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"The
experience has truly been life-changing for all of us and it will
be remembered as an unforgettable season in our lives."
"...the
joy for me personally has been the journey itself and all the wonderful
friendships I have made—people whom I've grown quite fond of and who
have impacted my life greatly. I am forever thankful."
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Greetings again in this final edition of LFCNews Online. As they say,
"all good things come to an end", and certainly, The Lullaby
for Columbine Project has been truly a good thing. For a long time,
we have worked diligently to reach the summit we now find ourselves
at and are able to look out and see that our hard work was fruitful
for many. Achieving any worthwhile goal is always satisfying. It also
becomes another valuable learning experience that sharpens our ability
to do the same thing again in the future.
It is also a time for giving thanks, first to our board of directors
and advisory board, who have given so much of their time and resources
through the years. Without them, we would still be stuck somewhere between
the first and second chapter of what has become a thick novel. I also
wish to thank our many corporate benefactors who kicked in over a quarter
of a million dollars in in-kind products and services over the last
five years. They have truly been a blessing to our project by generously
fueling it with their resources.
I wish to also thank all the writers who have made LFCNews Online an
informative and thought provoking online publication for so many. We
have received tens of thousand of visits since its inception four years
ago and look forward to touching more hearts long past this last issue
as it will remain on the web indefinitely for posterity. We thank our
readers for keeping it alive.
I also want to thank all of the many volunteers that helped us in the
many events we participated in and provided us good representation.
We are proud of what LFC has been able to achieve with what started
out with nothing more than a dream. It has been living proof to me that
anything is possible when people apply faith and hard work towards a
common, worthwhile goal.
Because of this, we have been able to play a meaningful role in various
events in our community and beyond. One such event called "The
Gathering" in Ontario, California, LFC co-sponsored, which brought
together victim families from Columbine, Padukah, Jonesboro and other
communities around the country who shared the common bond of losing
a loved one through school violence.
Shortly after 9/11, we were able to bring healing from the Columbine
community to the people of New York through The Columbine Call. The
mission brought together a team of twenty individuals consisting of
board members, pastors, volunteers and a Columbine victim's mother help
console through various ministries such as The International Health
Service Foundation and Campus Crusade for Christ.
There were other events locally such as The Jesus Run held in the summer
of 2001 where we had booths at the Sheraton Inn South in the Denver
Tech Center and at Clement Park along side K-LOVE Christian radio and
Rebecca Saint James where Christian music was brought to the Columbine
community.
That same year we also participated at Café Estes at the 2001
Seminar in the Rockies in Estes Park, a venue where LFC's Rachael Lampa
was discovered.
We have also had the opportunity to have great news stories done on
our project via national and local media, with the most recent story
covering our awards banquet last November.
Most importantly are the kind visitors who have posted their heartfelt
thoughts commenting on our project, our music and our mission. They
are our supporters worldwide who share in our common bond to bring healing
through love and music. It's beginning to sound like Woodstock or something,
but essentially, that is what our project has been to many; a place
where people can celebrate life through music in the shadow of America's
worst school tragedy.
The keynote event in LFC's legacy was the Lullaby for Columbine Awards
Banquet held last November where we donated nearly $50,000 to various
churches and organizations in the Columbine community. Hosted by KVOD's,
Jim Conder, it was a magical evening shared with such special guests
as Beth and Larry Nimmo, Brad and Misty Bernall, John and Doreen Tomlin,
and Bob Curnow to name a few. The event was a major milestone for LFC
that all of us worked very hard to reach.
But the joy for me personally has been the journey itself and all the
wonderful friendships I have made—people whom I've grown quite fond
of and who have impacted my life greatly. I am forever thankful.
In the coming months, we will determine what the best options are in
wrapping up our remaining inventory and business. We are also exploring
other options for the dissolution or possible transfer of the organization
to another qualified nonprofit organization. We wish to squeeze as much
good out of the hard work we have put into the creation of LFC.
Both of our websites will continue to run indefinitely as an ongoing
monument to our cause and to the Columbine families. Minor updates will
be posted on LFCNews Online to keep you up-to-date on such changes.
As some of you may already know, for the last two years, I have played
a role as creative director for racheljoyscott.com,
a wonderful organization whose goals parallel that of LFC's with the
unique qualification of being involved with youth ministry, a calling
close to my heart. In the months to come, as my role with LFC diminishes,
my involvement with them will continue to expand as I support the many
wonderful things the families of the late Rachel Scott are doing in
our community and across the country. I look forward to new horizons
that await all of us and ask for your prayers in this pursuit.
As we have arrived at the fifth anniversary honoring the victims of
Columbine, I look back on how far all of us have come in achieving a
worthwhile goal with so many wonderful people. The experience has truly
been life-changing for all of us and it will be remembered as an unforgettable
season in our lives.
While
our remaining business slowly draws to a close, the spirit of our mission
will continue to live on every time a teen, parent or supporter from
a far off place plays our CD. Our musical testimony of love, faith and
healing will go on to powerfully illustrate for them that, when people
join together to do good in the world, hope will prevail and it will
renew their faith in mankind. It will ring upon their hearts that goodness
reigns over evil.
And to the very special people who have touched our hearts and have
endured so very much through their loss of their precious loved ones
at Columbine, ' We Will Always Remember'.
God
bless and thank you for all of your faithful support.
Michael Tamburello
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