price water. So they wrote her back and said they’d donate 15 free cases to us per month for the next 12 months, and if we need more than that in any one month, they’ll sell us a case for $5!!!

This is a tremendous help to us and a true act of generosity by this company, for which we are very grateful.

Last night my neighbor and IBM volunteer Tim Redmond came over to our group home to BBQ chicken and corn for the 5 boys who live there. Tim and other IBM volunteers built a granite BBQ there a few months ago, and last night he christened it with this delicious meal. You can see the pictures, including the Ben and Jerry’s cake with our thanks to Tim on it. A very nice night, the boys were grateful to him, and I was very impressed with our staff there, and the way they interacted with the boys. It is a tough thing for kids who are only 17 or 18 to be living in a group home instead of in their own family, and there are many reasons things work out this way, but I do think we do it as well as it can be done at this Murray St house. I left there last night feeling good about what we provide there for them, and feeling good about Tim and other volunteers who help us out consistently.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Dear Friend of Spectrum,

One of the greatest benefits of my job is receiving letters from young people who have been helped by Spectrum, or from their parents, letting me know how well they are now doing and how grateful they are for the help we gave them. It is hard to describe how wonderful it feels to get news like this.

But not all the letters are happy ones. Some are heartbreaking. Like this one I received from a Vermont mother:

Dear Mark,

Today is my late son’s birthday. He would have been 26 years old, but for a tragic accidental overdose of heroin.

He liked to go out to dinner, the little Indian restaurant on North Winooski Ave, Nectar’s, Perry’s or Shanty on the Shore.

This birthday I felt in my spirit that I’d like to fund the boys who live in your Murray Street group home going out to dinner; I hope that the $200 check enclosed will cover it. I’d like those boys to know that they are so precious and valuable. Their lives have great significance and they are recognized for choosing to be involved with the program and working toward a good future for themselves.

The thought of a group of guys going out, having a good meal together, laughing and enjoying themselves will do me good. I wish I could be doing that with my son, but I’m blessed to be able to do this small thing in loving memory of him.

God bless you in your work with the youth of our area.

The work we do at Spectrum is very difficult. It’s great to talk about and celebrate our success. Letters like this, however, remind us that there are still young people out there who, for some reason, never even make it to Spectrum. Perhaps we could have helped them had we only known.

More importantly, a letter like this reminds us of the incredible goodness of people, and how some people are able to act with compassion and kindness even in the midst of great personal pain.

Sincerely,

Mark Redmond

One of our Burlington donors sent us a check with this note enclosed:

Dear Mark,
I received my economic stimulus check and I’m not going to let myself know that I have any extra money in my checking account! Instead, I’m sending half of it to Spectrum and half to the Chittenden County Food Shelf. Please use it to purchase something on the Spectrum wish list.

We have such great people supporting us, they are incredible.

The other day a young man, who used to come in to our Drop-In Center for help, came by with a donation: $144 in cash, in an envelope, with this note attached:

To the Youth of Spectrum,

Please use this money for a relaxing camping trip and a hike to help relax and revive the inner self of the youth here.

You helped me unbelievably and I have faith that you can help others too.

Thank you.