Mikel was such a sweet, caring person. He was our son, a brother, a friend.
So quick to be gone from us, and in such a tragic way. God only knows what was going through him mind. This is a shock and a travesty for all of us. But Mikel loved God and I have to believe that God has wrapped his loving arms around Mikel and taken him to be peaceful and safe. For those of us who really knew and loved him we were lucky to experience his wit, his undeniable charm and his sweet gentle soul. His beautiful brown eyes with that dancing sparkle, his smile, his laugh. His fun loving personality could light up a room.

On the other side of this coin is a young man who just couldn't seem to find his way at times. He had his struggles as we all do and unfortunately he turned to drugs at different times in his life to ease his pain. The problem is that self-medicating can be a dangerous alternative to seeking true medical help that one might need. People seem to believe that they can handle things by themselves and may choose to put a drug into their bodies that may be a miracle for some people but not necessarily them.

My advice to anybody here today is that if you are having troubles, if you're having pain and you don't know what to do……please reach out for help. Don't try to be your own doctor. There are professional people out there who can help you.

My vision for the Mikel Fruits "REACH OUT FOR HELP" Foundation is to aid as many people as possible who want to cast their pride aside and ask for help. It is not weak to do this, because sometimes we cant fix our problems on our own. The choice to seek professional help is extremely hard for some people because they feel they don't have the means to get the process started. If just one life can be saved through the help of this foundation and another family doesn't have to endure this pain and heartache, then there is a purpose for all of this. Know that this is a gift from Mikel. He is with us here today and I know that his is smiling and is proud to know that he may be the reason that someone will have the courage to reach out for help.