The
Compassionate Friends News & Events
Check back for upcoming event information.
2010 Fundraiser Photos
TCF 2011 Fundraiser: April 29, 2011
Open in New Window to download the Fundraiser brochure.
Our Silent Auction, along with the raffle is the cornerstone of our TCF Fundraiser). We need YOUR help in making sure that our Silent Auction is successful.
All the materials for our silent auction are either donated by businesses OR donated by members. You do not need deep pockets in order to help with this. MOST businesses do have a specific budget for giving monies or products to charities. This includes gift certificates.
What we are asking, if our membership to accumulate as many gift certificates as possible. If you attend a spa, perhaps you could ask if they could donate a gift certificate, if you have a favorite restaurant, perhaps you could ask them to donate a gift certificate. We will use all certificates toward our silent auction.
If you do not feel comfortable asking your choice place of business to donate g/c’s, then perhaps you would be willing to donate certificates by purchasing them from the places you love to attend.
We thank you all in advance for all your help. Please feel free to call Gail, Nate, or Dottie, with further questions about how this works.
Yours in loss,
Nathan Kimbleton
Deputy Chapter Leader
Why The Compassionate Friends needs your support...
The Compassionate Friends
An organization dedicated to the healing of bereaved parents
In more than 500 large and small communities across the country, there is a group of mothers and fathers who meet together every month. They are unique. They have all experienced the death of a child and they survived that terrible grief because there is an organization dedicated to healing them. Every family who becomes able to function again in their daily life following the death of their child has achieved a major accomplishment. Helping thousands of bereaved families every year toward that achievement is the purpose of The Compassionate Friends.
The Compassionate Friends, Inc. (TCF) is a national mutual assistance, self-help organization offering support and understanding to bereaved families through the work of local chapters such as ours, here in Boca Raton, Florida. Our two-fold mission is to promote the positive resolution of families following the death of a child and to foster better understanding of bereaved families grief among their families, friends, co-workers, and the community.
TCF has been active in the Boca Raton area for 27 years. We conduct twice a month support group meetings which provide a caring environment in which bereaved families can talk freely about their emotions as well as the experience they are going through. During our meetings and telephone calls they receive the understanding support of others who have "been there." We publish a monthly newsletter, featuring writings aimed at helping our readers understand and manage their grief. Our chapter's lending library provides books and brochures on subjects helpful to families grieving the death of a child.
TCF charges no individual dues or fees of any kind; we have no religious affiliation. Our meetings, lending library and newsletters are available to any bereaved family member at no charge. The Boca Raton chapter is one of nearly 600 local chapters throughout the United States, each one of which is entirely self-supporting. We depend upon the voluntary donations of our members and the generosity of businesses and individuals in the community. TCF is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.
Our Boca Raton chapter sends out monthly newsletters to over 200 members, some of whom are not able or strong enough to attend the meetings; so therefore, this is their only source of support from us. Our postage and printing costs keep rising each month because of the number of newly bereaved families that call all the time. In addition, a national convention is held each year, where families of any age, creed or background can attend to join in with thousands of other bereaved families for support and understanding. Over 75 workshops are offered at this convention for emotional and mental well-being.
Thank you for your support!
The Compassionate Friends
350 Paulus Court
Boca Raton, Florida 33486
561/368-0324
Tax ID 59-2125976
Group Exemp. 36-2968329
2009 Candle Lighting Ceremony
Candlelight Vigils Honor Children's Lives
Reported by: Liz Nunez, WPTV News
Email: lnunez@wptv.com
Last Update: 12/14/09 5:00 pm
BOCA RATON, FL—Tears filled their eyes as light filled the ballroom at the Wyndham Hotel in Boca Raton.
"Part of us is so sad and we're missing them, but yet it’s a great time because we are remembering them," said Tracy Joiner, who came to honor her 16 year old daughter.
More than 200 parents, grandparents, and siblings came together to remember a loved one gone too soon.
It was all part the "World-wide Candle Lighting Service," which Compassionate Friends has been organizing for over a decade.
This year, there were three local ceremonies from Sebastian to Boca Raton.
The goal is to keep the memory of late children, like 6 year-old Makayla Sitton and most recently Darnassa Brown, alive.
"If you don't have another parent or another family that understands what you are going through especially this time of the year, it's so difficult because you are missing that child on the holidays," said Gail Schroeder, with Compassionate Friends.
Family members read poems and light a candle, representing a child lost.
Those in attendance say it was a bittersweet experience.
"When I saw his picture up there I really cried, but I’m able to cry now and be happy that I had him for 24 years instead of crying that he is not with me," Linda Seeley, who lost her soon a few years ago.
Aside from this yearly ceremony, the group also holds bi-monthly meetings to help parents cope with the stress of losing a loved one.
News Archive
TCF Worldwide Candle Lighting - Sunday, December 14th, 2008
For EVENT Photographs of the TCF Worldwide Candle Lighting of Dec. 14, 2008, Please Follow the Link Below:
http://s701.photobucket.com/albums/ww14/cfriends_br/Dec-14-Candle/
Video Coverage on FOX and CBS Channel 12.
Featured Article on the Event on CBS12.com
A local group aiming to help people cope with loss of a loved one, held a special ceremony Sunday evening, to remember those loved ones who cannot be here for the holidays. The folks with "Compassionate Friends" held their 12th annual candle light vigil, to remember lost loved ones.
"Some of us have children who died 3 years ago, 6 years ago, 8 years ago... This is the one day of the year that we can all remember our children and light a candle in memory of them," said Gail Schroeder, the director of the organization. She too lost her daughter eight years ago when a drunk driver slammed into the back of their minivan. That driver, who now lives in Germany, was never charged with the accident.
"I've forgiven her... I had to try to heal... So I had to try to forgive her, but you know it ripped our family apart... We're still struggling," said Schroeder, who now turns her heartache into help for many people who have also lost a relative. People like Robert and Phyllis Levine, who lost their grand daughter two years ago, when she got sick. The girls mother called the hospital to take her in, but the staff said the baby girl would be more likely to get sick in an emergency room, than if she stayed at home. The little girl's mother kept her home, and she died of dehydration.
"It helps soften the blow as you try to handle it," said Robert Levine about the organization.
"The 24th is a very hard day for us... And because of this group, I am overcoming and I am looking forward to being with people," said Phyllis Levine.
The group is able to make the coping process a little easier, for those coping with the ultimate loss. On the second Sunday of December, every year, countless people remember their loved ones around the United States where there are 600 "Compassionate Friends" chapters. Candle light vigils are also held around the globe, in every time zone, so that at the end of the day there is light for 24 hours to remember those who passed on.
At Sunday nights event at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Boca Raton, there were over 100 people. The group also holds 2 meetings a month to help people with the grieving process.