Donate to Allison Sharaf's Community Healing Effort

My name is Allison Sharaf and this is my story.

In December of 2020, I lost my mother to suicide. I was the one to find her, and it traumatized me beyond belief. Just 7 months later, I lost my oldest brother to an overdose. I loved my brother very much, and his loss probably hit me the hardest. Then, just 4 months after that, I lost my father to an overdose as well.

As you can imagine, I have been overwhelmed with grief since that day in December of 2020. I went to therapy, I saw a doctor, I read all the books and did all of the things you're "supposed to do" when you're grieving.

Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough for me. I was looking for people who were in similar situations as I was.

I looked for grief support groups near me and found a few...but none of them were really what I was looking for. Most of them were religious in nature, met too infrequently for my preference, or required registration and formally signing up.

I didn't want that. I wanted something casual and informal, almost like a book club.

When I couldn't find it, I decided to create it myself. I figured if I was looking for this, surely somebody else was, too.

I honestly did not think my idea would take off as quickly as it has. I thought maybe it would just be me and a few friends sitting in my living room once a week.

Thankfully, some very kind people reached out to me and were interested in helping bring my idea to life.

Oh, and a wonderful journalist listened to my story and it made the front page of my local newspaper!

I have been so blessed and lucky to have so many people help me and support me in this endeavor, it means the world to me.

However...I obviously did not go into this looking to make money, but a little bit of money is needed to fund a support group.

Things such as refreshments, notebooks, pens, and other supplies cost money, money that I do not have to spare right now.

So here I am, asking for your help. I want to help my community of the Wapakoneta and surrounding areas confront their grief, grief in any form.

I am not a therapist or a counselor, my credentials are simply my lived experience.

So if you could please either donate or share this fundraiser, I would greatly appreciate it. The funds will go directly to supplies for the group.

Thank you. ❤️