Making a stand and going to the store

Making a stand, a lemonade stand

From the darkest moments of our lives when all we have to keep us going is faith there sometimes comes a shining light that keeps us going from day to day. Two such beacons have illuminated the lives of Zanni and Christine, mothers of Alex, Zaven and Greg Silah recently showing that there are people that care enough to help.
We are hearing from people all over the country that are taking collections, holding bake sales, car washes and lemonade stands. It is my pleasure to showcase a couple of them here.

We heard from a mother of one lovely young lady that wanted to make a difference by raising some money for the rescue of the Silah children. Kayane Janjigian and her children are from Philadelphia and recently sent Zanni an E-mail letting her know about what her daughter had done on behalf of the Silah children and their families. She started by saying,

“My daughter, Talene Knudson, always thinks about your boys and nephew and each night prays for them along with her brother Michael. My son is 11 and my daughter is 8 and I’ve explained the basics of your situation for weeks now. While we were at the shore, Talene said when we return to Philly she wanted to help the Moms by having a lemonade stand and wanted to give you the money to help you find your kids.

Talene Knudson and her two friends Georgette and Meline Avrigian set up a lemonade stand selling drinks and brownies at their swim club. Kayane said “The girls posted a big sign with all the boys’ pictures. The girls raised $97.00 and I put in some additional for a total of $250?.

She continued to say in her e-mail “I know this doesn’t even put a dent in your sky rocketing costs…but, I wanted to encourage her and more importantly, I want you and Christine to know that in Philly many folks are thinking of you and will not forget your nightmare until you get your boys back”.

Thank you to Talene, her friends and the kind folks in Philly for all the work they put into their event and for the generous donations that they and Kayane have made to help the Silah children.

Going to the store… but not for groceries!

Juliet Bobak is a parent from Westchester Lutheran School (Alex’s and Zaven’s school) and she has been a great help lately trying to raise awareness and money for the return of the children. Today she organized a fund raising event at the Von’s store in her area. Juliet writes of the event,

Juliet

Thank you to all that participated in making the event a success and raising public awareness about the children. Thank you to all that made donations at the event to bring the children home.

On behalf of the families of Alex, Zaven and Greg Silah I would like to thank everyone that is going the extra mile and holding fundraising events around the country. Alone we can only do so much but when we join forces we become united as a team with a common goal, reuniting the Silah children with their families.

Paul Shepherd,
FindTheSilahChildren.com