“ I woke up this morning to the email below, this is the beginning of the day in this battered mothers life- but at least I WOKE up another child and yes somewhere another woman did not have the luxury of waking.I am sending out in blog please forward: out to your networks.” ty-~Claudine Dombrowski www.AngelFury.org
Please forward this email to whomever you think might help.
From: Ben Atherton-Zeman
Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 6:27 AM
Subject: Please help pay for a child’s grave headstone
Good morning, friends!
Meara McIntosh’s son Colton was killed by her batterer, the child’s father. Meara doesn’t have the money to pay for Colton’s grave headstone. Can you help?
Meara’s ex-husband had been using the family court system to seek custody and visitation, despite proof that he was abusing Meara. A year and a half prior to Colton’s murder, Meara warned authorities that he was unstable, and a violent and dangerous influence in Meara and Colton’s lives. She warned them that he already had a history of drug abuse, stalking and major violence with other people in his past and was rampantly destroying thousands of dollars of property of Meara’s and that of anyone who was even remotely connected to Meara- the police instead warned Meara that they could arrest her for making false complaints. The visitation was allowed and was unsupervised.
3 weeks before Meara was going to court for the final review, which would have allowed Meara and Colton to move out of the area, her ex-husband killed Colton and then killed himself, with carbon monoxide poisoning. Colton was three years old. He was buried in his Halloween whale costume that he loved.
You can do an Internet search for "Meara McIntosh," or check out the facebook group http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=100489940216&ref=ts for more details.
Meara lives in Alberta, Canada. She was denied bereavement leave and medical leave (for post-traumatic stress) because she was self-employed. She is not termed to be "in further danger" since her ex is dead – therefore, she is not eligible for the discretionary domestic violence assistance programs. Victims Services has postponed her claim 3 times already, and will not disclose if or how much money she might be eligible for when it is eventually processed. She has secured part-time employment as a baggage handler at an airport, but it’s not even close to meeting her expenses. Meara doesn’t have the money to even pay for a headstone for Colton’s grave – a cost of $1050 Canadian.
Can you help us raise the funds for this headstone? Any extra will go towards Meara’s other expenses, which are mounting. Please submit the funds via PayPal to the email address mearadanielle@hotmail.com (go to http://www.paypal.com to set up an easy, free account). If you don’t want to set up a PayPal account, call Ben at 978-897-3619 – he can take a credit card payment over the phone and then get the money to Meara.
Meara did not suggest this email solicitation – we (Sujata and Ben) did.
Thank you in advance for your help!
- Sujata Warrier, Ben Atherton-Zeman
Until the violence stops,
Ben
Ben Atherton-Zeman, Maynard, MA USA
Actor, Comedian, Feminist and Husband
Presenting a One-Man Play: "Voices of Men," http://www.voicesofmen.org (video clips available)
For booking information, please call 978-897-3619
Quote of the Month, July 2009:
“There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest who need to pee on the electric fence to find out for themselves.” – Will Rogers
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Filed under: Child Custody Issues Battered Women
