Help Jose & His Family On The Road To Recovery

Update 5/22 from the family.

Hello Everyone,

First and foremost, we would like to thank God for giving my baby another chance of life. It has been a living nightmare, morning after morning …. a mother should never dream of living. But we are so grateful and blessed he woke up. Jose is now on the road to recovery. I would also like to take this moment and thank all of you, including our family, friends, our community kids and their parents, Doctors, nurses, firefighters, correctional co-workers, Poughkeepsie police, the Spackenkill community, and the school district for all the prayers, words, visits, letters, flowers, gifts, donations, and most importantly, the time to come together with lots of love, support, and participation. Many blessings, with much love from our family to yours!

Thank you,

Olga Flores, Jose Valdovinos, Cruz Valdovinos, Ikram Mrani and Aaron Mrani

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Dear Spackenkill community,

On Sunday, May 7th, around 3pm, Jose Valdovinos was struck by a car at the intersection of IBM Road and West Dogwood Drive while riding an electric scooter. He sustained life-threatening injuries and is currently hospitalized in a pediatric ICU.

Many of you and your children know Jose (8th grade) and his younger brother Cruz (6th grade) from Todd Middle School or the Nassau neighborhood, where they live with their mother Olga, stepfather Ike, and stepbrother Aaron.

The outpouring of care and concern from the Spackenkill community has prompted us, a group of Todd Middle School teachers and administrators, concerned friends, and neighbors, to launch this fundraiser as a coordinated effort to help support the family while they navigate this unimaginable nightmare.

It is a parent's worst fear, to send your child out to play— but not have them return home safely. The road to recovery (emotionally, medically, financially, etc.) will be long and difficult—both for Jose and the entire family navigating this terrible trauma—but we know that by pulling together as a community, we can help lighten their load.

If you can donate, thank you. Any small gesture can make a huge difference, and your generosity and loving spirit are so appreciated by everyone who knows and loves Jose.

To note, the bylaws of the PTSA do not allow any organization officially associated with the school or PTSA to run GoFundMe fundraisers, so we set about this effort on our own, personally, and not in an "official PTSA" capacity. We want to thank Nina F., who worked with Jose’s family to get the details and permission needed to allow us to support them during this tough time.

On behalf of the family, including his father Jose,

Tanya & Sheba

Ps: If you'd like to donate gift cards for food and gas, you can do this directly and we will take them to the family. Please place anything you wish to give in an envelope labeled with your name and email on the back and email a note with the subject “FOR JOSE” and we will coordinate drop off or pickup. tanyalsmalls at gmail dot com