Dear Friends,

Thanks to each of you for your interest in and generosity towards the Beatrice family since the death of Jeff. As you know, the situation on October 23rd was pretty dire. Jeff was the sole breadwinner. He had no life insurance and the home faced foreclosure. The mortgage situation seemed an impossible target.

Since then the community of Newton and beyond, including many of you, has responded in an incredible show of generosity. Dozens of people have donated hundreds of hours and raised thousands of dollars. Meals and other support have been and are still being provided to Elinor and her 7 children. We have received money from Bar and Bat Mitzvah’s, from First Communion classes, from strangers and friends. The Jeff Beatrice Sports-a-Thon at Albemarle and The Dinner Dance/Raffle held at the Elks were great successes. The outpouring has been amazing. We have ongoing efforts underway and a larger scale fundraiser scheduled for February 6th (see below).

We are close to a successful outcome on securing the home and need help to bridge the last gap.

We are now in the near final stages of serious negotiations with Ocwen, the mortgage company that is servicing the note on behalf of Deutsche Bank. We have, through an ambitious series of negotiations arrived at a point where The Beatrice Family Trust is close to securing the home for the family ahead of the scheduled foreclosure auction on January 5th.

Can you help us raise the final amount in the next few days? Can you contribute and ask friends, family and colleagues who may be able to help us close this gap?

Online donations can be made here.

If you would prefer to mail, the address is:

The Beatrice Family Fund
c/o The Village Bank
307 Auburn Street
Auburndale, MA 02466

We are pursuing every possible angle to succeed. We have been offered and are seeking help from area civic leaders and elected officials. However, we cannot rely on their efforts alone to resolve this. Our opportunity to secure this home is at hand and we are hoping to seize it.

The Greater-Newton community has responded in a way that just might enable the impossible to occur, and we hope you can help us to bridge this final gap.