AUGUST 15, 2006

Dear Friends,

For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star, like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are...how fragile we are
- Sting

Fragile we are. how fragile we are when we realize that more than 10,000 children have died of AIDS in America. They will never again dance, spin with delight, be honored, treasured, or loved or hear our prayers. On and on the rain will say how fragile they were.

These past years it has been a privilege to serve God through REACH for it has changed me. The children, those too often isolated, too often the subject of judgmental attitudes, those who suffer and die...those who continue to battle for life, these children have changed me. I have become both outraged by the tenacity of the disease and passionately their advocate.

This year, as many as 206 REACH children, family members and 130 volunteers will come together during Labor Day week at a ranch to celebrate the tenth anniversary of camp; ten years of love. It is our honor, our privilege to ask you to join us in remembering the 10,000 children who have died and celebrate those children and families who continue to be served by the community of REACH. They are your mothers, your brothers, your sisters and they are your children. Let us be the voice of love singing tender remembrances; let us not forget how fragile we are.

In the community of love,

Susan K. Slonaker

In the midst of camp preparation we must move our office to make way for the new, much needed emergency room at Tacoma General Hospital. For us, this means the additional expenses of increased rent, moving costs and, of course, the disruption of schedules. Please help us by giving a monthly pledge or an additional amount to help us in this transition. $550 to a child to camp.