Fwd: Family Fundraiser

[Guest guest]

Hopefully, this is ok to send to this list. Rhonda was Nicky's PT for

about 6 months and the Keens have a 10 y.o. daughter with DS. I am

proud of the outpouring of support that has come from my community.

Rhonda is a wonderful person and both of the Keens could use all the

prayers they can get.

Anne deVaux mom to Nicky (9/18/2 w/ds)

From: Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta <education@down-syndrome-

atlanta.org>

Date: April 27, 2006 9:13:00 PM EDT

Education@...

Subject: Family Fundraiser

Dear Friends,

On Mother's Day 1999, and I were blessed with the birth of our

daughter Sophia. As you are almost certainly aware, we were also

stunned with a diagnosis of Down syndrome. I know that many of you

have experienced, and truly understand, the tragedies and losses that

life sometimes brings our way. In our case, we almost " sleepwalked "

through the next few days as we tried to grasp the new direction our

lives had just taken. Of course, we were being supported by the

omnipresent Dunwoody Meal Patrol but, for me, the world did not

brighten until about the fourth day. On that day I looked out the

window and, to my utter delight, saw and Rhonda Keen trudging

up our driveway. Knowing that they were about three years ahead of us

in the world of Down syndrome, and in my state of confusion, I had

this crazy thought that they were coming with the solution to this

problem. Of course, they could not " fix " the problem. More

importantly, that is not why they were there.

did not say much (real surprise there) and simply reached into

the bassinet and picked up Sophie. For the next thirty minutes,

rocked and swayed and talked to Sophie as we all talked. It

was a simple act of pure and absolute kindness. We spoke that day

about pain and loss, struggling and sometimes overcoming life's

obstacles, perspective and small victories, and about faith and God.

At the end of that thirty minutes there were three things of which I

was absolutely sure. First, and Rhonda epitomize what is to be

true Christians. Secondly, God actually puts angels on this earth and

sometimes, just sometimes, they trudge up your driveway.

Finally, with the help of God and people like and Rhonda,

and I would somehow navigate our new path in life.

Last October life dealt the Keen family a blow that dwarfs anything

that I have experienced in my life. The man that may have coached

your son at Candler and installed the playground at our church

and mowed the grass at the ballpark suffered a massive heart attack

and, at this point, can no longer do those things. It is now our time

to act.

Please take a moment to visit www.teamkeen.org. This website will

explain the plans that have been put together to have a celebration

honoring .

It is a testimony to 's strength and character.

As one who is still in the beginning stages of my faith journey, I

often miss God's signals to me. I can see clearly, though, that this

is an opportunity for all of us to act, and to act forcefully, as

Christians to share the load of the Keen family.

Love,

Andy and Porter

Dunwoody, GA

For more information go to the website www.teamkeen.org.

From the Dunwoody Crier

Community 'Keen' to give back to fallen leader

Wednesday, May 3, 2006 6:00 PM EDT

On June 26, 2001, Keen wrote in his journal, “Slow down. All

my focus is on how much I can get done in a given time frame. Slow

down.”

Fast forward to October 7th, 2005 at 5:00 a.m. where everything for

the 43-year-old Dunwoody resident, husband, and father of three, did

just that.

His wife, Rhonda Keen, remembered it like it was yesterday, speaking

with a chilling calmness as she remembered the morning when a

neighbor administered CPR but ’s brain was deprived of oxygen

for too long.

“He had cardiac arrest. It wasn’t a typical heart attack, per se. It

was more of an electrically fast heartbeat,” she recalled.

His heart stopped, his brain stopped and for Rhonda Keen, her world

stopped.

The she once knew would never be the same and everything

slowed down for her while a community of people from the city of

Dunwoody hustled together to create Team Keen, a collaborative of

friends, family, and neighbors on a mission to help carry on ’s

legacy of helping others.

A first fundraising event will be held May 19 from 7:00-11:00 p.m. at

Mill Glen Swim and Tennis Club, created as an opportunity to support

the Keen family by delivering meals, posting news and providing

financial assistance to offset ’s medical expenses.

A quote from Dickens rests at the bottom of the Team Keen

webpage, www.teamkeen.org.

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another.”

Now it’s the community that is trying to lighten the burden for him.

“He was incredible,” said Todd Hollander, who has known ,

Rhonda and their three children, Ray Jr., (D.R.), 16, Riley,

14, and Hannah, 10, for more than 10 years. “He’s had tremendous

impact in the community. Now the community is eager to do anything to

support him and his family,”

The Keens moved to Dunwoody in 1995 and it didn’t take long for

to gain a reputation.

“He was known as the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet,”

Hollander said. “ Rozeman formed the Keen Team. I own a market

research company and we did a survey on the Internet to find

different ways to help the Keens.”

It became a team effort to rally support for a man who spent his time

helping others. He was an active member at Dunwoody United Methodist

Church and a well-known volunteer in the Murphey Candler Little

League baseball program. One of the Little League parents remembered

as “the guy who cut the grass so your kid could play baseball.”

He also helped create a hurricane relief team after Katrina hit.

“ was just this person who really got to know people and was

interested in whoever you were,” said Rhonda. “One his friends came

up to me and said, ‘I found out has been cheating on me. I

thought we were really close. I found out he has all these other best

friends that are just as close to him as I am.’”

But the laughter turned to sadness again when she talked of his

condition.

“He’s dependent for everything. He has spontaneous movement in his

legs but I have to roll him into bed. He’s fed through a tube in his

stomach. He has a breathing tube. We’ve been told that he’s going be

a vegetable.”

But she says she hasn’t given up hope.

“I’m a physical therapist and I’ve worked in rehabs,” Keen said. “I

know what you see in black in white is not always the outcome.”

Rhonda is also trying to find significance in the things that have

happened to them.

“I don’t know where the meaning is in all this. I’m learning the

meaning of faith, a belief in something that is not seen, something

that you can’t touch,” she said. “Through our friends, through this

community, it’s been an overwhelmingly amazing thing. Dunwoody has a

great small town feel for such a big place. My gratitude to everyone

is unexpressable.”

Rhonda Keen speaks of her husband in the present tense because for

her, is very much alive.

“I talk to him all the time,” she said, “but the hard part now is not

getting a response.”

The community of Dunwoody is speaking for him.