Help Save Cathy's Life!
Donation protected
Cathy is literally starving due to an extreme intolerance to latex and chemicals, both of which contaminate virtually all foods to some extent.
Warning: there is a disturbing image below of exactly how skinny Cathy has gotten so that you understand how urgent this is.
Cathy has been chemically sensitive, asthmatic and has had multiple food and environmental allergies and Lyme disease since childhood. Several years ago, after sleeping on a latex mattress for 10 months, her body went on high alert and she became severely allergic to minute amounts of latex residue. Soon after, she suddenly began to react to chemicals everywhere- fragrance in soaps and detergents on others and even in products she used herself. She even began reacting to chemicals in "fragrance free" products that usually don't bother the vast majority of chemically sensitive people. She essentially became allergic to the entire world.
Cathy eventually learned that she has Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), and is suspected of having Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). Unfortunately, knowing the names of her conditions didn't stop their progression, and she is now so sensitive to anything that her body perceives to be a "chemical" or a "fragrance" that she cannot leave her house, and has had life-threatening reactions from people who are walking PAST her house wearing fragrance, from laundry fumes getting into her house from neighboring homes and a many other airborne chemical traces most people don't even notice.
In addition to all that, Cathy has life-threatening reactions to foods that have been kept next to or handled by people wearing latex or body or laundry products that aren't safe for her to be around. Because of this, the only way she can eat is if people are willing to prepare and package her food using exacting protocols including specific brands of gloves, specific brands of cleaners, and specific brands of packaging. Meat, produce, and medication all need to be handled this carefully.
Safe food has been so hard to find (and hang on to) that Cathy now looks like this.
As you can imagine, what we can find is *incredibly* expensive, and is even more expensive now because small local meat processors are overburdened due to the pandemic causing shortages in the food supply chain. The only place that can do things to her specifications is incredibly expensive per lb. We have spent hours and hours trying to find other options but there just aren't any.
Cathy has gone for years now without asking for financial help, but she is reaching the limit of her resources. She has the opportunity to move to a chemical-free tiny home in an area far away from urban chemical residues, but the home isn't ready yet and she needs to order enough meat and produce to get by until then.
There will be a future fundraiser to help get her into the house since, as with all custom builds, there have been unexpected expenses. Since hers has to be built with only chemically safe, latex free materials, the cost is much higher than a typical build. But this fundraiser is just to pay for the food that has already been ordered. This order was already going to be expensive, but then there was a slight miscommunication with the order and they sent the *biggest* roasts they could find which ended up being almost twice as much meat as was expected. This is good since it will feed her for longer, but has created an unexpectedly large expense.
The fundraiser amount covers:
- $6000 for enough meat to last her for 4 months. (We weren't joking about it being expensive.)
- $500 for produce
Cathy is doing very poorly and has hardly been able to communicate due to reactions and overall weakness and malnutrition. She wants everyone to know that normally she sends everyone a personalized thank you note, and most likely will not be able to do that this time but she is incredibly grateful for the help.
Warning: there is a disturbing image below of exactly how skinny Cathy has gotten so that you understand how urgent this is.
Cathy has been chemically sensitive, asthmatic and has had multiple food and environmental allergies and Lyme disease since childhood. Several years ago, after sleeping on a latex mattress for 10 months, her body went on high alert and she became severely allergic to minute amounts of latex residue. Soon after, she suddenly began to react to chemicals everywhere- fragrance in soaps and detergents on others and even in products she used herself. She even began reacting to chemicals in "fragrance free" products that usually don't bother the vast majority of chemically sensitive people. She essentially became allergic to the entire world.
Cathy eventually learned that she has Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS), and is suspected of having Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). Unfortunately, knowing the names of her conditions didn't stop their progression, and she is now so sensitive to anything that her body perceives to be a "chemical" or a "fragrance" that she cannot leave her house, and has had life-threatening reactions from people who are walking PAST her house wearing fragrance, from laundry fumes getting into her house from neighboring homes and a many other airborne chemical traces most people don't even notice.
In addition to all that, Cathy has life-threatening reactions to foods that have been kept next to or handled by people wearing latex or body or laundry products that aren't safe for her to be around. Because of this, the only way she can eat is if people are willing to prepare and package her food using exacting protocols including specific brands of gloves, specific brands of cleaners, and specific brands of packaging. Meat, produce, and medication all need to be handled this carefully.
Safe food has been so hard to find (and hang on to) that Cathy now looks like this.
As you can imagine, what we can find is *incredibly* expensive, and is even more expensive now because small local meat processors are overburdened due to the pandemic causing shortages in the food supply chain. The only place that can do things to her specifications is incredibly expensive per lb. We have spent hours and hours trying to find other options but there just aren't any.
Cathy has gone for years now without asking for financial help, but she is reaching the limit of her resources. She has the opportunity to move to a chemical-free tiny home in an area far away from urban chemical residues, but the home isn't ready yet and she needs to order enough meat and produce to get by until then.
There will be a future fundraiser to help get her into the house since, as with all custom builds, there have been unexpected expenses. Since hers has to be built with only chemically safe, latex free materials, the cost is much higher than a typical build. But this fundraiser is just to pay for the food that has already been ordered. This order was already going to be expensive, but then there was a slight miscommunication with the order and they sent the *biggest* roasts they could find which ended up being almost twice as much meat as was expected. This is good since it will feed her for longer, but has created an unexpectedly large expense.
The fundraiser amount covers:
- $6000 for enough meat to last her for 4 months. (We weren't joking about it being expensive.)
- $500 for produce
Cathy is doing very poorly and has hardly been able to communicate due to reactions and overall weakness and malnutrition. She wants everyone to know that normally she sends everyone a personalized thank you note, and most likely will not be able to do that this time but she is incredibly grateful for the help.
Organizer and beneficiary
Boots MacGuffin
Organizer
Tacoma, WA
CATHERINE WARD
Beneficiary