I sat across the waiting room from a mom that had an empty child’s wheelchair sitting in front of her. In it, was a pair of sneakers for a little girl. I couldn’t stop staring at those shoes. They should have been someplace else.
On the floor at Chuck E. Cheese.
Next to the entrance of a bounce house.
In the living room of a friend’s house.
Those shoes should have been someplace fun and not in a hospital. That mom was waiting for her daughter to get out of surgery. My mind then quickly shifted to wondering what real life looked like for that family.
There is no running out of the house throwing shoes on in the van when you need to take extra caution in loading up a wheelchair.
There are no bounces in a bounce house full of other children.
I never did get to meet that little girl so I was left to wonder what her condition was. Regardless of the diagnosis assigned to her, I knew that those are the families, the families that drive me to do more. I can’t find the cure for cancer. I can’t invent the next brace that will allow that little girl to get out of her wheelchair. I can’t even comfort her when she wakes up in the recovery room. But I can do one thing.
I can do more to help her family.
I can pay for their meals while they are traveling for medical care.
I can help pay for a casket after a mom loses her baby.
I can help pay for a car repair so a family can drive two hours to see their specialists.
I can do more. But I can’t do it alone.
When I said yes to God and answered His call to start this non-profit, it was out of obedience and not out of knowledge. I don’t know the first thing about running a non-profit. I just knew that I saw a need that someone else wasn’t meeting and I needed to do what I could to help meet it.
Today, I am asking you to help me do more.
Help me do more for the family of twin one-year-old’s. These babies have severe heart problems and require in-home nursing care. They live in Florida. Their central air is on its last leg and desperately needs to be replaced. I have been working with this family for weeks. I have gone down every rabbit trail I can think of to help get them an air conditioner. Here we sit.
Help me do more for the family that just lost their baby to SIDS and needs help paying for a funeral.
Help me do more for the two-year-old little boy suffering with sickle-cell disease.
Help me do more for the family of a premature baby girl born just a few days ago. She was born at 29 weeks and will require a lengthy hospitalization in the NICU.
Help me do more for the family of a six-year-old little boy suffering with a rare medical condition. He has already undergone over 25 surgeries during his short life.
Help me do more for the family that just delivered a stillborn little girl.
Help me do more for the family of the 16-year-old fighting for her life after a cancer diagnosis.
Those are a few of the people that need more. They have health insurance. Some have cars. But what they need are help with the extra things.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a finding that it takes approximately $245,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18. Other groups have tried to determine the cost associated with raising that same child to age 18 if they have a medical condition. The estimates are over $1.4 million.
These families aren’t spending their summer at the beach or Disney World. They are in hospitals caring for a child. They are home trying to figure out how to take that next breath after the loss of a child.
Some of you that are reading this can skip the coffee shop today and donate that $5. Others can do more. Every dollar counts. Every dollar will help us do more for families in crisis.
Will you consider helping us by making a donation today? You can make a one-time donation through our secure site here or you can sign up to give monthly through our Do More Challenge donation. Each month, your credit or debit card will be automatically charged with your donation.
Will you commit to pray for these families and the many others we have helped and will be helping in the future?
Do you know someone that would like to hear more about The Do More Foundation? You can send them to our website.
Do you know a family that could use help? They can apply online.
Thanks for helping us do more!
