On December 1, 2018 my sister-friend, Lauren Beard of 36 years was diagnosed with Membranous Nephropathy; which is a rare autoimmune disease that affects and causes kidney failure. About Lauren:  Lauren has always been my most adventurous and nomadic friend. She has always been open to trying and doing new things in life without fear of failure. She is a professional, an entrepreneur, a loving wife and a mother of 2 children, ages 16 and 2 years old.    Finding out:  Lauren and her family were hit hard with devastation as they found out while she was pregnant that she’d have to endure this illness; which as one of the many side effects caused her to deliver prematurely at 7 ½ weeks early. When first diagnosed Lauren was at stage 4 of Membranous Nephropathy. Now a year later she is in stage 5 of Membranous Nephropathy with a very low kidney function which has put her life at jeopardy. She has had to undergo serval procedures and has had to take countless varying types of medication to keep her Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) low. It has truly been a struggle for my friend. The Silver lining:  Lauren has been working with a kidney transplant center. And Glory be to God! Lauren has a live donor! We are currently waiting on an exact surgery date, which is being estimated to take place as soon as this summer. Your help is needed and appreciated: I would like to humbly ask you for your help with any amount of monetary donation. All donations will go toward co-payments for doctors appointments, lifelong required medications, lost wages during recovery for both Lauren and the living donor, as well as travel expenses for the living donor who currently is located out of state. Thank you so much in advance for your help and support during this very trying time.