Hello all, meet Gracie! On Friday, October 19th Gracie’s mom, Melissa, received the news that she is battling cancer. Gracie was diagnosed with a Mast Cell Tumor (Mastocytoma) and fortunately already has a team of medical professionals creating her care plan and an imperative pending surgery date to remove the tumor from her body. Since this is one of the most common cancers found in dogs, we are hopeful that Gracie will respond well to her treatment and get back to living her life to the fullest. Once she receives the surgery that will remove the tumor, she has a 90% chance of never seeing this cancer again, getting to live a long and happy life alongside her mom and sister.

As anyone who has been in a similar situation will tell you, the bills come in quickly and the total grows rapidly. In an effort to support Melissa and Gracie during this time, I decided to manage this page for them. If you know Melissa and Gracie, then you understand why they’ve had so many people already gather to help. If you don’t know them… I hope you’ll stick around for just a little while longer to find out.

Melissa has been an educator for almost three decades now, supporting hundreds of students of all ages to reach their goals and discover new, fulfilling paths. As someone who graduated in 2012 under her guidance and care, I can speak firsthand about how influential Melissa is in her student’s lives. She has and will continue to change students' lives and help them realize a potential within themselves that stretches far beyond the walls of her classroom. Alongside her teaching journey for the last 5 years has been Gracie.

Gracie can also declare herself a paraprofessional in the world of education! She is professionally trained to support Melissa’s students and their well-being. Whether it’s a calm, steady presence during a test or the warm touch of her fur during a difficult meeting, she’s always there for them. She has been the most important tool for Melissa when it comes to connecting with her students. Without Gracie’s presence, we cannot imagine (nor do we want to) how different some of these tests, meetings, and kids would be.

Gracie and Melissa change lives. They changed my life. Now they need us and I can think of no one more deserving of support from her community than Melissa. For someone who gives so much, it’s time to give a little of that back. All of the funds raised will be applied to Gracie’s accruing medical expenses. Any overage in the total needed will be donated to Thrive, the rescue that started it all for Gracie and Melissa.

Let’s do everything we can to keep Gracie right where she belongs - Right next to her mom. frisbee in her mouth, waiting for her students to come say hi.