Giving Back for Priscilla

2020 was a chaotic, stressful, lonely year, but despite all of the negatives, our group was given the most wonderful news - our friend and coworker, Priscilla, was expecting! Priscilla has always wanted to be a mother, and like many women, spent several years trying to conceive and experienced disappointment, pain, and heartbreak along the way. Throughout all of this, Priscilla consistently gives to others, providing financial and emotional support to friends and family, volunteering through her church, and organizing collections and distributing clothing and food to those in need. She is an unbelievably thoughtful friend, and a caring, supportive coworker. We are all incredibly thankful to have met her. 

Most importantly, for the past 11 years, Priscilla has worked as a dietitian in a high acuity Neonatal ICU, feeding and growing babies in the most vulnerable periods of their little lives. She has worked tirelessly in her job to make sure that these babies get the best nutritional care, and consistently works overtime in a high stress environment without additional pay. She also runs a NYC neonatal dietitian group and has organized at least 20 educational dinners over the past few years for other RDs looking to advance the nutritional care of preterm infants. She is brilliant, caring, and generous, and consistently demonstrates loving, maternal qualities in all aspects of her life. 

At her current job, maternity leave is restricted to allotted vacation days and sick time, and she is financially unable to take more than 2-3 months at home on leave. Over the years, Priscilla has taken on other jobs to supplement her income, foregone vacations, resisted spending money on nice dinners, new clothes, and other personal comforts,  and has used some of her own savings to help friends and family in need. She has made many personal sacrifices in her life to help others. She has been waiting for this baby for so many years, and we all want to make sure that she and her husband have enough time at home together to relax and bond with their little one who is due to arrive by mid April. 

Priscilla is the most kind, pure-hearted, caring person that we have ever met. She is the person who deserves all the good in life, for all the good she puts into the world. If there is any way we can take some amount of stress off of her plate and allow her to relish every moment of joy motherhood will bring her, we want to do it. The past year has been difficult for everyone financially and emotionally, but if there is anything you can spare to provide a little extra time at home for Priscilla to bond with her baby, we would appreciate that immensely. And we can't wait for the world to be a safer place, so we can all hug Priscilla and meet her little one in person!