This blog is where we will  keep you posted on events and news regarding Ryan’s Circle of Giving (RCG), and we hope you will come back to it with some regularity.  We also hope that you will share your thoughts about what you see on the website or on this blog; and in particular, we would love to read anything you might want to share about Ryan.  Just click on the blue comment link above.  Your comments are welcome and greatly appreciated.    

                                                                                       

RCG would not have been possible without the assistance and friendship of Cynthia Clegg, CEO of the Middlesex County Community Foundation.  Cynthia’s unwavering support of our efforts, and her guidance through the setting up of the RCG fund, have truly enabled us to reach this day.  We are grateful for the many hours she spent walking us through the process, for her consistent ‘we can do anything for you’ message,  and for her wonderful staff at MCCF.            

 

This website is the creation of Sean Lobdell, CEO of Stainless Communications, and his wonderful team of professionals.  For a variety of reasons, this was not an easy project…and it was done with style, grace and much kindness.  We know they put in more time and effort than they bargained for, and their patience in dealing with an emotional and totally unobjective mom is more appreciated than they can imagine!

 

And a huge thank you to Adrienne Simpson, who designed our wonderful RCG logo.  Adrienne grew up next door to our dear friends, the Balayans,  and knew Ryan throughout much of his life.  We’re glad to be able to showcase her work.

 

OUR FIRST BITS OF RCG NEWS TO SHARE:

 

First recipient of Kingswood-Oxford’s Ryan Gordon Endowment Fund named! 

 

January 22nd, 2009:  The Hartford Courant ran an article titled, “K-O Student Receives Grant To Go To Paraguay”.  It reports that K-O junior Melody Rosas-Grande (whose parents are Peruvian) was awarded this year’s Ryan Gordon Endowment Fund, a grant that will cover expenses for her participation in the school’s Team Tobati trip in March.  Melody was honored at the school’s Ryan Gordon Team Tobati Hockey Night Fundraiser on January 9th.

 

Spanish teacher and founder of Team Tobati, Ron Garcia, said that Melody was chosen for several reasons, including her outgoing, generous and kind personality, her Spanish skills and her South American heritage.   

 

Melody expressed her gratitude in receiving the award, and said,”…Without this grant, I knew I would not be going to Tobati.  I want to go because it will be the closest I will be to Peru.  I have the opportunity to see where my parents came from and all that they went through to get my brother and me to the place we are today.  Now I can go down there and help their society improve so that hopefully one day, they can stand in my place.

 

In a letter to us, Melody wrote, “There are no words to express my gratitude.  This is a wonderful community where everyone we meet is so genuine, honest, caring for one another, as I know Ryan had been.  That is something one definitely does not see everyday.  My life, and the life of my family, has been changed thanks to people like you.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I look forward to meeting you very soon.  I am proud to be the recipient of the Ryan Gordon award for Tobatí. I understand that it was his idea to give back to those places that helped him.  It is an honor for me to give back in his”

 

Like Ron Garcia said, “She is just perfect for what Team Tobati is trying to do”.  

 

First recipients of Trinity College’s Ryan Gordon/Hartford Wolf Pack Scholars Fund Honored!

 

April 1st, 2009:  During this Hartford Wolf Pack home game at the Hartford Excel Center, the first 3 recipients of this special scholarship will be honored on the ice.  The three Hartford students, in grades 6, 7 & 8, will be presented during one of the game’s intermissions. 

 

The program at Trinity will enable the kids to play hockey year-round, they will be taught by Trinity’s men and women’s hockey teams, and the Wolf Pack will be involved in special training sessions with them. If you’re free on the 1st, come and show your support – both to the wonderful Pack…and these great kids!

 

We are so glad that this fund will be able to provide such deserving children the opportunity to learn to play a game they love – and a game that brought Ryan such joy.

 

We could not (almost) end this first submission without saying a word of thanks to Ryan’s grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  This wonderful, incredible family of ours never waivered in their amazing, unbelievable support throughout Ryan’s life.  They showered us with their love, which fortified us through the hard times, and the good.  We will be forever  grateful. 

 

From the time he was 7, Ryan was finding ways to give that also fulfilled  his desire to be on stage (not to mention his love of being the center of attention!).  From the sales of the books he wrote, to the Disney movies he produced as one-man-stage-shows for sold-out crowds in our garage, to the backyard fair, Ryan did philanthropy with a flair.   He discovered early on that the act of giving could be a wonderful balm for soothing the scary times.   No matter what the venue, his motivation remained consistent…to have fun and to give  to others.  What a lesson for us all.

 

Thank you again for visiting…and we hope you do so often!

 

Phyllis & Barry