Giving Tuesday: Why Give?

By: Hassan Kingsberry

It’s Giving Tuesday and I’m on the board of so many worthy nonprofits and I give to so many causes, but today, I’m giving to Mes Papillons Foundation because it’s personal.

In 2010, my wife and I lost our first daughter, Amira, to what was then a mystery.  We thought she was a normally growing child, but when she turned three she just stared regressing in abilities declining in health.  After going to doctors and specialists for years, we didn’t get an answer.  She would pass away at 5 after all our efforts to #care for her and keep her #alive. I remember when she passed, my house was overflowing with flowers and plants that people gave us.  

We would go on to have other #children, including a set of #twins. One of the twins, Kelyn, started exhibiting some familiar symptoms and we aggressively pestered doctors and got an #answer.  It was #neimannpicktypec (NPC) and although we got an answer, we found it still fatal.  Kelyn passed around Amira’s birthday in 2020.  This time, I specifically didn’t want a lot of flowers due to the bad memory association and created a fund to receive #monetary donations, even though we had plenty of insurance to handle burial expenses.

My wife, Francemise Kingsberry wanted to start something to #help others who had been through similar.  Although God provided and eventually we had professionals to help, we cared for Amira and Kelyn alone with no help.  We did it without sleep, while caring for my sick mother, and raising our kids.  Even though we worked and made ends meet, the costs of expenses and equipment just to help our girls maintain a quality of life were exorbitant.  So, after Kelyn passed, Dr. Francemise Kingsberry spearheaded taking the donations from the funeral and starting this foundation and, we are working to help other families with children dealing with rare diseases purchase expensive equipment not covered by insurance.

I am so proud of my wife for starting and maintaining this endeavor when I honestly wanted to go on with as normal a life as we could have.  I didn’t want to remember watching my girls decline in health without me being able to fix it or save them, but there’s something about a mother’s love.  

So, today, make an impact by donating to Mes Papillons. Together, we can make a difference.

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