I write this with tears in my eyes and hope in my heart. My beautiful mother, Moneeka, has recently been diagnosed with aggressive metastatic breast cancer. She has spent her entire life, from a young age, caring for other people and now it is time to care for her. As part of her treatment plan, she will likely be undergoing chemotherapy and surgery. But because we fully believe in alternative medicine, the power of food, and the capacity for the body to heal under the right circumstances, we are also seeking complementary therapies and rigorous dietary programs to help her body heal and endure the assault of chemotherapy. Some of these programs cost upwards of $40,000 for just three weeks of treatment and I am expecting to take a significant amount of time off work to be present during her treatment.

If you know me as someone that has ever made you smile, or laugh, or helped you, it is because of my mom. She is the most selfless and giving person I have ever known. And because she would never ask, I ask for help in her name. I ask that my community, and the community of my community, join together to support my mom in overcoming this diagnosis so that not only can she continue to be my mom, but one day be a grandmother to my children and those of my brother and sister.

From my heart and soul, I thank you for your support.