Our friend and classmate, Jessica Oquist, recently lost her husband James suddenly and unexpectedly. She's left to care for their two sons (one an infant, and one preschooler) on her own. I cannot fathom having to process that grief on top of handling all the day-to-day minutia that comes with being a working, now single parent.

A few of us have brainstormed how we could help from afar and came up with the idea of arranging for a cleaning service to help Jess out 1-2x's per month. After calling around to a few companies in Savannah, GA, for quotes, I found one that would do a flat rate of $203/visit.

I'm reaching out to all of you to see if you might be willing to pitch in. My goal is to arrange at least six months of care for Jess. If each person could pay for even a portion of a single visit, it would add up and hopefully let her know we are all sending love and support her direction.

All cards on the table: this is the first time I've attempted to set up a GoFundMe account, but I am planning to make Jess the direct beneficiary of this account (so there shouldn't be a middle man other than the small fee this company takes out). If she likes the cleaning company I have lined up for her, then perfect! Hopefully, they can make life a little easier for her. However, if they turn out to be not so great, I'll try to help her find a better fit. Alternatively, she has mentioned she could also use help finding a dog walker, so she can use the funds for that if the cleaning service is a bust.

My goal is to take some burdens off her plate and let her know she's not alone. Please help me do that.

Thanks! and I hope you all are living the dream. :)

-Amy