Season to Share Fund

As a child, Tiffany Pinkney watched her family fall into chaos as her mother was overwhelmed by the ravages of Huntington’s Disease. Now, the 32-year-old mother of two is wrestling with the same inherited and eventually fatal disease. She is no longer able to work, even as her family struggles to meet her growing needs, their living expenses. The family needs help covering utility bills, rent and food, clothes and shoes for the children for the next year. They also need money to maintain their car. Because of her progressive physical limitations, Pinkney could use a new couch and lift bars and safety equipment to help her move as independently as possible. Pinkney knows that she soon will need a hospital bed at a cost of at least $2,000, but she wants to put that off as long as possible. And, Lacy says, “We’d like the children to have a nice Christmas.”

Thirteen-year-old Sakura Hernandez arrived in the world prematurely, had open heart surgery before she was a month old and has had to also contend with cerebral palsy that causes muscle stiffness and affects her motor skills.

Up to six visits weekly to doctors and physical therapists and a new motorized wheelchair have given Sakura more freedom, and delivered skills physicians never expected her to master, including swimming and riding an adaptive bike. But family’s finances are strained. They need a newer minivan to help take 13-year-old Sakura to medical and therapy sessions at doctors’ offices as far away as Miami. Her motorized wheelchair barely fits into the 2011 Honda Odyssey the family relies upon daily.

The family would also welcome a portable wheelchair lift to load and unload the 70-pound wheelchair. The continuing costs of Sakura’s care has made it difficult for the family to save for these items.

Caedyn Jynella, a 5-year-old Riviera Beach boy fighting an aggressive, inoperable brain tumor, has been enduring cancer treatments for close to four years. Burdened with medical and related expenses, his mother, a single woman raising three boys, has sought the community’s help via an online fundraising site and other efforts. The family needs funds to pay the mortgage, transportation, utilities and food expenses. They would benefit from a variety of gift cards. Caedyn loves superheroes and would enjoy any related toys and costumes.

Maria Rosales and her husband already had their plates full, with three teen sons, two of whom have autism. Then Rosales was diagnosed with cancer. While her sons’ medical expenses are covered by Medicaid, Maria Rosales needs money to see an oncologist for treatment for her lymphoma. She and her family are living in a cramped rental space, with appliances that don’t work and carpet that’s been removed due to bedbugs. She would welcome the resources to move to a larger home and to purchase a reliable vehicle to drive Chris and Jared to medical appointments.

Their twins were three years old when Khadean Metcalf and her husband Jeffrey were able to put a name to what was fueling their children’s sleepless nights, dangerous wanderlust and the source of developmental delays: austism spectrum disorder.

The Metcalfs would like to give twins Serene and Jeffrey Jr. Cubby Beds, built specifically to soothe children with special needs. The beds come equipped with circadian light features, relaxing sounds, padded walls and a monitoring camera. They would also fence in the backyard, to curb the danger should young Jeffrey wander and allow the twins a safe space to play outdoors.

Transporting the twins is challenging. The family’s aging SUV requires expensive maintenance and is causing back problems for Khadean must lift the children into the vehicle on her own at times. A minivan would allow the twins to climb in unassisted.

The twins don’t fit in traditional strollers, so the parents use a large wagon, but specialty strollers would be a welcome relief that would allow them to manage outings more safely. They could also use a supply of medical diapers, a cost not covered through insurance.

As Amy works to rid her body of cancer, her parents need help providing a comfortable, caring home environment for her and Alondra. Amy’s family needs donations to help cover the costs of maintaining their family on a reduced income while Amy’s mother dedicates herself to overseeing her care and treatment. That includes money to help pay for rent, car insurance, electric bills and other fixed costs. To pass the days in their home, Amy would benefit from a new play kitchen, with toy dishes, pots pans and food. Castaneda Medina, Amy and Alondra could also use new clothes and shoes, as well as a pair of roller shoes for Alondra.

Just a toddler, Tobias DeLeon is on a years-long chemotherapy regimen to battle a blood cancer. Sadly, his family was not unfamiliar with childhood health crisis — Tobias’ older sister was born with an array of medical maladeis that impair her lungs and limit her speech and intellectual abilities. Parents Charity and Felix DeLeon find themselves now fighting an endless series of battles — against the illnesses sickening two of their children, against despair and against the crushing financial ramifications that come with those diagnoses. The family moved to a more affordable home, but Felix’s commute and the hours-long drives to the oncologist and hospital in West Palm Beach is taking its toll on their vehicles that are each at least a decade old. They need a reliable replacement. The family needs help to cover their mortgage, car insurance and gas. The family must also eat very “clean” foods due to the children’s medical needs. They welcome any help paying for that significant expense as well.

Born with cystic fibrosis, Maria Sanchez has spent much of her life at odds with her own lungs. Then, four years ago, they finally gave out. She went into respiratory failure, but her life was saved by a double lung transplant. Her recovery has been difficult and the costs steep. She and her husband are struggling to pay the $4,381.15 she owes her pharmacy to cover the first year-and-a-half of post-transplant medications. Maria also suffers from diabetes, gout and digestive issues that have required multiple surgeries, and now also require she purchase a motorized wheelchair. Sanchez health prevents her from working and they are supported only through her husband’s single income as a minister. They need help paying off their medical debt and and getting a leg up on growing medical bills.