Ms. Valery has been such a great spirit here at our preschool all while managing a very difficult situation at home. 

Over a year ago her Mom was diagnosed with cancer in the bone of her knee. They were hopeful that with the  combination of an aggressive round of chemo and amputating the area of her leg with the cancer, it would stop the spread of the cancer. It worked for awhile, blessing her with some more time with her family and friends. However, they recently found that it had spread to her lungs, and this time quite aggressively that the diagnosis was critical. There was a very large tumor in her lung that was inoperable, and even though they warned her that going through another aggressive round of chemo could be very dangerous, she was a true fighter and tried to go through another round of chemo to shrink the tumor down. Unfortunately, the doctor's warnings rang true and after one round of chemotherapy her heart could not take it and they had to come to a very difficult decision to not pursue anymore treatment. 

Ms. Valery has been keeping up a very brave face here at STAR. She chose to come to work everyday because she found this place to be a source of happiness for her, and she has continued to provide great care, compassion, and love to all the kids around here.  As much as she loves being at work with the kids and staff, she finds that right now her time is best spent with her mother as the doctor's have said she has very limited time. 

We want to raise money for Valery to help her with expenses while she takes a break from work, as well as to help with memorial costs. Any little bit can help and is greatly appreciated. We truly have built a wonderful community with Ms. Valery and her and her family have really grown to be an extended family with us here at STAR. 

Thank you all so much.