FUNDRAISER FOR

LITTLE MELISSA

and her financially devastated parents

Mellissa was born prematurely on 5/5/03 in College Station Texas, with family reaching all the way into Palestine, TX. She weighed just 1lb 14 oz and was flown to Houston that night. She was later diagnosed with 3 heart defects, and Chromosome 12 defects. She had heart surgery when she was 2 weeks old and hooked up for weeks on a ventilator , oxygen and feeding tube.

When Mellissa was about 2 months old she got Staph infection in her lungs. This caused a lot of irreversible lung damage. She remained on a vent with oxygen and ended up having to have a Trach surgically placed. At 5 months she had stomach surgery and a permanent feeding tube was placed. She also underwent 2 eye surgeries on each eye and had a Lung biopsy done.

Mellissa’s immune system was not working properly and she remained in the hospital for 13 months due to numerous illnesses and infections. Later it was discovered that Mellissa’s trachea was not growing and was constricted with scar tissue. She had approximately 8 surgeries to repair her trachea.

Mellissa is now 6 yrs old. She does not walk on her own nor talk. Mellissa is not able to go to public school due to being susceptible to every thing that goes around. When she gets sick it usually ends up pneumonia.

Because of Mellissa’s illness and the associated expenses, her hard-working parents first lost their homes, then their cars. When Mellissa’s dad contacted us and in desperation inquired if we could perhaps help them, we told him that we are a small ministry with limited funds, but we would be happy to place fundraising containers for them in stores that allowed them. Because of business participation and patron generosity, the family was able to move into a new home in early 2010. Additional assistance is being considered - we will keep you updated.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT