Meet the families in
our community
These families are the reason we do what we do, and it is our
great honor to share their stories.
Click on a family below to read their story, or head to the blog for even more heart-warming tales!
When A’miree was diagnosed with a form of kidney cancer called Wilms Tumor, she was determined to stay strong. Despite the gravity of her diagnosis, A’miree hasn’t let anything
defeat her, accepting her cancer’s significant effects, like losing her hair, as “no big deal.”
As a result of her early chemotherapy medication, A’miree lost full functionality of her legs, making it impossible to walk. These side-effects weren’t easy on her mother, Barbaranne. Watching her daughter go through cancer treatment was both emotionally and physically draining.
On top of it all, her one-year-old son Amil had to have open-heart surgery during A’miree’s treatment. The whole family needed a pick-me-up.
That’s when Barbaranne heard about the Stink Bug Project. Through Stink Bug, the family adopted Ace, a wonderful furry friend that gave A’miree the friendship and comfort she needed to get through hard times
When A’miree was diagnosed with a form of kidney cancer called Wilms Tumor, she was determined to stay strong. Despite the gravity of her diagnosis, A’miree hasn’t let anything
defeat her, accepting her cancer’s significant effects, like losing her hair, as “no big deal.”
As a result of her early chemotherapy medication, A’miree lost full functionality of her legs, making it impossible to walk. These side-effects weren’t easy on her mother, Barbaranne. Watching her daughter go through cancer treatment was both emotionally and physically draining.
On top of it all, her one-year-old son Amil had to have open-heart surgery during A’miree’s treatment. The whole family needed a pick-me-up.
That’s when Barbaranne heard about the Stink Bug Project. Through Stink Bug, the family adopted Ace, a wonderful furry friend that gave A’miree the friendship and comfort she needed to get through hard times
Featured Family
Meet Desiree & Joe
From the very beginning, timing has been a challenge for baby Joe. He came into the world six weeks early, and then just 20 minutes later, had to be airlifted over four hours away to the nearest neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Meanwhile, his mom Desiree, still recovering from her emergency c-section, felt stranded. She just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, but it was now sinking in that she wouldn’t see him again for many days.
While she recovered at home, she grew more and more anxious for the day she could hold her baby boy. Nearly two weeks later, that day finally came, and it was a day she will never forget.
“You hear about these things happening, but you never thing it’ll happen to me, but then it happens to you,” she says. Desiree’s family lives in rural Colorado, over 4 1/2 hours away from the hospital where baby Joe was being cared for. With just one car and another child at home, she and her husband didn’t know what they were going to do. “I was really concerned about going back and forth and was really trying to figure out how we were supposed to do that, but I didn’t know what to do.”
That’s where the Foundation came in. Thanks to our donors, we were able to provide Desiree’s family with gas cards, making the 9-hour round-trip drive far less stressful.
“I hope the donors know that any amount of help they are giving, any donation, anything, makes such a huge difference, especially for people who are lower income and never expect to have to drive 4 1/2 hours one way just to see your baby,” Desiree says. “Just knowing there are people out there who want to help and help fund a little bit of gas to get back and forth is amazing. I hope they know that we think about them and it means more than they could ever even imagine.”
