Stop the Silence Music Fundraiser
Don’t be silent about domestic violence
On May 1, 2017, my sister Jesseka Frazer-Musson was murdered by her fiancé in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. My family and our community lost a vibrant young woman, mother, daughter and so much to so many people,to a senseless act of brutality. There were warning signs, looking back, that we all missed. Had we all been better educated, there is possibility it could have been prevented.
We have been working through this unimaginable traumatic grieving process and have decided we need to jump into action to help others by raising funds for local non-profit organizations who provide support and work directly with people affected by domestic violence. We are a musical family and have found healing in music, so it is natural for us to want to share this love through a music filled event. We have partnered up with the YWCA of Spokane, NAOMI (formerly Hearth Home) and Safe Passages of Coeur d’Alene because of the amazing work they are doing in our communities and their need for funding in these areas. This includes providing public education and awareness, emergency and support as well as many other services needed to heal and empower families.
Did you know ...?
n October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.
n On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States.
n 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been victims of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
n 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.
We are having an evening of live music fundraising event in my sister’s honor, “Stop the Silence,” on Friday, Oct. 13, at the McGinnity Room at 116 W. Pacific in Spokane. We will be auctioning donated items, having interactive games, food and drinks, and other fun ways to get people involved and educated while raising money. 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated. With your donations of time, services, goods, or money we can make an impact, so others can become educated, awareness can be spread, families can get help and hopefully others do not have to experience the pain of losing a loved one in this way. Your generous support will go toward services that directly affects individuals and families in need of escape from dangerous situations, basic needs for those who must leave everything behind, education and family support. Would you be willing to make a tax-deductible donation to help stop the cycle of violence and pain?
Help us to step up as a community and increase the support and become an ally to those who are all too often silenced by their abusers, and those not recognized by their communities as in need of help. I wholeheartedly invite you to join us to stand against the devastating silence surrounding domestic violence, and the lives forever changed by it, by making a generous donation today. Help us to “Change Lives and Heal Hearts Through Music” beginning with the first annual Stop the Silence Music Fundraiser 2017.
Amanda Frazer, Committee Chair
Stop the Silence
Smoky skies a direct result of foolish policies
The rain has come and we can once again see the mountains from whence comes our smoke. The environmental foolishness has come home to choke us. What we have been blessed with from God — an abundance of forest and wood products — to provide for homes and untold uses, is now and will continue to decay or be smoke in our eyes. The policies that have stopped the road building and minimized the use of our forests is ludicrous and will be one more memorial to the generations to come of our foolishness.
For you “environmentalists”: may the smell of smoke forever be in your nose and the generations to come forget you were our countrymen.
Steve Tanner
Bonners Ferry