Anna's Angel Fund Update: October 2005

It's always such a gift to put together an update for Anna's Angel Fund. It's such a sweet reminder of all the special people we've met since our last update, the gifts to Anna's fund, and the generosity of the precious contributors. Most of all, it makes us stop and reflect on how many more days we've been given together as a family. Those are the most precious gifts of all.

As always, your gifts have allowed Anna to touch the lives of so many children and families. Because of you, there have been more smiling faces, sighs of relief, tears of joy, financial burdens eased, and children who have had too much fun to remember just how sick they are for a while. Your prayers, your donations, and the love you share with these children and with us, make you very special people in our eyes.

Since our last update, the following are the lives Anna has been blessed to be a part of.

$300 Butterfly Fund (Brain Tumor Fdn. For Children), $552 Target
This money was spent for a family consisting of a grandmother, an (almost) three year old boy, and a preemie infant. This grandmother has been forced into the role of full time mom to these babies because their real mom, her own daughter, was diagnosed with a brain tumor almost immediately after giving birth to the baby. (There is no father in the picture.) Their mother has significant brain damage and functions at a very low level. At the time we heard about them, she was at Scottish Rite, on a respirator and feeding tube, and there was little hope of her ever getting off of either one. So this grandmother will now be a full time mom, caretaker of her severely disabled daughter, and working full time to support them all. How she will manage I can't even imagine. We bought lots of clothes for her and for the babies, and gave her a $300 credit on her account at the power company. Anna's fund was a little low at this point, but we got checks from a few of you "angels" just in time to help them. You truly are angels to her!

$575 Target
Clothing and school supplies for 8 and 10 year old girls, and an 8 year old boy. (Yes, a pair of twins in the mix!) The 10 year old girl had cancer and had just begun to receive hospice care. But…she was supposed to go to Disney World for her Make A Wish trip the next week! Her twin brother and sister got lots of new clothes, socks, underwear, and shoes. For her, we bought pajamas, comfy clothes, new house shoes, new tennis shoes, a camera, a backpack full of surprises for her trip to Disney, a soft, stuffed puppy, and a neon green body pillow to sleep with. We didn't check back to see if she got to go. Sometimes you just need to believe that she did, and that she got to enjoy everything we bought for her to take on her trip. And that's what we chose to do. I'm sure it was wonderful.

$480 Target
This was for a Pack 'n Play travel crib, high chair, and clothing for a three year old his infant brother. The three year old was the one being treated for cancer. Soon after giving birth to a precious baby boy, this mother received the diagnosis on her three year old son. And suddenly, she also found herself parenting alone. By the time we learned about them, they were surviving solely on social security. Both her three year old and her new infant were sleeping in the same bed with her. I explained to Anna how dangerous that was for the infant and she decided to buy a crib for the baby. We soon learned however that the mom didn't have room for a crib, so we chose a travel crib because it was smaller and folds up. Anna also picked out a high chair for her and some adorable clothes for both boys.

$717
Spent on a family to provide meals, entertainment and spending money while in Atlanta for their son's radiation treatments. This family's story is both heartbreaking and unbelievable. They lost a daughter a year and a half ago to a brain tumor. Now, their six year old son has also been diagnosed with a brain tumor. It's hard to imagine going through this once and losing your child, but to begin the process all over again with a second child, while still grieving the first, is truly tragic. And how frightening for their third and only other (currently healthy) child, a nine year old daughter.

This family lives in south Georgia, about four hours from Atlanta, and had to stay here for the six weeks that their son was receiving radiation treatments. Radiation treatments can certainly take a toll on you, but normally we have found that the children feel pretty well for the first few of weeks. So Anna decided to make his stay in Atlanta as much fun as possible. She provided them with money to help with their meals, and four tickets (complete with maps and information) to each of the following...Atlanta Zoo, Six Flags, World of Coke, Fernbank Science Museum and IMAX Theater, CNN Tour and Stone Mountain Park!

$300 Challenge Child
Anna chose to make a donation to Challenge Child in honor of Parker, a very special little boy she knew from Egleston. Challenge Child is a non-profit agency that provides a multitude of services for children with disabilities. Just as in Anna's case, the wonderful care he received at Egleston (along with many prayers), also saved his life. And, just like Anna, he is a little miracle! Parker's challenges were very different from Anna's, but they share a very special bond.

$500 Cash
This was to help renovate a teenage girls' bathroom to make it wheelchair accessible for her. She was unable to shower independently and had gotten too old for her father to continue helping her get into and out of the shower. She desperately wanted this renovation for her birthday and Anna's Angel Fund was able to help them with the last $500 they needed to finish it for her birthday!

$1194 Air Tran Airways, $300 Cash
Roundtrip airfare for a mother and son to fly to Boston. This teenage boy had been fighting lymphoma and he was very close to losing his battle. His last hope was a clinical trial in Boston. He was nauseous anyway, but also terrified to fly. He had never been in an airplane before. Angel Flight had offered to fly him for free, but Angel Flight uses small planes. The weather was not forecasted to be particularly conducive to a smooth flight and his social worker was concerned that a small plane might truly make him feel much worse. In addition, he certainly didn't need any more stress. So, Anna paid for them to fly on commercial flights. She also provided cash for cab fares and meals.

$512 Georgia Power, $273 Target
Two year old girl with a neuroblastoma (brain tumor). Like so many others who need assistance, this was a single mom who had been unable to work since her baby was diagnosed. In addition, she had not received child support for six months. According to her social worker, this baby desperately needed clothes, diapers and Pediasure - our favorite kind of request! Anna picked out a whole wardrobe of 2T clothes, along with diapers, wipes and all kinds of child care products. She also chose a couple of toys. And finally, thanks to you, she was able to wipe out that power bill that had been accumulating and hanging over their heads!

$217 Wal-Mart, $78 Staples
The Wal-Mart money was mostly for a gift card so that a 19 year old cancer patient could get her new school clothes off of layaway there. She had picked them out before the hospital bills started adding up, and mom now said they couldn't afford them. She and her sister both needed a few school supplies also, and Anna was able to purchase them as well.

$1010 Target, Wal-Mart
Anna chose to spend this money on a single mom and her four boys. Her 8 year old had been diagnosed with Lymphoma three months prior to Anna hearing about them, and since his diagnosis she had been unable to work. Their social worker at the hospital expressed quite a bit of concern for this particular family. She felt that their needs were unusually great. It also disturbed her that they lived several hours away from the hospital and she felt that their car was unsafe to drive due to the worn tires. So, Anna paid for new tires! That was a first for The Angel Fund! In addition to new tires, the children badly needed new clothes. For Anna, that was much more fun! All of the boys got lots of new clothes and two new pairs of really cool tennis shoes! For the 8 year old who was in the hospital most of the time, we bought some jeans, t-shirts, etc.; but mostly this little boy got pajamas, sweats, warm-ups, and house shoes, and games. At the request of his mom, we included lots of Pediasure shakes. They are expensive and we assumed that must be something he needed to help keep weight on, or because it was one of the few things his little stomach could tolerate while on treatment. We remember those days so well.

$300 Wal-Mart Gift Card
This gift card was given to a family with a teenager who had previously battled leukemia, and had just relapsed. They had no insurance. Their social worker had been able to get many of the child's medicines free from prescription assistance programs, but there were two very important ones that were not covered by any program and the family could not afford them. But, because of you, Anna could.

$513 Lake Lanier Islands Beach and Water Park and Emerald Point Resort, $100 Toys R Us
Anna heard about a little boy (I'll call him Joey) who had been fighting cancer for several years. The complications Joey has faced sounded so disheartening and his disabilities were numerous. He's an only child being raised by a single mom and he requires a great deal of care. Fortunately, his grandmother helps when she can, but she also works. Mary Campbell, Executive Director of the Brain Tumor Fdn. For Children, told us their story and there was no question that Anna wanted to do something for this little boy. We found out that Joey was about to celebrate his 8th birthday and it happened to fall on a weekend! His mother said that his very favorite thing to do was swim and play in the water. Anna didn't have nearly enough money in her Angel Fund to do everything she wanted to for him, so I contacted Lake Lanier Islands and after a couple of letters and lots of phone calls, got them to donate part of his weekend. So, we drove to Lake Lanier and prepaid the rest of their hotel bill, arranging for Joey, his mom, his grandmother and two friends to spend two nights, and for them to have Beach and Water Park tickets for two days. (You have to have your best buddies there with you to celebrate your birthday!) Later that day, we realized that their weekend wasn't much of a gift if they couldn't afford their meals there. So, we went back and left gift certificates for meals. The Toys R Us gift card was mailed to his mom in advance so she could buy him a gift - something special just from her. We heard that Joey's mom was crying when she found out about the plans for his birthday. What a special gift from our angels to this mother and her son.

$250 Wal-Mart Gift Card, $278 Target
This was spent for a family whose trailer home had been completely flooded and destroyed due to a hurricane in Florida, back in July. And now, after losing most everything they own, they are in Atlanta trying to save their child from this monster called cancer, too. Anna helped meet a few of their basic clothing needs and purchased some personal care items for them. She also provided them with the gift card to help meet a few other essential needs.

$300 cash (for power bill)
Anna paid this power bill (via a hospital social worker) for a mother whose two year old daughter had just been diagnosed with cancer. This mom was raising this little girl alone because dad was in prison. When her daughter became ill, she lost her job and had absolutely no cash income. Their power had been turned off and they needed $280 to turn it back on. Their check was written for an even $300.

$400 Ingles, $250 cleaning and household supplies
These were bought for a family with four children. Their 9 year old was battling cancer (either leukemia or lymphoma) and they'd had to move due to the financial strain. Their social worker told Anna that they could very much use help in setting up the home they were going to rent. She also wondered if Anna might be able to provide a few groceries. Of course she would!! She bought enough to overload three wagons at the hospital! She filled them with several kinds of soaps, toothpaste (she picked out a different kind for each child based on their age, along with an "age appropriate" toothbrush!), paper towels, toilet paper, clothes detergent, cleaning supplies, shampoo, brushes, lotions…a little of everything! Then we went to Ingles where she purchased a $400 gift card for them to buy groceries.

$177 Target
This was spent on a four year old little boy who, I believe was battling a brain tumor. He had been so very sick from his treatments and had ruined the few clothes that he did have. Diarrhea had caused many problems for his little body, and he especially needed new pants and underwear, in the hopes that he would be able to start pre-k in the fall. Well, of course Anna found plenty of precious clothes for him and that included new jeans, khakis, socks, t-shirts, and 20 new pairs of Spiderman, Batman, Power Rangers, etc. underwear! It was a blast to shop for him!

$225 CureSearch
Anna wanted to buy t-shirts for a few(?!) people that would not only benefit pediatric cancer research, but also raise awareness of the need for it. CureSearch is an awesome organization dedicated to finding cures for childhood cancer. (www.curesearch.org)

$843 Sears
This was to provide an extremely poor family with much needed items for their four month old baby. Anna chose a crib and a car seat for them. We also learned that mom was upset about missing important phone calls from the hospital/doctors, so Anna also picked out and answering machine for them. Finally, after learning that they cooked all their meals on a hot plate, she also sent them a $400 gift card so they could purchase a stove.

It's so hard to remember all the children's special stories and so emotional to see these little lives forever changed. We, too, have been changed by Anna's cancer, but find such amazing joy in the opportunities this new life offers us. Please know that we are always aware and forever grateful that it is only because of you, our angels, that Anna continues to find such tremendous joy in helping these children and in seeing the difference her Angel Fund can make. You allow her to show these children that angels truly do exist. Your willingness to support Anna and these precious children means everything to them and to us.

Thank you for your love, your support, and for hanging in there with us as Anna continues her recovery. We appreciate your thoughts and your prayers, and that you care enough to keep up with her progress. How blessed our family is that you are a part of our lives.

Love,

Lisa, Larry and Anna


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