Below are the five letters written by Sister Plante to the Samaritans of Fall River/New Bedford, Inc., in her efforts to mediate the "praise campaign" dispute. Each letter is reproduced exactly as it was originally written. All were typed on official letterhead of the Department of Education of the Diocese of Fall River. July 7, 1993 As a personal friend of Mrs. Ross and well aware of the family situation, I am very pleased to be able to donate this check for $600.00 to the Fall River Samaritan office in appreciation for your support of Michael Ross. This money was raised by the Islamic Center of New England on behalf of Michael and the money was turned over to me by Mrs. Ross's attorney, Ellen Barkley. I believe the work of the Samaritans is very important in today's society. Over the years I personally have had contact with the Samaritan volunteers. As Associate Superintendent for the Catholic Schools here in Fall River, we have had the Samaritans give workshops at our educational conventions and talk at our high schools about the importance of their work. Our teachers and administrators have always been impressed with their honesty and sincere devotion to their work. While I was principal at St. Mary's in Winchester, there were times when the information and support of the Samaritans was very much appreciated by our families. For all of this, I am most grateful. As we continue to pray for Michael, I also ask God to bless you all and that your office for its support of him. May I ask you to please send an acknowledgement of this donation to the address listed above so that I may communication your appreciation to Mrs. Ross and the Islamic Center. Sincerely yours, (signed) July 22, 1993 After our first conversation, I talked with Yvonne, Mrs. Ross' PR person and personal secretary about the situation. The enclosed letter was her response. When I spoke with Mr. Moran yesterday and he said that he had never seen anything with Mrs. Ross' signature on it, I decided that it was important for us to clear up some miscommunications. Would you please call me at your earliest convenience so that I may talk to you about the enclosed. Thank you. I will be in and out of the office for the remainder of this week and next, so I am including my home number as well for you to use: (phone number). I would appreciate hearing from you by next Wednesday. Thank you for taking the time to respond to this letter. Sincerely, (signed) (Enclosed were a letter from Yvonne George describing uncashed money orders and travelers' checks from Mrs. Ross, and photostats of receipts for several money orders bearing Mrs. Ross' name and signature.) August 18, 1993 Enclosed is a letter I received this morning from Yvonne. As you can see it is in relationship to the idea of publicity on the day that we will be presenting to you the two plaques that I told you about last month. Earlier I had understood that one of the plaques was to be from the Portuguese Cultural Center here in Fall River but now understand that the plaque comes to you from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Rhode Island with the endorsement of the two governors and various politicians from Massachusetts. The plaque will be presented to you by Mr. Mario Medeiros, Director of the Portuguese Cultural Center. As you can well imagine there have been many calls from the various politicians about publicity, their presence, etc. When you have this many politicians involved there is always a need on their part to get some publicity from any event no matter how simple. Knowing how you felt about this, I communicated that information to Yvonne and her letter lets you know what she has done in this matter. However, if you wish some publicity to come to the Center would you please get in touch with me by the 25th. Otherwise we will proceed with plans to make a simple presentation to you at the office whenever the plaques are ready. I will call you ahead of time to arrange a date and time to come. Yvonne also asked me to request that you send to her at the address listed on her letter, the original checks from the Travelers Express Company. There should be two of them for $250.00 each. The checks were purchased on Puerto Rico and the Bank of Puerto Rico needs the original checks in order to transfer the money to Mrs. Ross. Thank you for taking time to do that for us. Do hope that you have found time to get some extra rest this summer. I am sure that with the pressure of the hot line a rest is needed every so often. I can't believe that we are ready for school again so soon. I'm sure that is a sign that I am getting older and I'd rather not dwell on that thought! Be assure of my continued prayers for you and the work that you and the volunteers do. God bless. Sincerely, (signed) cc: Yvonne George Sept. 13, 1993 As promised at our meeting on Thursday, I did check with Mrs. Ross regarding the letters. She was not aware of how the letters left the office but was sure that Yvonne had handled the situation properly. (see her letter) After speaking with Yvonne, I know that some of the letters did come off her computer as she stated in her letter to you. However, they were all authorized by each sender. Because of her desire to protect Mr. and Mrs. Ross and Michael all letters were sent to her and then mailed to you after her appraisal of them. The enclosed copies of authorization of these letters should help to settle this matter. Only one person refused to send an authorization and that was the Consul General of Pakistan. He was insulted that someone doubted his approval of this process! After also talking with Mrs. Ellen Barkley, Mrs. Ross' lawyer, she sent to me copies of the enclosed Federal Titles that answer your concerns. They are Titles 39-3003 and 39-3005. She believes that none of the Title information apply to what Yvonne George did. I would suggest for any further clarification of all these matters that you have a meeting with Yvonne. Please call me if you wish to arrange a meeting. I am really sorry that the manner in which these letters of praise were sent to the Samaritans upset you, your Board and your volunteers. Ellie, I know Mrs. Ross meant no harm to you and the Center. With assurance of my continued prayers for you and the Center, I remain, Sincerely, (signed) January 14, 1994 Mr. Michael Moran Dear Mr. Moran, As President of the Board of the Fall River Samaritans, I am writing this letter to you in hopes that you will address this situation which has been an ongoing problem to your organization and to myself. The document sent to attorney Paull was an attempt to give as much information as possible to help the Samaritans understand exactly what did take place and why. On the day that Mrs. Leite came to my office here at the Department of Education, I was quite shocked and bewildered by the letters and envelopes which she presented to me. I was so upset and angry about the discrepancies in the letters and envelopes, that I demanded that Yvonne George and Sheila Gilmartin provide me with proof of the authenticity and signatures of each letter. After I contacted several political offices and received verification of these signatures, I then forwarded all of that information to the Samaritans. Since none of the parties involved seemed willing to discuss what was going on with me, I made other attempts to contact Governor Weld, Senator Shannon and the White House. I then confronted my friend Elaine, who also refused to discuss with me what was going on. A month later Yvonne George and Mr. Florino finally confided in me about what really happened. I was as angry and disappointed as the Samaritans are right now. Since that time, I have found out a great deal about what was happening and why. I insisted that Yvonne George swear under oath, in the presence of a Justice of the Peace and Notary Public that all the information contained in the document was indeed factual and legitimate. I also was promised that all of the parties involved would refrain from having any contact with the Samaritans in accordance with the wishes put forth by Attorney Peter Paull. Regardless of the unorthodox behavior exhibited by all of the parties involved, the political letters are authentic and this family who I know as Michael's mother and father do exist regardless of what their true and legal name happens to be. The only reason why Yvonne George has remained involved was because I had requested that she tell the truth concerning this matter and admit to the wrong doings which took place. I am very angry and disappointed that it has been implied that this is a fictious situation. If this is a fictious situation, as the Samaritans so firmly believe, then that implies that I am a liar and that I was a part of something unethical. In the thirty nine years of my religious life, I have never been a part of anything unethical nor have I lied or deliberately deceived anyone. My only involvement in this was to help a woman who wanted to give credit to an organization who helped her son during his most troubled times. Her people and the methods which they used were not my concern at the time, but it is obvious now that all of these different sources were the main problem. Whether you wish to believe this situation or now, the young man who Mrs. Leite talked to for four years and who all of the Samaritans befriended is now on life support systems in a North Carolina hospital. If it is true that there are 18 or more people on your Board, than that means that eighteen or more people believe I lied and was a part of a cruel hoax. Some of these people I know personally, and whether they acknowledge it or not some members do believe in my innocence. I can not allow this situation to be brought to a close in the manner that your organization has requested. All of the parties involved in this have agreed to adhere to your wishes. Since I was not involved in this and since I am not a part of what unfortunately took place, I believe I have a right to meet with you and clear my name. I can empathize with the feelings which the Samaritans have in reference to this matter and I can also identify with the anger which many must feel because I too feel that I was manipulated and lied to. I do not want to meet to debate or argue this issue. I simply want a chance to explain to either you or Mrs. Leite, what I knew, what I now have learned, and what my concerns for the future are. I love Michael and pray for him constantly. He was a troubled young man who experienced pain all of his life. Because of the damage that he did to himself, we do not know if he will ever again be normal or ever be able to pick up the telephone and call the Samaritan hotline. This is a serious situation because of the number of respectable and honorable people involved. No one has made a more diligent attempt than I have to seek the truth. I respect Mrs. Leite and the work that she and the volunteers provide for the suicidal in our community and I am sorry that she has experienced this situation. By denying me a meeting with either of you, it not only indicates that you believe I was part of an unethical situation, but it also imposes future harm to my reputation and professional career. In our first conversations, I found you to be most gracious and understanding. Please give consideration to allowing me to meet with you and/or Mrs. Leite. I can be reached at my office and I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely yours, (signed) cc: Bernard Cardinal Law No reply to the above letter was ever received. |
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