Heartfelt Help Foundation was really born in November 2019, when we hosted a small fundraiser in my backyard with the intent of helping one patient with his/her post transplant living expenses.

To put the timing in perspective, the Kincaide Fire, a devastating fire to the county I call home, was just starting when the idea of a fundraiser started to take hold. I had quickly set the plans in motion to put a raffle together and have vendors come and sell their products and donate back a percentage of their profit to this one patient. And then the fire got bigger - we lost power, much of my county was evacuated from their homes, and I was working at our church, which had converted to an evacuation shelter.

And yet, even though I offered to cancel, or postpone the event, those who had donated raffle items and the vendors (several of whom were evacuated themselves, and one was a firefighter) all pushed to continue with the event. By the time the big day rolled around, evacuation orders had just been lifted, people were returning home, the smoke had cleared and life felt like it was returning to something resembling normal again. There was cause for a little celebration, and that’s what this first event felt like - a way to celebrate life, and to raise money to help save a life.

Working together, this fundraiser in my backyard raised $12,000 that day - enough to help that patient, with funds leftover for the next one. I am forever grateful to the people who came to my home and bought raffle tickets, purchased items from the vendors and supported this transplant recipient and birthed the idea of really being able to make a difference to more than one or two recipients and help to eliminate the worry of paying for housing post transplant for all Northern California recipients.