NICU Awareness Month

Madelyn's Fund holds a very personal and special place in my heart. My freshman year of high school, I was so excited my sister Rachel and brother-in-law Andy were expecting a baby girl and on January 27th 2015 my niece Madelyn Elizabeth Lee was born. I remember being so excited to finally have a niece in my family, but after Madelyn was born she was taken into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as she had swallowed fluid during delivery. Every day we would get updates on Madelyn and how her health was improving and we were hopeful she would home soon. I will never forget on February 4th coming home from school and being sat down and told that Madelyn had passed away and driving up to Charlotte that night to be with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephews.  It's a day I will truly never forget and stays in my heart. I never got to meet Madelyn in her short 8 days of life, but I like to think that she's had an amazing and huge impact on my life, and now the life of so many others. 

In November of 2016,  Rachel and Andy founded Madelyn's Fund in memory of their daughter, to support families through the challenges of having a medically-fragile child in the NICU, or in the worst of cases having a child in the NICU pass away.  While having a child in the NICU, families experience many unexpected costs, but many don't have necessary means to support their financial obligations. Medical bills while experiencing a stay in the NICU can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars while families also have to juggle finances like transportation going to and from the hospital/lodging expenses to be near their baby, paying for utilities, meal expenses, baby supplies, and more. Madelyn's Fund's mission is to ease the financial and emotional stress families experience during this time. In May of 2022, I was lucky enough to make Madelyn's Fund my career by joining as Fundraising Director and to say it's been a dream job would be an understatement. Working everyday to support this incredibly important mission and honoring the memory of my niece Madelyn has been the most rewarding job I could ever imagine.

This September, we have launched a fundraising campaign for NICU Awareness Month & my goal is to raise $1,000 to support NICU families in need.  Your donations will help support families with transportation to and from the hospital, lodging to be near their child, meals, baby supplies, and supplementing for loss of income by helping families maintain necessary household necessities, like utility bills -  allowing families to make their child their priority and ease financial burdens. Your donations also support families who experience the tragedy of losing a child in allowing them to properly honor and memorialize their child.

This cause is so important to me and so many others, I hope you'll join me in my goal to raise $1,000 to support Madelyn's Fund's commitment to provide help to every NICU family that needs assistance. Thank you for your support!