My name is Brian Malenke, I've had a rough life.  I don't really know how to even write this but here goes... Back in 2004 I had just graduated college and had my first real adult job.  I was in sales working for a company that sold copy machines to area small businesses.  I was doing well and things were seemingly working out.  I remember thinking, I have a lot to be thankful for.  While I was working one day, my fortunes changed.  I was in a meeting with a potential client when I remember not being able to see the person in front of me clearly.  I could see to the side but head-on I could not see anymore.  I knew something was wrong.  After work, I went to the eye doctor to get examined.   They put a dye into my eyes and had a look.  The doctor then told me that he saw extensive retinal hemmoraging and that the eye doctor could not fix this problem.   It was something much more serious.   I was told to go immediately to the emergency room and get examined.  So I did just that.  I was waiting in triage, having just given the nurses a blood draw, for the doctors to tell me how to fix my eyes.  I was alone and I wasn't prepared for the news that was about to come my way.  The doctors asked me if I've ever had past problems with my kidneys to which I replied no.  They then told me that their review of my blood draw revealed that my kidneys were functioning at less than 4%.  I was floored and scared.  I was wheeled up to a surgical procedure room where they froze the small of my back and performed my first in a long line of future biopsies on my kidney.  The results revealed very little other than severe scar tissue throughout.  I was then taken to another room to have a 2-Line vascular cathether placed into my chest so that I could be immediately dialysed in the intensive care unit.   My parents and loved ones were notified and my life has never been the same since.  I spent that summer on dialysis while my incredible family got tested for a transplant match.  My father, lovingly, agreed to selflessly donate his kidney to me.   Things were looking up.  I adjusted to my new life, ever thankful to the gift that I received and hopeful for the future.  3 years passed and then things took a turn for the worse.  Biopsy after biopsy revealed a problem with the transplanted organ which lead to full rejection of the kidney.  At the time this occurred I was working a new sales job, doing very well at it, and life was very enjoyable.  Consequently, I had to stop working and become a full-time patient once again.  This time around I had to undergo an extensive period of chemotherapy as well as plasmapheresis to rid my body of toxic antibodies.  Once again my family stepped up to save my life.  This time my sister was a match and we began the process of having another transplant with the sincere hope that this time would be different than the last.  It was around this time that tragedy struck.  My mom was coming home from a bible study in Lisle around thanksgiving.   She was making a left turn on a green arrow when she was struck by a heavily impaired driver, traveling at high speed.  It was devastating but remarkably she survived the accident and we pulled together through prayer and love to facilitate her recovery.  The next year was one of the most difficult of my life.  I had to be strong for my mom and be strong for myself and at times I was overwhelmed.  As we prepared for my next surgery I received a phone call from Northwestern Memorial telling me the date and time of the procedure.  We were scheduled for April, 10, 2009.  April 10th is my mother's birthday.  She was still recovering from the accident having a Halo to stabilize her neck.  Her memory had returned and I remember her going from one room to the other to see her daughter save her son.  It had to be the best birthday present she's ever received.  The surgery was a success and I was once again on the right path ready to live a full respectful life.  My mom was transferred to the Alden rehabilitation center in Naperville and I enjoyed visiting her and her new friends.  Many months went by and she was making progress.  I remember throwing a softball with her and watching her dance the hula during a planned function.  I miss her so so much.  One morning I arrived at Alden to visit when they stopped me in the lobby and informed me that overnight they had found her motionless on the floor near her bed.  She was gone.  I don't know why she was given a full year to come so far in her recovery only to not reach the finish line but even though I spent most of that year in tremendous pain, it was the best year of my life.  I don't think I ever recovered from the sudden loss of my mom and to be honest I don't really want to.  She was laid to rest across from where she lived and next to where she worked and life without her started.  My brother had been living with her at the time so we had to get him setup with a special needs home called Little Friends which has fortunately been such a blessing to my family.  I began to work again and my new kidney was functioning well.  I was a busy guy once again.  I was working in sales, I was also teaching sports to 2-5 years old and well as coaching club volleyball to high school freshman girls.  I had a purpose in my life and I felt like I was making a real impact.  8.5 years went by with my new kidney when things once again took a turn for the worse.  In the winter of 2016 I came down with a the flu as well as norovirus at the same time.  This resulted in a week long hospital stay as doctors tried to figure out how to get me feeling better.  The immunosuppression medication I was on served to prevent my immune system to fight off the flu and norovirus.  As a result, I was losing core electrolytes at an alarming rate resulting in numerous hospital stays and troubling lab results.  In June of 2017 I was admitted into Northwestern for 10 days while we setup long term dialysis due to chronic kidney rejection.  This leads me to the present day.  I'm a patient at the Fresenius Kidney Care center in Naperville, IL where I receive dialysis 3 days a week.  I've done my very best to continue working but I've had to scale back considerably due to my overall health and new schedule.  Fortunately I still am able to coach volleyball and my passion still burns bright.  Unfortunately, I'm not making as much money as I used to and paying everyday living and medical expenses has become an incredible challenge.  I need help at this time to get me on a more solid footing.   I feel bad asking for help in this way because I'm used to providing for myself and feel ashamed that I'm unable to do so in the same way I used to.  If you can help me out, even a little, I would be so thankful.  I'm 36 and I have a full life ahead on me, I truly believe that.  I look forward to the day I can look back at all this and know that I got through it and things are going to be OK.  Until that day comes, I will show up to dialysis with a smile on my face and the hope of better things to come.

Diane hubbard Hall

Anonymous

David Bahn

Karen Gehrke

Allison Steinhauer

Karen Davis

Jimmy v Glynn

Kaytee Norris

Robert Mandell

Cynthia Geishecker

Tracy Pace

Kris Weaver

Help with cancer and dialysis expenses.

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help with cancer and dialysis expenses.

Still $58,799 to go. Help us build momentum.