Rogers High School alumni and the Spokane community have been stepping up in support of a RHS alum after she was a victim in a domestic violence stabbing incident at a Spokane Valley home that led to her estranged husband kidnapping their son and triggering an Amber Alert.
A Facebook Fundraiser page has been bringing in monetary donations and volunteer work towards Melissa Robertson and her family. As of Monday morning, the page had brought in close to $1,000 while arranging house cleaning, carpet cleaning and landscaping services.
“It is time for our Alumni and Melissa’s family, friends and co-workers to step up and show out!” The Fundraiser page reads. “Melissa, her children and her family will need our collective support as she recovers. A violent attack like this will impact them all for years to come. This is our opportunity to come together from near and far to spread love, support and to show them that there is more good in the world then bad.”
The fundraiser page has also been leading to grocery donations while taking reservations to bring the family meals through Meal Train. According to the Meal Train schedule, community members have arranged at least two weeks worth of meals to be dropped off at the home. The Meal Train page has additionally brought in $700 as of Monday morning.
“Melissa is the survivor of a horrific assault. She is recovering with family and due to her injuries, she will need time to recover. She needs help with prepared meals and groceries to help her children and her family who is helping care for them all. Thank you for all contributions!” the Meal Train page says.
The meal prep dates were recently extended, with the page creator saying: “We made the decision to extend the dates for meal prep to ensure Melissa has the ability to recover and her family is taken care of. Due to the type of injuries she sustained, it will be difficult for her to prepare meals. If you have the ability to provide more than one meal please check out the calendar. Or if you are unable to help right away, there are several options on later dates. Thank you for the love and support for Melissa and her family!”
According to court documents, Melissa had recently served Justin Robertson with divorce papers leading up to the morning of April 23 when he tied her up with a cell phone charger cable prior to stabbing her multiple times after she escaped. Justin fled the home with their five-year-old son Ethan, triggering an Amber Alert. Justin was later found at his father’s property in St. John, and let Ethan go prior to dying from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Melissa has since been recovering at Sacred Heart Medical Center.
The page description closes saying:
“If you can help financially, please dig deep to help alleviate the financial stress of medical bills, child care, food and housing /insurance costs. This is what we do. I speak as a fellow human and a former school mate. We do not walk away when we have a chance to make an impact on the lives of those who need us most. We don’t turn a blind eye or simply offer condolences, WE ACT!
Lets do this. Lets do our tiny part to make a HUGE impact on the long term out come of this horrible circumstance. #LOVEALWAYSWINS“
