Erin Parsons - Help for the Helper

It's not often in your life you get to know a person as kind and good hearted as Erin Parsons. Truly, to know her is to love her. If you know her, then you know these things about her:

• She'll brighten your day even while she's having the worst day of her life.

• She'll always be there for you, to truly listen and make you feel heard.

• Her empathy runs deep and knows no bounds.

• She'd give the shirt off her back to anyone in need.

• Erin doesn't ask for help, she helps.

So, I am asking you to give support on her behalf, because I know that she would never do so herself.

When Erin got diagnosed with a rare and difficult to treat form of breast cancer last year, we all knew it would be a long and painful road. It has been nearly 8 months now of uncertainty, fear, stress, grief, biopsies, injection ports, chemo, immunotherapy, hairlessness, swollen ankles, fatigue, and all manner of pain and discomfort. All the while, Erin keeps smiling and holding hope; staying strong for her family, friends, and coworkers.

Unfortunately, we can't see the light at the end of the tunnel just yet. Erin will be undergoing a double mastectomy during the last week of March. The recovery will be long and hard won, preventing her from working for many weeks, if not months. After that, radiation will probably be the next step. An additional 8 months of treatment is a given, possibly several years. It is going to take everything she's got just to heal and come back from all this.

Obviously, there are large financial burdens associated with any major medical event, even with great insurance and disability compensation. That alone would be a great reason to reach out a helping hand in the form of a cash donation. But beyond the medical bills, the Parsons are in dire need of a new roof for their house. This traditionally expensive but necessary home repair was called for even before the cancer diagnosis. Water was leaking inside the house, but the rising costs of labor and materials made the job seem continuously out of reach for them, even then. As you can imagine, money is now tighter than ever.

Erin deserves help. She deserves to heal. She deserves to put 100% of her focus on her health and to not have to worry about whether or not the roof is going to leak, or if the wind might blow it off completely, or if her husband is going to put himself in danger trying to get up there and do the job himself. She needs your help, and I guarantee that she is not going to ask you for it herself.

Please help me to help her. Please reach deep down in your pockets, and make the right choice to help a friend in need. May Erin be blessed by the generosity that surrounds her, and may all who give freely be deeply blessed in kind. Go in love.

Thank you.