When Carlos Rivas (we all called him Fred) passed away suddenly on Friday morning, he left behind a family that is not only staggered by their loss, but also in the middle of the most difficult of circumstances they have ever faced. His wife Melanie had just spent the previous two months living in hospital rooms all over Pennsylvania, watching over their son Bill who had fallen gravely ill with a brain infection that nearly took his life. The night before Bill was  supposed to be discharged, Carlos was taken to Pocono Medical Center, having suffered a massive heart attack.  So Melanie had her husband in intensive care on the second floor and her son on the third floor, and the rest of her children at home without support from either of their parents.

Melanie had taken leave from work, without pay to be with her son and has not gotten a regular paycheck for the past two months.  Her son Bill, who has two small children, a has also been unable to work, and with the therapy and care he will need, is unlikey to be able to return to work for a very long time. And of course now they have lost the income that Carlos brought home.  In fact, not 5 hours after his death, his job canceled and withheld his paycheck that was due for deposit the day he died.

Upon her return home from the hospital on Friday, Melanie found friend and neighbors had sent food to help the family through this difficult time, but that they had no place to put it because, in a horrible disaster of timing, her refrigerator completely stopped working as well.

And today, we have just found out that their daughter Kim has been admitted to the hospital with a massive infection in both legs and will need surgery to save her.

My sister's family is simply stunned and crushed with the pain and complications that have hit them all at once, and I would like to raise money to help them to at least alleviate the financial difficulties that they are experiencing because of this terrible confluence of tragedies.  Funeral costs and a new refrigerator are their most immediate needs,  but the medical bills have already begun rolling in and, with the loss of so much income, living expenses will be nearly impossible to keep up with as well. 

Those of you who know Melanie know that she is always the first to help anyone who needs it.  She is a dedicated nurse in her professional life, her home is always open to those in need. She is the first to organize help for those around her and she even rescues dogs that need homes.  She has always been there for me and all her friends. Always. And now I would like to be there for her.

Please help me to help my sister's family as they deal with their grief and try to find some way to rebuild their lives. I can't give them back their husband, grandfather, and father, and I can't magically make their children well again, and I can't even afford a new refrigerator to help them, but with your help, I can try to make some of the financial burden they are suffering from go away.