For almost 40 years, Melani Panday, RN, spent her career saving other people's lives. Now she needs help saving her own — and we're asking for help to get her through it. Melani depends on dialysis three times a week, spending hours hooked to a machine that does the work her kidneys no longer can, while she waits for a living kidney donor. This year, the job she dedicated her life to — and her health insurance along with it — were eliminated while she was on disability leave. Melani went from caring for patients to needing care herself, with no income and mounting medical bills, all while her body endures this demanding treatment.

If you don't have the pleasure of knowing Melani, she is a mother of four with a deeply generous heart. She's the person her family calls first — and the one they can't imagine living without. Last year, following her nurse's intuition, she noticed something was wrong with her husband Paul in the middle of the night and got him to a hospital in time — and demanded an MRI that caught (and later completely removed) cancer. She also served as a lifelong caregiver to her brother Eugene, who struggled with polio and a debilitating stroke, as well as shepherded her sister-in-law Gertrude through her own kidney dialysis journey. That's who she is: the one who's always taking care of everyone else.

Every donation goes directly toward Melani's dialysis and specialist care, transportation to appointments, medications, and the kidney-friendly diet she needs to stay strong enough for a transplant. Right now, she's focused on staying healthy through her wait for a donor and, when that call comes, being ready for surgery and recovery. Every bit of financial relief buys her strength and time to get there.

Help us get our mom back to her life during this season of waiting: making comforting recipes in the kitchen that bring us memories of home; singing karaoke to her favorite song, "Dancing Queen"; taking photos at family parties; and enjoying time with the people she loves — being herself again.

Please consider a gift, of any size, to help her get there.