Though the realities of her disease are nothing new, Kayla has never let her Cystic Fibrosis limit her. At her young age she has stayed as active as possible, even competing in three triathlons. From Kayla’s website:

Kayla has been hospitalized many times throughout her life and has rigorous daily routine of treatments and medications to keep her lungs functioning. The hospitalizations have become more and more frequent and her medication and treatment routines have increased. Recently Kayla has learned that her degenerative disease has progressed to a stage that she is in need of a double lung transplant to save her life. She is currently awaiting her new lungs and looking forward to many activities her current lungs don’t allow her to do. With her new lungs she plans on taking some deep breaths, play softball, snowboard and ski and even run again.

The cost for a double lung transplant is somewhere between $600,000 and $1,000,000, and even with two insurance policies, Kayla’s family will have to pay upwards of $100,000 out of pocket for the surgery and associated medical costs. So Kayla’s family has taken to fundraising in the community to come up with the additional funds. Kayla’s uncle, Queen Anne resident Matt Gangemi, is doing his part by putting on a fundraiser soiree for Kayla that he hopes will get them the rest of the way.

“We’ve gone a long way toward raising this money,” Matt says, but the family is still shy of their goal. As of noon on Tuesday Kayla’s family has raised $92,216.29 of its $100,000 goal, leaving just $7,783.71. to go.

Matt is putting on a soiree and silent auction on Saturday, July 9 (6 p.m. to midnight) to help raise the remaining funds for Kayla’s surgery. The fundraiser will include wine, beer, hors d’oeuvres, dessert, live music, dancing, a photo booth, and over 70 items for auction. All proceeds will go toward Kayla’s medical costs. Tickets are $40 per person, or $75 for a pair. Details can be found at the Facebook event page, or at COTAforKayla.com. To purchase tickets, click here. If you can’t make it to the soiree, but would like to make a donation to support Kayla, you can do so here.

“The food drive was a win-win project,” QAMQL program director Brian Grev said in a press release. “We got the idea from one of our patients who collected 100 pounds of food from friends and neighbors to celebrate her considerable success – now over 100 pounds lost.”

Learn more about Queen Anne Medical Weight Loss, a division of Queen Anne Medical Associates, PLLC., at its website.

There are a number of Queen Anne restaurants participating in the fundraiser for either breakfast, lunch dinner, or all three. Check out the list of participating neighborhood spots:

• Caffe Vita (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
• Eat Local (B,L,D)
• Emmer&Rye (D)
• Hilltop Ale House (L, D)
• McMenamins Queen Anne (D)
• Pasta Bella (D)
• Ponti Seafood Grill (D)
• Portage (D)

Check out the full list of participating restaurants here.

To find out more about the Lifelong AIDS Alliance and the services the fundraiser will support, watch this video:

If you can’t attend Dining Out For Life, but would still like to show your support, donations can be made directly to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance here.

Intiman, which first announced it would face closure unless it raises $1 million by September back in February, has already raised $200,000 from community supporters to save the local theatre. The organization hopes to raise half its need – $500,000 – by the end of the month, another $250,000 by June, and the final $250,000 by the fall. The $100,000 matching fund could help push the theatre significant closer to meeting the March portion of its goal, that is if the challenge is met.

“This generous grant provides us with an opportunity to raise at least $200,000 in a short amount of time,” said Intiman’s Finance Committee chair Paul Lawrence in a statement. “We’re grateful for this matching opportunity, and we’re working hard to spread the word. We are asking everyone for whatever support they can give now.”

According to the terms of the grant agreement, all donations made to the Impact Intiman campaign beginning today, Friday, March 25, will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the anonymous donor. There is no time limit for donors to meet the match, but Intiman hopes to meet its $500,000 mark by March 31st in order to stay on track with its fundraising goals for the rest of the year.

Those interested in making a donation to Intiman can do so from the theatre’s website.

For more information see our past coverage, or contact Becky Lathrop at beckyl@intiman.org or 206.204.3322.

Emergency responders and hospitals often give out free teddy bears to children involved in an emergency or frightening situation. Through the month of March, all Bartell Drugs stores, including the Greenwood store at 120 N. 85th St., are collecting new or gently used bears and money for the Annual Warm 106.9 FM Teddy Bear Patrol campaign.

From the press release: “Designed to help bridge the communication gap between a frightened child and an adult stranger, the program puts a teddy bear in the hands of community police departments, hospitals and emergency response teams so they may give the bear to a child involved in a stressful situation.”

To donate, you can either purchase the Bartell Teddy Bear for $7 (Bartell Drugs will then donate a second bear to the campaign); donate money towards the purchase of a bear; or donate a new or gently used bear that is under 12 inches long.

“We’ve been honored to be a foodie fixture in the Queen Anne community for almost an entire year! We thought: “What better way to celebrate than to find a unique way to give back to the schools in the Queen Anne community!” Zaw said in a statement about the program. “It’s our way of saying, “thanks for being a great neighbor and allowing us to be a part of the great Queen Anne community!”

While the rummage sale won’t take place until the last weekend of February (Friday, Feb. 25 through Sunday, Feb. 27), but FOLKpark is already collecting donations to be sold at the sale. The rummage sale will be held at 512 1st Ave N in Lower Queen Anne. Community members who’d like to donate their old stuff to FOLKpark for the rummage sale should contact Jean Sundborg at 206-283-6140 and arrange a time to bring their donations to the sale site.

FOLKpark is also looking for volunteers work the days of the sale, and in the weeks coming up to the event, helping to prepare. If you’d like to volunteer, reach out to FOLKpark via its Facebook page, or by calling the number above.

Jesus Sanchez and Kate Donahue

According to family and friends, Donahue, a popular nurse at Group Health, and Sanchez, a Boeing engineer, lived together with Sanchez’s roommate Rob McMurray, 25, in a condo in the Queen Anne neighborhood.

Donahue and Sanchez were severely injured in an incident on New Year’s Day at a celebratory family dinner. The two were in Puerto Rico to meet Sanchez’s family when, according to the Seattle Times report, Sanchez’s uncle, Justino Sanchez Diaz, doused the family with propane and torched the gathering. From the Times:

According to friends, the uncle had purportedly planned the gathering to mark the new year, two family members’ birthdays and the couple’s engagement. As the dinner got under way, he set the party ablaze with kerosene and a 20-pound propane tank, police said.

Police report that before the family gathering, Sanchez Diaz had covered the walls with gasoline and set canisters of fuel under nearby furniture, including the dining room table.

As the group sat down to eat, he came out with a tank of propane gas, doused the people with kerosene and set them on fire with a homemade torch.

Sanchez passed away Tuesday, January 4. At that time three other victims—Sanchez’s grandmother, cousin, and younger sister—had also passed. On Tuesday Donahue was airlifted in critical condition from Puerto Rico to the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Burn Center, where she passed away peacefully on Thursday, according to family members. Donahue had sustained burns on more than 80 percent of her body and was in a medically induced coma when her organs began to fail Thursday.

“She did go peacefully,” Donahue’s aunt Patrice Moore told the Times. “She was still unconscious … she was in no pain.”

The couple had planned to get married in Kerry Park this summer, according to KOMO News. “From what I’ve heard, he [Sanchez Diaz] did have some mental issues. I’m not sure what they were, but he’d never been aggressive before,” Moore told KOMO.

“It was something nobody expected,” local police Lt. Francisco Rosado told the Times. “We haven’t even had five murders in the last decade.”

Family members have not speculated on a motive, and police say Sanchez Diaz has kept silent and refused to eat since his arrest.

Read the full Seattle Times story here.

A PayPal account has been set up to gather donations to help cover the costs of medical care, transportation and funeral arrangements for Donahue and Sanchez. It is accessible through the “Support for Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez” Facebook page. As of 10:45 a.m. Friday $2,800 had already been raised.

A Wells Fargo bank account has also been set up to help with medical and funeral expenses. To make a donation, go to any Wells Fargo branch and ask to contribute to the Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez fund, or account #6174877891.

Donahue and Sanchez were regulars at the popular Lower Queen Anne dueling piano bar Chopstix. In fact the couple met there, and later got engaged there just a few months ago. You can watch the video of Sanchez’s proposal here.

Chopstix, located at 11 Roy Street, will be hosting a fundraiser to help raise money for Donahue’s and Sanchez’s families next week, at at 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 13. The piano players will be donating all of their tips to the Wells Fargo account set up for the families, and Chopstix will be donating a portion of their sales that night to the fund.

Photos courtesy of the “Support for Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez” Facebook page.

If you need to work off some of that Thanksgiving dinner, head over to Denali Fitness in Interbay.  They are holding a fundraiser for Food Lifeline and you can enjoy a free workout if you donate at least one can of food.

The promotion runs through Sunday (11/28) and Denali’s says anyone is welcome, including your out of town guests.

Denali is located at the corner of 16th Ave West and West Bertona Street.

MSN Money’s SmartSpending blog has a smart idea that will keep your kids from needing extra visits to the dentist and that will give America’s overseas troops a taste of home. Dentists across the nation are buying back extra candy for $1 a pound, and sending it to the troops through the Halloween Candy Buyback. The only participating location in Seattle is in Greenlake.

For more information, read the full story on our sister-site, Maple Leaf Life.