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HELP THE CHILDREN OF FIRST RESPONDERS First Responders risk their lives every day to come to the rescue for us. When these heroes make the ultimate sacrifice, First Responders Children’s Foundation supports the brave children left behind. #FirstRespondersStrong
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1strcf.org // @1stRCF
April • 2022
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The power of positive, solution-based journalism.
Caring for the Ones Left Behind INTERVIEWED BY JODIE BURKE VIA WEBEX
Eden Rule lost her best friend and husband of 18 years, Deputy Constable Caleb Rule, on May 29, 2020, when he was killed in the line of duty at age 37. In 2021, First Responders Children’s Foundation awarded college scholarships to 209 students. This is one family’s story. My name is Eden Rule, and I live in Richmond, Texas. I’d known Caleb since I was 12. We both played trumpet in band. Caleb was way better than me. Any instrument you handed him, he could figure out how to play. We were married for 18 years when he was killed—we’d be celebrating 20 years this April. We have four amazing children, but of course, they have struggled through this tragedy. Even when I feel like I’m falling apart, I have to do my best to get through the day for them. My parents both died when I was young, so I knew my husband longer than I did my parents. Now it’s just my kids and me. Even in a crowded room, it gets very lonely.
Caleb would tell me, “I’m a good cop and come hell or high water, no matter what happens, I’m coming home.” Being a cop was his life’s purpose—he was an amazing servant to his community, to his family. I miss being loved by him. Caleb was killed on the same day our daughter Annie graduated from high school. Her principal and her counselor showed up at our house with her diploma, but when Annie heard that all these officers were going to be coming from all over the county to attend her graduation and stand there in the absence of her dad, she said, “Mom, I want to walk tonight.” She
EDEN AND CALEB RULE
returned the diploma and walked that stage with 100 police officers standing in place of her father. They lined up down the road, all around the field, and on the track, and the entire town stood up and gave her a standing ovation. Annie stopped, took a deep breath, and smiled for her picture with her diploma. I am so proud of her strength and courage. It’s so generous of First Responders Children’s Foundation to choose Annie as a scholarship recipient to honor the memory of my husband, Deputy Constable Caleb Rule. Annie will be mentioned as a scholarship recipient
with his name attached to it, and his legacy will go on. “Heartbreaking, yet hopeful stories like this one from the Rule family are the reason why CSX partners with First Responders Children’s Foundation through our community investment initiative, Pride in Service. We are proud to help fund scholarships and other support programs, as our company’s way of showing appreciation for the commitment and sacrifice of first responder families across the country,” said Bryan Tucker, vice president of Corporate Communications at CSX, a premier transportation company
RULE FAMILY © IMAGES COURTESY OF THE FIRST RESPONDERS CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION
based in Jacksonville, Florida. “We thank First Responders Children’s Foundation for spearheading this important effort and connecting us with families in need.” First Responders Children’s Foundation provides f inancial support to children who have lost a parent in the line of duty and families enduring significant financial hardship due to tragic circumstances. The Foundation also supports, promotes, and facilitates educational activities and programs created and operated by f irst responder organizations whose purpose is to benef it children or the community at large. FRCF has awarded college scholarships to hundreds of deserving children of f irst responders. Scholars are selected based on financial need, with priority given to children of first responders who have been killed or injured in the line of duty. Make a donation today at www.1stRCF.org. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @1stRCF.
More Than Three Million Meals Served as Chefs For Ukraine Relief Effort Grows ALLIE MURRAY
Within hours of the initial invasion of Ukraine, World Central Kitchen (WCK) began serving hot meals to those fleeing. The team quickly set up at the eight border crossings between Ukraine and Poland and did what they knew best: served meals. World Central Kitchen began in 2010 when founder José Andrés and his wife Patricia heard the news of the earthquake in Haiti that devastated the country. José was cooking alongside displaced Haitians in a camp when he and his wife came up with the idea: when people are hungry, send in cooks. Not tomorrow, today. Since then, they have been on the ground serving meals amid disasters in Puerto Rico, Texas, Indonesia, and now in Ukraine. WCK’s Chefs for Ukraine response grew rapidly, and they began distributing food and fresh meals across the region, including in Poland, Hungary,
© IMAGES COURTESY OF WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN
Moldova, and Romania. They are also working with local restaurants, caterers, and food trucks to provide fresh meals at border crossings, shelters, and other locations. The relief kitchen is based in Przemyśl—a Polish city just a few miles from the border of Ukraine. From this kitchen, the team has the capacity to cook 100,000 meals per day.
The United Nations estimates that more than 3.5 million people have fled the country, with that number to continue to grow. Similarly, many Ukrainian people are staying in the country, sheltering in place and sticking with their country. In addition to their work on the borders, WCK also delivered prepared meals to 50 locations in Lviv alone, with many more across the country.
“From our WCK warehouses in Lviv, we are also helping fill gaps in the country’s strained food supply chain by sending meat, fresh produce, and dry goods like rice and bulgur to our restaurant partners,” the team shared. “Multiple trucks have already gone to Odesa, Mykolayiv, Zolochiv and soon to Kyiv. We are working with the mayor’s office in Odesa to
deliver bulk food to the city’s humanitarian warehouse.” While working, the team has met countless people, amazed by their stories and bravery amid constant fear. They’ve heard stories of women and children, refugees who fled to Ukraine from other war-torn countries, and families fearing for their loved ones that are staying back to fight for their country—each story more heartbreaking and heartwarming than the last. WCK remains on the ground in Ukraine and surrounding areas, working day and night to feed people in need. “We’ve seen incredible courage from Ukrainians showing up every day to cook in cities under siege,” they said. “It’s our honor to be able to support these teams in ensuring that everyone is met with a warm, nourishing meal, and we are so thankful to all of our supporters who have come together to show the power that a plate of food can hold in even the darkest times.”
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Love Should Always Be Safe Though one third of young people experience abuse in their dating relationships, over 80 percent of parents either don’t know it’s a concern or think it’s not a problem. Like domestic violence, dating abuse is misunderstood, minimized, and mishandled. Though young women aged 16-24 experience more violence in their relationships than any other age group, teens often struggle to identify when unhealthy behavior becomes abusive, and adults fail to take risks seriously. Amy V. attended “Dating Abuse 101,” a Day One workshop where she learned about various types of relationship violence, consent, and technology-facilitated harm. The facilitator explained how power and control were at the heart of abuse, including threats, gaslighting, and blame-shifting. Amy saw all of these behaviors in her boyfriend. Forbidden by her parents to date, Amy knew if her family discovered she had a boyfriend, they would send her back to their country of origin to live with relatives. Her high school
was prestigious, and Amy felt she couldn’t risk derailing her path to success. So she didn’t speak to her parents despite the debilitating fear and anxiety caused by her boyf riend’s threats to harm her or himself. He waited outside her classes and rode the subway with her both ways, making it difficult to avoid him or find support. After speaking to a teacher, Amy was connected to Day One, where professionals took her fears seriously, explained her options, and helped her navigate the time with her boyfriend safely. Amy graduated and left the state for college, away from her ex, and has been successful in her chosen career. Talking to youth about safe relationships can save their lives. Day One educates and assists more than 20,000 teens like Amy each year. Workshops address consent and coercion, extreme jealousy, healthy break-ups, and online safety. When youth experience abuse by a partner, attorneys and social workers provide crisis counseling and legal
assistance. In leadership development courses, participating students plan awareness events, co-teach workshops, and act as peer advisors. Relationship violence has surged amid the pandemic. Though young people are often limited by what responses are available to them, they experience a full range of abusive behaviors, including physical, sexual, emotional/verbal, financial, spiritual, and technological harm. Introducing preventive education to adolescents and teens helps them enter their first relationships ready to treat each other with respect and expect the same in return.
YOU CAN PLAY A ROLE IN ENSURING YOUNG PEOPLE IDENTIFY AND MAINTAIN SAFE AND HEALTHY PARTNERSHIPS:
• Listen, believe, and don’t judge survivors. They are not to blame. • With toddlers and young children, point out healthy and unhealthy behaviors in media
©THOMAS DONLEY
and teach them about consent, i.e., “Can I hold your hand?” “Listen to your sister when she says stop tickling her.” • Let young people know they can talk to you and that you can connect them with expert help. • Ask your child’s school to teach about healthy relationships and spotting signs of dating abuse.
• Advocate in your state to require age-appropriate healthy relationships education in K through 12th grade. To learn more about how Day One helps survivors of dating violence, 24 and under, and promotes healthy relationships among youth, see www.dayoneny.org.
BUILDING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS FROM DAY ONE To learn more about how Day One helps survivors of dating violence, 24 and under, and promotes healthy relationships among youth, visit www.dayoneny.org @dayoneny
