Christine Ennabe's Second Fundraiser Speech

Hi everyone.

Before I start I just want to mention the "Can Bank" that you have on your tables. They are called the "One Dollar Bank" and the idea is if you can take one with you home, and may be another one to your business. Place a dollar a day in it, until next year .... You know 365 days, means $365 and if you want to place more you can, it's up to you... just please on the blue paper squares, please leave me your contact information and the number that is on the can for my records. This way I can call you next year to remind you to mail us the donations! Thank you so much.

And If you noticed my 2 little nieces trying to collect donations for the foundation with these beautiful bracelets. The story behind theses Bracelets are that when Faiez and I went on our Vacation to Panama about 3 years ago we bought these bracelets from a mission there, and brought them back for our boys ... Andrew loved them so much that he gave them to all of his friends too, and he wore them all the time, so we are doing this in memory of him. I bought all the brown ones from Jerusalem and Bethlehem when I visited there this past April. So they are extra blessed.

Now, I want to thank you all for being here to support not just our foundation, but to support the goodness in this world. To support the needy is to support Jesus. He said in the Bible "when you help any of these needy people, you help ME" and you will inherit The Kingdom of the Lord".

My dear friends, everybody knows why we are here today, because of him, "Andrew". He is our middle son, he liked to help people all the time, even when he was so little, he was always there for everyone. He was so smart, that his first grade teacher once told me that he is a man in a little boy's body. He was so ambitious, he even had a big dream. In just few years he saved over 15 thousand dollars in the bank, and he would tell his brother Michael, that he was going to open a business one day with this money and he would someday multiply it so fast. I bet he never thought that his business would be a big charity organization that helps so many needy people, and how it grew as fast as it did, and that his name will never be forgotten. He was so patience. He took good care of David, and was an idle brother and friend to him, always he gave him the right advice! He was so caring. He worried about me, especially when I didn't feel too good, and he did his best to make me feel better. He was so loving. He loved his dad so much, and used to chat with him every night about so many different subjects, especially business, and he used to say to him that one day he would make more money than him! He got atone so much with all family members uncles, aunts and all cousins. With his uncle Fares, he always won playing arm wrestling, even by cheating according to Michael, but he still won. He was so mature, strong personality to the point that Faiez and I, would never worried about him because he was not hyper, never liked to fight and analyzed every move before he took any decision. With his friends, he was a leader, a protector. He was ready to put his life on the line for them and he did.

People ask us, how do we keep strong after this enormous tragedy? I found the answer in this poem: It's called "My Lord and I."

So we learned a lesson in life and that is: Happiness keep us Sweet, Trials keep us Strong, Sorrows keep us Human, Life keeps us Humble, Success keeps us Glowing, But Only God keeps us going! Again we want to thank you so much for being our strong support in our time of weakness, and together we can do so much. And most of all, we want to thank God that gave us the strength and the wisdom to accept his will in our lives, and we want to thank Judy and the Pomona Valley Mining Co. for all their efforts and support to help us with our Fundraiser Dinner. And I want to thank the girls Linda & Nancy Ennabe Sandra and Serene Saad for helping at the door. And I want to thank Rita Sayegh and all the people that put a lot of effort to invite as many people as they can to our Fundraiser Dinner. Plus I don't want to forget our son Michael, his friend Big Dave and our nephews Omar, John and Rony for helping with carrying the heavy stuff and the D.J...

Finally, I don't know how to thank my husband Faiez and my brother in low Fares for donating a big amount of money to "The Andrew Foundation" to keep his memory alive. Everybody's support is so overwhelming, from my sister in laws, my sister, all the family members, friends, neighbors, to people that we know and some we don't even know personally. I thank you so so so much. And a special thanks to Fr. Rick, Fr. Jim and all the priests for their spiritual support.

God Bless you all.