My name is Samantha DeMarco. I am currently a graduate student in an Engineering Physics program in Florida. I am writing on behalf of my aunt and uncles family. Please take a few minutes to quiet your heart and read these words all the way through.



My uncle, Matthew Eck, as many of you in the greater Buffalo area know through the media, is currently in jail at the Erie County holding center in downtown Buffalo. On March 16, 2014 he was arrested for firing his weapons at police officers on a night where he was extremely unstable. This is his first offense and he is awaiting official sentencing.



This event in Buffalo and our world is a very controversial subject. I have read the many opinions of people on news blogs regarding what is just. I am sincerely asking you to set aside these opinions when reading this, for I am writing not for help for my Uncle Matt, but my Aunt Libby, and cousins Mitchell (20), Mackenze (17), and Jarrett (14).



Since that night in March, my uncle has obviously been fired from his job as a Locomotive Engineer with CSX. Shortly after, my three cousins and aunt have lost their health insurance. My aunt is not just struggling to pay their mortgage and bills, she cannot. There are some bills that I know have just been pushed aside because it is literally impossible for them to meet all the financial demands on their lives. Libby has always been one of the hardest working women I've ever known. She is busting her butt as a Commissary Manager at Pine Hill Foods in Orchard Park. Her children are devastated due to the loss of their father in their everyday lives. In the emotional turmoil they are working themselves to help with the bills (even the younger ones), and trying to retain some stability in their lives by finishing high school and playing sports. Although, all of them have had to sacrifice pretty much everything to stay afloat. It is extremely crushing to hear my cousins talk about that night. They feel helpless, distraught, and even can express these feelings in a desensitized, harsh manner because they just don't know how to process what has happened. They have talked about not going to college, because they do not want to leave their mom and because they need to help out financially.



This situation has really altered my reality. In my day-to-day life prior to this incident, I'll admit, and maybe many of you can identify with this, I didn't think much about people in prison. I couldn't really empathize because I had never experienced it. It has taught me what mercy really is, as I've experienced it. Mercy is getting down on your hands and knees to help someone whose life has been broken by their own sin, or being sinned against. I write my uncle faithfully and relentlessly. I've watched God soften his heart. I sent him a bible that he's read cover to cover. This new relationship with my uncle is one of the most beautiful parts of my life. Regardless of what his sentencing winds up being, I believe God has given him a second chance to be the man He's called him to be wherever he winds up.



More importantly, I can identify with the pain that the families of the police officers are feeling, because my father too was in the line of fire that night.



Even moreso (and the reason I am writing), I did not even consider what happens to the family members who are left to carry out life without their loved ones.



So, I am asking for all of us to set aside our strong opinions on what is just for my uncles sentencing. Regardless of what the outcome is for him, please take a moment to empathize with his wife and children. I am not asking for sympathy. Empathy is actually placing yourself in someone elses shoes and processing the emotions that follow in an effort to identify with that person’s pain. Empathy is mercy. Mercy is beautiful, and bears good fruit to change the world. That is why I am writing. I am humbly asking for financial assistance for my aunt and her family, to alleviate the burdens in their life so that they can have space and relief to grieve. Also, I am asking for your prayers. Prayer is the work, more than we can ever do on our own strength.



I want to see my cousins rise up from this. I want to see them go to college. I want to see them be able to keep the house that they grew up in.



I've never done this before on this website, but I've always thought it was really cool. I was inspired to create this post after a recent tragedy at my university, Embry-Riddle in which $25,000 was raised in two days by college students using “gofundme”. Yes, poor college students! Imagine that! :)



I have also raised money in the past for two mission trips with my church for us to go to Kenya and serve at an orphanage and bless them financially. I know the power in people coming together for a great cause, and I pray that this could bear the same outcome.



I didn’t really know how much to set the fundraising limit for. I am not trying to be greedy by "setting the bar high". I was just trying to consider all the needs, from the mortgage, to help with college education, and everything in between that continues to come up in their lives. Please prayerfully give as much as you can without any pressure! I am believing God for what he does best, new life and miracles.

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