I am writing you to ask you to consider providing financial assistance to Lloyd and Peg Staats and their eight children, who are currently in the midst of a severe challenge.   Lloyd was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.  He has undergone several surgeries and is currently undergoing chemotherapy and radiation at Sloan Kettering in New York City.

The Staats are mainstays of our small church.  All attend church weekly (except Charlotte and Lloyd, Jr. who are currently students at Clarkson and SUNY Plattsburgh.)  The remaining children Sam, Jeanette, George, Nelson, Abe, and Sylvia, who attend the Westport Public Schools, comprise a large proportion of our active Sunday School.  Peg serves on our Administrative Board, sings in the choir and chairs the Essex Community Concert Committee.  Lloyd is a Trustee, serves on several church committees and has lent his hand to several building related projects over the years.  The family has a deep faith in Christ, which has served them well during this difficult time.  Lloyd and Peg have raised a wonderful family with strong values and great character.

The Staats have given much to our church and the community at large, and it is our privilege to reciprocate in some small way.  Our congregation as well as Staats family members and friends have provided financial support to date, but our church’s limited resources can only stretch so far and the need far exceeds our capacity. Lloyd and Peg have assented to allowing us to spearhead an effort to raise more funds to support them in this time of need.  Please consider doing so.

Your check should be made out to “Essex Community Church” with a memo “Staats Family Fund” and sent to Norma Goff, Treasurer, Essex Community Church, Box 125, Essex, NY 12936. Norma deposits funds received directly into the Staats checking account, as they have given her their deposit number. Since your donation is to the church, it is tax-deductible. If you prefer to keep your name or organization anonymous, please indicate that with the donation.  You will be sent an acknowledgement of your donation by our treasurer or financial secretary.

This need is immediate and we hope you will respond accordingly.  We know the need will continue, so we are also in the process, working with other members of the Essex community, of planning a benefit concert on a Sunday afternoon in April at the Whallonsburg Grange featuring local musicians.  We will inform you when that event is finalized and hope you will be able to attend and thus provide further assistance to the family.

Our church mission states that:

“We are a fellowship of Christians whose purpose is to demonstrate the love and truth of God, revealed through Jesus Christ, so that what we believe will be evident by the way we live and serve, and that, through us, others will come to know God’s love.”

The Staats live this mission daily, as we try to.  Whatever your faith orientation, we hope you will agree that assisting this wonderful family is “the right thing” to do.  God Bless You.

Sincerely,

James B. Van Hoven
Chair, Church Administrative Board