A Wig for Michelle
Donation protected
Every year, I (Kelly Rae Smith/Runaround Sue Vintage) do a charity vintage fashion show in honor of my friend Elizabeth Walker, who we lost to non-Hodgkins lymphoma in September of 2012. Now in its fourth year, the show continues to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, but this year some us decided we'd also like to donate to a special individual who may be going through some of the same things as Elizabeth went through. Recently, Elizabeth led us to the girl who needs our help. I want to use all GoFundMe proceeds to go toward helping this special lady, Michelle Joline.
The show is May 16, but I'd like to get Michelle a wig ASAP.
Why a wig?
One thing that we've never forgotten is the day Elizabeth had to go and find a wig. On that super difficult and emotional day four years ago, she was lucky to find a salon in New York, where she'd been living, that treated her kindly and helped her find a wig that made her feel like herself again. Elizabeth's friends and family will always be so grateful to all involved who were so sweet to her that day. That wig was a ray of sunshine amid all the dark days she went through.
Meeting Michelle
I recently contacted the New York salon, Hair Place NYC, explaining we'd like to help another girl in her 20s or 30s who may be going through the same thing. The same sweet man, Andrew Disimone, who helped Elizabeth told me about a 24-year-old girl named Michelle who'd just been in two days before, but she left without a wig. Michelle didn't want to ask her family for anything like that after they'd given her so much. As Andrew was about to give me her email address, Michelle beeped in!! Andrew ended up connecting all of us for what we all felt was a miraculous meeting. We were ALL in tears, because it was clear that Elizabeth had chosen the recipient of this gift.
Michelle's story in her own words:
"I’m 24 years old and graduated from Bucknell University in 2012. I went to a visual and performing arts high school in New Jersey. I pursued acting and the visual arts the majority of my childhood and young-adult life. People liked to describe me as artistic and quirky. Though, it was in college that I discovered my love of writing. At the time, I decided I wanted to be a writer/journalist, but obviously life had a different plan for me.
"I’m allergic to twelve different foods, have a tumor behind my left eye who I have named “Gus,” I think of him as an awful boyfriend I look forward to breaking up with, an autoimmune disease that has essentially shut down my digestive system by a cholinergic autonomic neuropathy and still try to laugh when I want to cry and hug my family when I have to tell them bad news. It took a long time for doctors to get a full grasp on my diagnosis and the right way to treat my disease after dozens of hospital stays and multiple trips out to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I’m still battling through the challenging days and am in the process of starting more rounds of chemotherapy. I’ve had to have IVIG and Plasmapheresis in the past, but chemo seems to be the only way to shut down my immune system entirely. I don’t get to live the “normal” life of a twenty-four-year-old, but I guess what I am trying to say is, I still hope for a future and want to feel pretty when I’m at my worst."
Michelle is already having a rough week this week, having started chemo this past Wednesday, and I'm feeling more and more anxious to help her ASAP.
The wig is $2,600. Donations big and small are so greatly appreciated. All money raised here on GoFundMe goes straight to Michelle.
If you're in Charleston, SC and want to attend the charity vintage fashion show (event details here ), I am happy to let a donation of $10 or more count as your admission fee (email me at [email redacted]) to let me know). We'll still have a raffle at the show to raise money for the LLS .
As one member of Team Elizabeth said yesterday, we couldn't imagine anything meaning more to Elizabeth. Please help us help Michelle! ♥Thank you♥
"Last July my brother got married and this is a photo of the two of us dancing. I made it through the wedding, but landed in the hospital just after the reception ended. I am still so thankful that I made it through the wedding and got to see my brother get married."
The show is May 16, but I'd like to get Michelle a wig ASAP.
Why a wig?
One thing that we've never forgotten is the day Elizabeth had to go and find a wig. On that super difficult and emotional day four years ago, she was lucky to find a salon in New York, where she'd been living, that treated her kindly and helped her find a wig that made her feel like herself again. Elizabeth's friends and family will always be so grateful to all involved who were so sweet to her that day. That wig was a ray of sunshine amid all the dark days she went through.
Meeting Michelle
I recently contacted the New York salon, Hair Place NYC, explaining we'd like to help another girl in her 20s or 30s who may be going through the same thing. The same sweet man, Andrew Disimone, who helped Elizabeth told me about a 24-year-old girl named Michelle who'd just been in two days before, but she left without a wig. Michelle didn't want to ask her family for anything like that after they'd given her so much. As Andrew was about to give me her email address, Michelle beeped in!! Andrew ended up connecting all of us for what we all felt was a miraculous meeting. We were ALL in tears, because it was clear that Elizabeth had chosen the recipient of this gift.
Michelle's story in her own words:
"I’m 24 years old and graduated from Bucknell University in 2012. I went to a visual and performing arts high school in New Jersey. I pursued acting and the visual arts the majority of my childhood and young-adult life. People liked to describe me as artistic and quirky. Though, it was in college that I discovered my love of writing. At the time, I decided I wanted to be a writer/journalist, but obviously life had a different plan for me.
"I’m allergic to twelve different foods, have a tumor behind my left eye who I have named “Gus,” I think of him as an awful boyfriend I look forward to breaking up with, an autoimmune disease that has essentially shut down my digestive system by a cholinergic autonomic neuropathy and still try to laugh when I want to cry and hug my family when I have to tell them bad news. It took a long time for doctors to get a full grasp on my diagnosis and the right way to treat my disease after dozens of hospital stays and multiple trips out to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I’m still battling through the challenging days and am in the process of starting more rounds of chemotherapy. I’ve had to have IVIG and Plasmapheresis in the past, but chemo seems to be the only way to shut down my immune system entirely. I don’t get to live the “normal” life of a twenty-four-year-old, but I guess what I am trying to say is, I still hope for a future and want to feel pretty when I’m at my worst."
Michelle is already having a rough week this week, having started chemo this past Wednesday, and I'm feeling more and more anxious to help her ASAP.
The wig is $2,600. Donations big and small are so greatly appreciated. All money raised here on GoFundMe goes straight to Michelle.
If you're in Charleston, SC and want to attend the charity vintage fashion show (event details here ), I am happy to let a donation of $10 or more count as your admission fee (email me at [email redacted]) to let me know). We'll still have a raffle at the show to raise money for the LLS .
As one member of Team Elizabeth said yesterday, we couldn't imagine anything meaning more to Elizabeth. Please help us help Michelle! ♥Thank you♥
"Last July my brother got married and this is a photo of the two of us dancing. I made it through the wedding, but landed in the hospital just after the reception ended. I am still so thankful that I made it through the wedding and got to see my brother get married."Organizer
Kelly Rae Edgar
Organizer
Charleston, SC