How can I adequately say thank you to such generosity and kindness that has been shown Mike's memory and our family? This is the largest single source donation ever received by the Mike Stokely Foundation and I promise every penny will be be spent actually buying a book for a child in need or helping a deserving student go to college.
When Retta and I sat there on our front porch those first few hours after we learned of Mike's death we thought that we would get some money donated in lieu of flowers and use it to help some kids have better reading opportunities and maybe help send a student to college that year. Flowers would have soon died, but helping someone read better or go to college will build posterity for a lifetime and generations to come. Well, three years later, "here we are" - the Foundation is still going strong thanks to this generous donation.
The Mike Stokely Foundation is small and our motto is:
"Helping a lot of kids with a little help to go a long way in life"
For the most part, those who are helped by the Mike Stokely Foundation never knew Mike, and may not even know how the Foundation came to be. It is our belief that those who have "a little help to go a long way in life" will one day pay an extra dividend on the Mike Stokely investment by reaching out to someone else and lending them a hand to go further in life.
Leaving it better than he found it is what Mike Stokely always did. He always put others and America first and gave them the best he had. Mike always took less than his share so others could have more, and willingly did more than his share so others could have it better. That was his heart and spirit of giving.
THANK YOU MILBLOG COMMUNITY AND USAA FOR HELPING KEEP THAT SPIRIT ALIVE AND HELPING US HELP OTHERS.
Robert Stokely
proud dad SGT Mike Stokely
KIA 16 AUG 05 near Yusufiyah Iraq
E 108 CAV 48th BCT GAARNG
DUTY HONOR COUNTRY
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