A Mother's Gift

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Category: News Articles

Created on Thursday, 28 July 2011 19:45

On July 28, 2011, April Kalic of O'Hara Township gifted nearly $12,000 to The Children's Home of Pittsburgh & Lemieux Family Center in memory of her daughter, Madison. A press conference in The Children's Home & Lemieux Center's conference room was held at 11:00 a.m. where April presented a check for $11,836.12 to CEO Pamela Schanwald.

Madison suffered from a rare inflammatory neurological disorder characterized by frequent severe seizures and loss of motor skills and speech. April hosted several fundraisers to raise money for Madison's recovery and ended up collecting just short of $12,000 in donations. Sadly, Madison's seizures reappeared and April was faced with the difficult choice of whether or not to place Madison in a children's hospice program. Prior to that decision being made, Madison died.



The donations received by The Children's Home & Lemieux Family Center were broken down into "Madison's Memory Box fund," "Madison's Tricky Arm fund," and the "S.A.M. fund," named after April's three daughters, Alexis, Samantha and Madison. Each fund will provide short-term support to families and financial assistance to alleviate the small stressors and inconveniences of an extended or unexpected hospital stay. The Children's Home & Lemieux Family Center thanks April for her generous donation which will assist and comfort families in need.

See video footage of the check presentation and KDKA's coverage.

If you would like to make a donation to Madison's funds, in order to sustain funding for these essential services, please click Donate Now and specify in the message box where you would like your donation to support.