Fanatical Change Foundation's Inaugural DFW Howdy Halloween Charity Event held last night, October 25th, in Irving TX; helped three families who suffered heart-breaking tragedies:
Mr. and Mrs Acosta:
A disabled man escaped a fire but his home was destroyed. It happened just after midnight in Irving. Abe Acosta said he heard a pop at the back of the house and was met with heavy smoke and flames when he went to investigate. He uses a walker to get around, but was able to get out of the house unharmed. Acosta's wife was at work at the time. The family lived in the home for about 40 years. Acosta said despite losing almost everything, he's counting his blessings. Two of his 2300 books survived -- two bibles. Thanks to everyone who donated and all of our sponsors including ExxonMobil, XTO Energy, and Zeus Mortgage we were able to give the Acosta family a $500 gift card to Target, $500 gift card to Kroger, a gift basket, flowers for Mrs. Acosta, a Kindle for Mr. Acosta along with a $100 Amazon gift card to get him started on building his electronic book collection.
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/23776415/fire-destroys-couples-home-of-40-years?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9449302
Donna Dixon and 4 year old Kylie Terlisner:
The family of 28-year-old Stephanie Terlisner says she was due to give birth any day, but now they are planning her funeral. Dallas police say she was shot in the chest during a home invasion. It happened in Southeast Oak Cliff. They say the suspect used a handgun in the shooting that killed Terlisner and her unborn child. Terlisner, the mother of a 4-year-old girl, Kylie Terlisner; had recently lived with her grandparents. "Her mother called us very hysterical that something was wrong," said Donna Terlisner, Stephanie's step grandmother. She says she started making phone calls to find out if what they were hearing was true. "I called the hospital. When I finally got to talk to someone they told us there was no need to come. She was already gone," said Terlisner. Terlisner says she last saw her step granddaughter a few weeks ago. Stephanie went to their house to pick up mail. She said everything seemed fine and Stephanie was looking forward to the birth of her second child. She wanted to keep the gender a secret. Fanatical Change wanted to brighten little Kylie's day after the loss of her mother and unborn sister. We gave the family a $1,000 Target gift card, Toys, and a $500 savings bond.
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/23680485/a-pregnant-dallas-woman-was-shot-and-killed-by-a-robber#ixzz2iniAr944
A 17-year-old student at Dallas ISD’s law magnet school was shot to death Thursday night in DeSoto. Lovell Jenkins III dreamed of becoming a lawyer since middle school and decided on his own to apply to one of the district’s top and most exclusive schools, the Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet at Yvonne Ewell Townview Center, his mom said. “He wanted to be a lawyer,” said Melissa Steward, who was so emotional about her son’s death that she could barely talk Friday. “He applied to the Townview law magnet by himself. He went to the interviews by himself.” DeSoto police were trying Friday to piece together what happened Thursday. Police said that Jenkins and two friends were in a car outside a house around 9 p.m. when someone shot him in the chest. Steward said her son was shot as his friend’s car pulled in front of a group of men. Fanatical Change gave a $500 Kroger gift card to help with food for the Family after the funeral, a $1,000 scholarship in Lovell Jenkins III's name, and $2,300 to pay for Lovell's headstone that the family could not afford.
http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/dallas-isd-student-at-townview-shot-and-killed-in-desoto-on-thursday.html/
Special Thanks to Tom Pennington, Bryan Beeler, Jason Wells, Angel, David Saenz, Chas Cahn, and all of the volunteers and donors in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex that made all of this possible! As well as a special thanks to the Zeus Mortgage family that came from Houston to support the Howdy Halloween Charity Event!
