As many of you are aware, one of our own, Jason LeRocque lost his wife Rhonda to the horrific events on Sunday October 1st in Las Vegas when she was among those brutally shot and killed during the massacre. Jason’s 6-year-old daughter, Aliyah was also attending the music festival and had just left the venue 30 minutes earlier with her grandfather. Jason was standing in the crowd with Rhonda when she was shot in the back of the head. Rhonda died that night in the hospital. Anyone who knew Rhonda knows what a tremendous loss this is.
We are all profoundly and deeply saddened by the loss of Rhonda. Trying to understand the road ahead for Jason and Ali after this horrific tragedy, the unforeseeable financial impact on their future and the difficult healing and recovery ahead makes us all want to do everything we can to help them in every way possible.
Many of you have gotten to know Jason well over the years through the projects he has been running here at Merz Construction. The feedback we get is unanimous; he is an exceptional manager and a pleasure to work with. His integrity and easy-going approach along with his keen eye for quality, attention to detail and his high expectations make his projects outstanding. On larger projects Jason often becomes one of the family for our clients and respectfully watches out for their best interest. I think we all have experienced how Jason would give his best for you. These qualities along with his sincere resolve to put the clients best interest first are some of the things that make him such an exceptional person and an exceptional builder.
Many of you have reached out to us with your condolences, describing your profound sadness and disbelief and want to know how you can help. We are all often left speechless.
Merz Construction is reaching out to our community of clients, subcontractors and vendors with this fundraiser to make a difference in Jason and Ali’s future. The fundraiser is specific to all the people we work with and have worked with and we have hopes of showing how strong we can be as a group and as a community.
We are setting the goal of raising $500,000 with this fundraiser. All of the proceeds will go to Jason to use for Ali and whatever services they may need collectively. We all have different abilities and resources to help for contributing, we ask that you consider what could be feasible for you and perhaps reach beyond your comfort zone. Jason would do the same for us. These are extraordinary circumstances that require extraordinary support. This is a way we can make a difference and take some control in this difficult situation.
We have set up a GoToFundMe site to make secure online contributions; alternatively we can discuss other options.
Details pending….I need to finish organizing and writing this
Thank you all for your consideration and support in this very difficult time.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Merz