Ms. Naseema Needs Our Help!
Happy Faces Prep School has been a preschool in the Bear Lake Area for over 35 years. It takes a village to raise a child and Happy Faces is an integral part of being in the lives of children in the community. When it comes down to it, Happy Faces was built on family.
Like any family, Happy Faces has amazing days and days that are a bit more of a struggle, and when we struggle we all pull together to lift each other up. Now is a time where one of the members our family is struggling, and we need to help.
As most of you may know, we have an employee here at Happy Faces Prep school that is in need of a kidney transplant. Ms. Naseema has been a teacher here at Happy Faces Prep School for nearly nine years and is a critical part of the Happy Faces family. In 2006, Naseema was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure which came as a shock because no one in her family suffers from kidney disease. Today, Naseema has Stage 5-End Stage Renal Disease. She receives dialysis which takes a toll on her quality of life and leaves her very tired. Doctors say a kidney transplant is necessary for her survival.
Happy Faces has been working hard to help Ms. Naseema where we can. We all wear our Naseema shirts with pride. We hope someone that can help will see the shirts and be able to change her life.
The average kidney transplant costs more than $400,000 and that is only the beginning. Insurance will only cover a portion of transplant costs so Naseema will still face significant expenses related to the surgery. For the rest of her life, Naseema will need follow-up care and anti-rejection medications. Those medications are expensive but are as critical to her survival as the transplant itself.
Happy Faces has plans to hold fundraisers to allow families to help anyway they are able. A spaghetti dinner is being held this week and a shopping day is taking place later this month.
- Tuesday, November 6th & Thursday, November 8th, we are offering Spaghetti Dinners for Naseema. Happy Faces is preparing spaghetti dinners for families with proceeds going to Naseema’s mounting medical bills. Publix was generous enough to donate the food, so we are able to give all proceeds to Naseema. Special thanks to Brett from Publix who was an integral part of the donation. Thank you to all our families who signed up to support this event. Your generosity does not go unnoticed.
- Friday, November 23rd, Black Friday, we are holding a Shopping for Naseema day. If you have not signed your child(ren) up for this day, please do so as soon as you can. Space is limited! The drop & shop day will take place from 6 AM-4 PM to allow parents to go shopping. All of our staff was generous enough to donate their time and Jen Brown-Kruse, owner, is donating the facility and all food that will be used. The cost for the day will be $50 per child and $30 for each sibling. Payments are being accepted in cash only and all proceeds will go directly to Naseema’s care. Children must be enrolled at Happy Faces Prep School in order to take advantage of this shopping day.
Happy Faces will be accepting donations on November 23rd for anyone that wishes to drop a donation off at the center. For those wanting to make a donation online or if you want to share this cause, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/kidney4naseema.
They say it takes a village, and with your help our village will be able to help Ms. Naseema.