We are longtime friends of Patricia (DeJong) Brooks – “Tricia Gibson” in High School. Tricia has been living with such incredible grief since the tragic drowning of her daughter, Anna DeJong, in the DuPage River in Illinois on May 15th, 2020. Her body was found 12 days later. However, what happened in the months afterwards is why we started this fund for Tricia. We are hopeful that it will take care of some of the pain this whole event has caused and help her receive comfort and find closure.
On May 18th, 2020, someone opened a GoFundMe fundraiser stating that the fund was to help the “family” of Anna DeJong. The person who set it up made Anna’s father the sole beneficiary. Due to the nature of the story, it was highly publicized, so the fund ended up raising over $70,000. Tricia’s ex-husband assured her that he would share the funds with her to “honor” the major role she played in Anna’s life. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Her ex-husband ended up keeping over 90% of the fund for himself. To this day, no headstone has been purchased for his daughter’s grave, adding even more grief.
This has all crushed Tricia as she knows the 18 years of raising Anna was being dishonored. She has been broken ever since Anna drowned, and on top of it, feels that her role as a mother has been minimized. Tricia raised Anna and poured her life into helping her battle with Autism. Throughout their difficult marriage, Patricia was fully involved and handled both of her children’s needs as their primary caregiver. Anna’s sister, Kathryn, is a brain cancer survivor (diagnosed at age 3). Tricia carried all of that herself, as in weekly chemo appointments for Kathryn and OT training for Anna 4x a week.
Please consider giving to this dear mother who has been struggling mentally, emotionally, and financially. We know Tricia and can vouch for her character. Since we cannot change how the past fundraiser was handled, we decided to start a new one to directly benefit Tricia. She is a gifted singer and due to the pandemic has not been able to perform over the last several months and is working part time as she grieves. We would love for you to join us to help bring some hope & happiness to her life.
Thank you so much for your gifts and prayers for our friend!
Tina Downey (Skarda) and Kimberlee Poe (Yazza)
On May 18th, 2020, someone opened a GoFundMe fundraiser stating that the fund was to help the “family” of Anna DeJong. The person who set it up made Anna’s father the sole beneficiary. Due to the nature of the story, it was highly publicized, so the fund ended up raising over $70,000. Tricia’s ex-husband assured her that he would share the funds with her to “honor” the major role she played in Anna’s life. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Her ex-husband ended up keeping over 90% of the fund for himself. To this day, no headstone has been purchased for his daughter’s grave, adding even more grief.
This has all crushed Tricia as she knows the 18 years of raising Anna was being dishonored. She has been broken ever since Anna drowned, and on top of it, feels that her role as a mother has been minimized. Tricia raised Anna and poured her life into helping her battle with Autism. Throughout their difficult marriage, Patricia was fully involved and handled both of her children’s needs as their primary caregiver. Anna’s sister, Kathryn, is a brain cancer survivor (diagnosed at age 3). Tricia carried all of that herself, as in weekly chemo appointments for Kathryn and OT training for Anna 4x a week.
Please consider giving to this dear mother who has been struggling mentally, emotionally, and financially. We know Tricia and can vouch for her character. Since we cannot change how the past fundraiser was handled, we decided to start a new one to directly benefit Tricia. She is a gifted singer and due to the pandemic has not been able to perform over the last several months and is working part time as she grieves. We would love for you to join us to help bring some hope & happiness to her life.
Thank you so much for your gifts and prayers for our friend!
Tina Downey (Skarda) and Kimberlee Poe (Yazza)
Organizer and beneficiary
Tina Downey
Organizer
Alexander, AR
Tricia Gibson Brooks
Beneficiary