Hi, I’m Mary and I live in Carlsbad. My dear 39 year old sister, Katrin lives in Ben Lomond in the Santa Cruz mountains.  She was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer in February and has been dealt with an overwhelmingly hard year since then. She went through a double mastectomy, 4 months of chemotherapy sessions alone (due to hospital restrictions), the real fear of Covid-19 exposure during her treatments, low blood cell counts, lymphedema, and now, she is in her final 5 weeks of radiation while being evacuated from her home. She was returning as a 7th grade science & math teacher next week and was excited to give her students her best, but that is now delayed as the school is in the evacuation zone. She and her husband have been displaced from their home and are temporarily staying with a friend but if the evacuation days turn into weeks, they will need to find other arrangements.

She is a beautiful soul - giving her time to make a difference in her students lives and caring for the environment. She has risen to this and each challenge - as a sponsored mountain bike racer, she has applied her athlete’s discipline to overcoming each obstacle that she has faced but her journey has been a rough trail.

Now, as the fires burn and the uncertainty of when they can go home weighs heavy, she and her husband could use all the help they can get. He has been a rock for her through this and has been unable to work due to putting her treatment and safety from covid-19 as his top priority. 

Please consider donating to helping ease any financial burden they may face through the weeks of evacuation, leaves of absence from work, and any unforeseen costs as they finish off this year of treatment and recuperation.