Donna's Fund

Being reticent to ask for help, I know I must learn to ask for it—especially when I need it the most. Now is that time.

Living with invasive breast cancer can be miserable: having both breasts surgically removed, losing hair and having an endocrine disorder from chemo; burning from radiation and a lack of energy…blah…blah…blah. At age 42, I was diagnosed and treated. When I got well, my husband and I divorced. I’m now 48—the same age as my mother was when she died from b.c. I celebrated being cancer free for seven years. Now it has returned and is in my lymphatic system. Now I seem to be following my Mom down that same path of uncertainty. And now I understand more than ever what she must have gone through when I was young.

        My concerns go further than myself. I have THREE daughters with no financial support from my former husband. When my cancer was first diagnosed in 2002, Julia was just 2, Paulina was 3 and Rachel was 6. They are now 9, 10 and 13. Today, they see me minus my thick and long brown hair plus getting sick from chemo treatments. This can be a formula for disaster or opportunity. My girls are sometimes impatient with me when I am not well enough to give them all the attention they deserve. They get angry when my hospital trips eat into the time they would like to spend with me. My girls long for attention and love more than ever. They are my future, my life legacies and my gifts to the world.

        I remain strong, independent and as eager as ever to continue to live a life worth living. Presently, I work part-time. When I’m feeling well, I try to stay busy and involved with my girls and their various activities. The divorce and breast cancer has been rough on us all and has eaten into our finances big time. I rent a house and struggle to pay basic bills. I believe that I will recover from this cancer again; and again, if necessary. I want to live to see Rachel, Paulina and Julia become adults. I want to be there for their graduations and weddings. I want to be a grandma. I know I am not the only person that can raise my children, but I am convinced that no one can raise these three wild, crazy, magnificent girls better than me. Faith teaches me that help appears in the most miraculous ways, at the most unexpected times, and in the most interesting places.

I hope The Talbert Foundation can help me create those miracles so I can physically, mentally, and financially heal. I turn to you in hopes that I will be a good return in your investment.
And despite these economic times,
I am tough and so are my dreams and the dreams of my daughters.

The Talbert Family Foundation will be matching the first $10,000 raised by Donna's Fund. The Foundation will also donate 100% of the monies received into this fund to Donna and her girls to get them through this tough times.
Please join us and donate now!!