Comments
Give us the power, the ability to defend ourselves and live.
I am a junior at Gettysburg College in PA. I don't know if you have been watching the news lately, but there has been a murder on our college campus last Thursday. One student (a male senior) strangled and murdered his (ex-)girlfriend of one year (a sophomore). It really shook our campus hard, along with myself, even though i did not know either one that was involved. After breaking down a little tonight, i realized, crying was not going to change the past; nor prevent incidents, assaults, nor murders like this from happening again in the future.
What will? Taking action!
I found your contact information after googling 'self defense for women classes' and wanted to get in contact with you right away. I was hoping you could hold self defense classes for female students, or any woman (faculty, staff or students) on our campus to help protect us if we were to ever get ourselves in this type of situation. It is very scary to know that an innocent 19 year old young woman was strangled, stabbed and murdered by someone that loved her for a year. Not even a stranger, or a crazy drug addict rapist on the street! Her boyfriend! Someone she trusted and loved! How scary is that? She was not able to get away, she was not able to defend herself. She died because of that.
But you... you have the power to give us woman that power. You have the ability to give us woman the ability to defend ourselves. To win. To live. And to help with our recovery of her death on our campus. I believe that immediately holding these self defense classes on our campus will prove that Emily Rachel Silverstein did not die in vain.
Please help me, help us. Give us the power, the ability to defend ourselves and live.
So pleased to know you and your work
This is a comment sent in to our trainers Leila Rae Sommerfeld and Valerie Mainridge of Gresham, OR
Thank you again from our entire team! You and Valerie did such a fabulous job. Several of our volunteers commented at the end that your traiing was the best self-defense class they had ever taken - and several had attended classes in the past. you adapted your presentation to fit perfectly into our time constraints and skill level. You and Valerie brought such great energy and enthusiasm to our class. We especially appreciate you taking time on a Sunday. We feel empowered to continue to advocate for sexually exploited women in and around Portland.
We are so pleased to know you and your work. I hope this is only the beginning of our partnership.
I will gladly vote for Dallas to win the grant from Volvo. I learned about JYF from a segment on CNN. I intend to share it with my 12-year old daughter, because I am NOT one of those people who thinks it "could never happen to my child..." - I know it can happen to anyone, anywhere, and I want her to feel empowered to protect herself. Just the confidence she will receive from this DVD could make all the difference.
I want you to know that I don't often donate money, but maybe my contribution will allow just one extra young woman to see your DVD, and you never know what a difference it could make. Keep up the inspiring work.
Best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and New Year
I read about the wonderful JYF project in my latest People magazine, and immediately had to check out your website. I watched with horror the videotaped abduction of Carly Brucia, and made my 14 year-old daughter watch it as well. This is truly a parent's worst nightmare.
Thank you for this important work.