Luke is one of the children who received a $1,000 Rise Family Grant from CNF. Here is a message from his family.

Our son, Luke, age 13, is the youngest of our three teenage sons. At age 6, he began having seizures, and he has been diagnosed with Intractable, Refractory Epilepsy with Status Epilepticus, and most recently, F.I.R.E.S. syndrome.

Since the COVID-19 lockdowns began seven months ago in California, Luke has not received any school or special education service because he can’t learn on a computer. He has very little working memory function, but he loves the arts and he loves sports! His very specialized public school program was essentially on hold and he missed his friend at school. So we used the money for in-person classes at a ceramics studio, ninja warrior classes at a local gymnastics place, and private guitar lessons. Luke really needed the social interaction, and since we started two weeks ago, the light is coming back into his eyes. He thanks me every time he leaves his classes. These sessions are way more fun than school ever was! Thank you so much for this grant. We are so grateful!

You have brought so much joy to our household! When Luke is happy, we all get to join in the positive energy!” -The Giuffres