The Rand S. Hatch Memorial Fund

In August of 2018 Randy Hatch, a beloved friend and family member, was brutally murdered in his home in Bountiful, Utah. Randy was only 50 years old and his death left behind his four children and their amazing mother Melanie. Randy was a devoted father to his children and a loving partner to Melanie, and despite many of life’s challenging circumstances, Randy vowed that he would always take care of his family. But now he can't.

After this horrible tragedy, Melanie became the sole parent and sole bread-winner for their four children; with one child having graduated from college just a month before his father was murdered, and two still in college. And Melanie is now struggling to keep these two in college.

And to complicate matters even more, Melanie was recently told that her cherished rental home that the family had lived in for 11 years is being sold, and they are now facing a painful and unexpected move that must be completed within the next two months. Understandably their fourth child would like to stay in her current high school in Crockett, CA to graduate if possible, but might not be able to, depending on where Melanie needs to move, considering the current housing market in the Bay Area.

Melanie discovered Waldorf education while living in Huntington Beach, their journey began at the Waldorf School of Orange County. Since then, all four kids have graduated from East Bay Waldorf School, where Melanie has taught for over 14 years. She is known and loved by countless current and alumni families across the Waldorf community because she has been a reliable source of constancy in our children's lives. And yet she has taken no significant time off since they lost Randy.

Melanie is only now willing to accept help because she simply can no longer cope with all the burdens she is suddenly facing, and we hope your memories of her place in your and your children's lives will move you to think of her in her time of painful need.

Here are the modes of assistance we’ve created for Melanie

* If you can contribute to this GoFundMe project (below), please do. Everything helps at this point. And if you cannot do a lump sum, please consider a small gift per month.

* If you know of a decent, reasonably priced place she can move to within 30 minutes of East Bay Waldorf School in El Sobrante, CA, she would gratefully consider it for herself and 3 of her children. They are non-smoking people and have no pets. If you know of temporary accommodation for free or for lower than market rates, she would be utterly grateful to consider that as well.

* If you are unable to donate, we ask if you could please forward this "cry for help" via Facebook or email to other families or community members (or strangers) who may be able to assist, we all would be grateful beyond words. Please send this page's link to anyone who may help spread the word as well.

* If you find Venmo to be more convenient, you can send any contribution to @Teagan-Hatch in the Venmo app. This is Melanie's son's account, and he is working close with us to make sure Melanie receives the support she needs.

If you have questions, you may contact Melanie directly at [email redacted], but please note she is overwhelmed right now. 

In addition: It's not in Melanie's nature to ask for help - and most of these issues she had kept entirely to herself until recently. But now she certainly needs assistance. Melanie will continue supporting their four children on her own in Randy’s absence, so please consider providing a bit of support—if you can—to a family who has supported us all these years. 100% of the funds will go directly to Randy's children and their mother Melanie. And all donations will be used to stabilize the Hatch children by providing housing, educational expenses and other necessities.

Randy, we love you and will never forget you, dear friend. Our community will miss you more than words can say. And we'll do our best to pick up where you left off.