Hi, my name is Jon and I'm raising funds to deal with a "perfect storm" family emergency that could result in us losing most of our belongings - nearly three decades of irreplaceable family memories - in a storage auction.

Long story short: a legal dispute resulting from the death of a close relative forced us to move out of our home four years ago and put most of our belongings into storage, and an ongoing battle over the ownership of the property has mostly wiped out our savings and our credit. As the sole provider for the family, I have barely managed to keep our heads above water until early this year when, during one of the busiest times of year for my business, I suddenly found myself constantly fatigued, short of breath, and struggling to concentrate. These symptoms grew worse until one day I was coughing uncontrollably and unable to catch my breath. I checked into the ER, where I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and kept for a week. Had I waited much longer, it could have proven fatal.

Thankfully, my condition has been stabilized for now, but by the time I was released I had lost many work opportunities and fallen behind on bills, including storage bills, and my goods had been scheduled for auction. My work is mainly in the preparation of business immigration petitions, and normally business is brisk enough this time of year to allow me to catch up on what I owe by the auction date, which is coming in just a little over a week. However, in the last month it has taken a sudden, drastic downturn due to overseas clients' apprehension about moving forward with plans to immigrate to the United States.

I have managed to negotiate with the storage company to pay only a percentage of what I owe them, provided I can move everything out within a week of making the payment. To do this, I will need to come up with the money in a lump sum by next Saturday, April 12, rent a truck, open a new storage unit in a cheaper location, and possibly hire movers as I may not be able to do it myself in my current condition.

Thank you so much for whatever you can do to help, and may God bless you for your generosity!