2025 Signature Chefs Culinary Experience Los Angeles

Our family is honored to share that we are serving as the Ambassador Family for the 2025 March of Dimes Signature Chefs Culinary Experience on October 26, 2025 at the Pacific Design Center.

I share our story to raise awareness of the challenges that so many families face. Your support for March of Dimes helps ensure that all moms and babies have a fighting chance. Your generosity will go towards saving lives and supporting families who need it most, so that one day no family will go through our experience and loss again. Our goal is to raise $26,000 as Ava and Tessa were born at 26 weeks. We hope you will contribute to help us reach our goal.

Thank you for being a part of our journey.

**********

Greg and Sami lived the NICU journey—celebrating small victories, facing setbacks, and learning a new language of medicine and milestones. Tessa grew stronger, while Ava endured more challenges, her tiny body fighting with all its strength. On September 29, 2023, Ava passed away peacefully in her parents’ arms, leaving behind a legacy of courage and love that will forever guide her family.

After 158 days in the NICU, Tessa finally came home. She had a G-tube for feeding, but remarkably did not need oxygen. With bi-weekly therapy sessions and incredible determination, she eventually learned to eat and drink from a bottle on her own and had the G-tube removed before her first birthday. Today, she is thriving, full of energy, and preparing to start preschool. For Greg and Sami, she is their living miracle, and Ava’s light shines through her every day.

Greg and Sami feel immensely thankful for the exceptional staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, particularly the devoted NICU nurses, respiratory therapists, and occupational therapists who poured their hearts into caring for their daughters. As a proud March of Dimes Ambassador Family, they aim to shine a light on the prematurity and infant health crisis. They are passionately working toward a future where every baby is born healthy and ready to thrive. Join the fight - make your donation today to support the Shames Family Campaign