Amanda Reed
lives in Ontario,
Canada and arranged to have a little memorial put up in honor of
Jeffrey
Baldwin. You can read a little about her cause and click on a link to
go
to her tribute page.
Memorial in park remembers Jeffrey
Baldwin
Updated: Sun Oct. 30 2005 10:51:12
PM
CTV.ca News Staff
Toronto — Some people are making sure
Jeffrey Baldwin,
a boy who allegedly died of neglect before his sixth birthday, will not
be forgotten.
On Sunday, Greenwood Park became the
site of a memorial
to honour Baldwin's life.
Amanda Reed spearheaded the project.
In an emotional
speech, she told of how thoughts of the boy's life and death motivated
her.
"Everyday I catch myself
wondering how he felt,
if he thought he deserved this. I wonder if he finally gave up waiting
on the help that never came and let his poor little life go,"
said
Reed.
Weeks of alleged neglect from his
grandparents lead
to the boy's death in November of 2002.
The Catholic Children's Aid Society
placed Jeffrey
in his grandparents' care.
Now they are on trial for Jeffrey's
death. It is
alleged the boy had been locked in an unheated room with his sister,
without
food, for long periods of time until he died of starvation.
Evidence came out during the trial
that other adults
staying in the house did nothing to help the children.
Jeffrey's life may have ended in
obscurity, but many
people are now thinking about him.
Therese Rickman–Bull never knew him.
Still, she traveled
from Washington state just to attend the memorial's dedication.
"I hate to think he never had a
hug, that he
never had a blankie, no one to sing a lullaby ... all the things we do
to our children, he had none of that," said Rickman–Bull.
But family who love and miss the boy
also helped
dedicate the memorial.
Susan Dimitriadis, his paternal
grandmother, misses
Jeffrey, saying:
"There
was someone who loved
him. I loved him
since he was born."
The hope for Jeffrey Baldwin's
memorial is that it
will be a place to remember his short, tragic life.
My goal is to have all Children's Aid
Societies held
accountable for their actions when placing or removing a child. They
are
responsible for societies most innocent, vulnerable and important
citizens
and should not forget this when making decisions on children's behalf.
They are playing god to these children with absolutely no one to
question
their actions or motives. It is past time that tax payers, parents, and
citizens of Canadian society stand up against the 'Canadian Mofia' and
say enough is enough. Thank you for visiting this blog, it's a great
first
step.
“it will grow large and very
strong, as he
could not; because its leaves change in the fall, such as
a child's
soul
has brilliant colour”
Amanda Reed about choosing a sugar
maple tree
.
Placing flowers at the memorial.
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1-800-422-4453