To the people of Plainville, Southington and surrounding towns:

On behalf of the Petit and Hawke Families, I would like to again express our heartfelt thanks to the outpouring of love shown to Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela, during the Shining Peace Upon the Petits luminary display.

To see the communities, children, teenagers, moms, dads, grandparents and folks of all ages work together to obtain sponsors, organize teams, assemble the luminary kits, place the luminaries along Route 10 in a perfect line, create wonderful displays and to keep them lit on a cold blustery afternoon and evening was awe-inspiring. You all took my words from the memorial service at Central Connecticut State University to heart when I asked all to "...help a neighbor, fight for a cause and love your family."

I would like to give special thanks to the Riera and Petit families for organizing this beautiful lighting; sincere appreciation to Yarde Metals for allowing us the use of their facility and their employees for coming to work and volunteering on their day off. Thanks to the Southington and Plainville police departments for overseeing the safety of our volunteers and to the Plainville Fire Department, Billy Carlson, Joe Lombardo and Ron Vanness from Ron's Family Fuel for the distribution of the sand and to F&F Concrete for the donation of the sand. Thank you to the many restaurants who donated such wonderful food which was orchestrated under the direction of Rosanne Carey, Cathy O'Hara and Donna Trucalli. The Southington High School National Honor Society did a spectacular job of setting up a fabulous reception at SHS for the volunteers. Becca Wiltse who designed such a touching logo and her Mom Deb for coordinating the shirt orders along with Doug Spain at Pro Image Specialty Advertising, Sheri Amoroso at Amba Media who did a beautiful job on the Web site www.shiningpeace.org, the towns of Plainville and Southington for helping with the clean-up. Thanks to Chris Palmieri and Vicky Triano for their kindness. Kudos to Bob Dornfried for the beautiful luminary drawing that was published in The Citizen.

If I have missed you above,-thank you from our family. The money that was raised will be distributed over time from the Petit Family Foundation, c/o Farmington Savings Bank, 32 Main St., Farmington, CT 06032, in accordance with our mission statement:

The Petit Family Foundation honors the memories of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, Hayley Elizabeth Petit and Michaela Rose Petit by continuing the kindness, idealism and activism that defined their lives.

The foundation's funds are given to foster the education of young people, especially women in the sciences; to improve the lives of those affected by chronic illnesses; and to support efforts to protect and help those affected by violence.

Thank you all again and keep us in your prayers and help us through the difficulties that the emotional trauma of the trial will present.

William A. Petit Jr., M.D.