Hi, we are Stephanie, Amanda, and Lisa, Collingswood small business owners creating this account to support our fellow small business owner, Kara Guerrieri. Kara was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is facing a crisis of caring for herself and her beloved store, House Finch. Kara opened her beautiful suburban nature store a little over a year ago and has quickly become a fixture in the town as well as a dedicated community member. We would like to raise funds to ease the financial hardship during her surgery and recovery. Kara is the sole proprietor and only full-time employee of House Finch. She is currently faced with shortening hours and increased employee costs during most critical retail season of the year. We want to raise funds to help Kara focus on her healing. Why $50,000? This will ensure that she can pay the basic bills of rent and utilities to keep her store open for her loyal customers (and the birds) for the upcoming 12 months.

To learn more about Kara and her cancer diagnosis in her own words please read below:

A Health Challenge

Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans is a phrase that feels especially relevant for me this holiday season. Last month, while I was focused on preparing the store for our second holiday season, my doctor called to tell me that my routine mammogram was abnormal. About two weeks later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Thankfully, the cancer was detected very early. However, because of my age and other aspects of the diagnosis, my treatment plan includes a major surgery followed by radiation therapy. I have a surgery date of November 27th for a bilateral (double) mastectomy. This date is the day before Thanksgiving and a few days before one of our biggest weekends of the year: Small Business Saturday.

There is no good timing for a cancer diagnosis or significant health challenge. And at the same time, I recognize that the holidays, specifically the window between Thanksgiving and Christmas, is the time of year that keeps small businesses alive. When I learned about my treatment plan and surgery date, I initially felt a mix of complex emotions: gratitude for my early detection and prognosis and feelings of loss and sadness for the holiday season I had planned for House Finch. I didn’t know how I would get through the season and felt fear about what that meant for the future of the business.

Community to the rescue

My wonderful family, staff, and friends are the reason House Finch will stay open over the holidays. Returning customers and holiday shoppers can expect to see more of my incredible team members, Kristin, Oonagh, and Sadie. My husband, mother, and mother-in-law will be putting in significant time at the shop. You will also meet some volunteers who will help to ‘be my hands’ during my recovery, as I’ll be unable to lift more than five pounds for many weeks…which is a very small amount of birdseed.

Our retail hours will be shortened until I’m able to return to the shop full-time. A shortened schedule will help us provide a good customer experience and have realistic expectations of everyone pitching in. We hope to return to our regular operating hours in late January or February.

House Finch's Website