Help the Dupee Family Through Gracie's Medical Crisis

We'd like to introduce you to the Dupee Family. Megan and Jack Dupee are the parents of three beautiful little girls and live in Plymouth, MN. Megan is the daughter of our dear friends, Lee and Darlene Peterson, and we watched her grow up in the same neighborhood where we raised our family in Orono.

The Dupees, and those closest to them, have been bravely and faithfully standing up to the challenge of caring for their baby Gracie Shay, who was born on June 13th, 2024 with Heterotaxy Syndrome. For her, that means her stomach, liver, and spleen are on opposite sides of the body than they normally are and it has caused major defects in her heart, among other complications.

Gracie has already had multiple surgeries, including the installation of a pacemaker and efforts to close a hole in her heart. She is currently on the list to receive a heart transplant. However, there is no way to know how long it will be before she will receive a new heart and it is necessary that she remain hospitalized until that time comes.

That means Megan and Jack are juggling trying to be at the hospital around the clock with little Gracie while at the same time taking care of their other two daughters, Lucy (5) and Maya (3). Megan is a registered nurse, previously working in the neonatal intensive care unit herself. However, she is unable to return to her job from maternity leave due to the demands of having a baby with such significant medical issues. This means the loss of a good portion of their family income at a time when there are increased costs associated with have a severely ill child.

We would like to alleviate some of the burden for their family and help with these increased expenses in order to avoid them having to make major life changes to their living arrangements or child care while they are in this season of their lives.

So many of us want to help but just don't know how. This is how!

Please donate if you are able and pass this along to other friends and family to help this sweet young family!

If you'd like to learn more about Gracie's story, visit her Caring Bridge site at:

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.caringbridge.org_site_855acbc0-2D210e-2D11ef-2Dbec4-2Deb16ef4e2c82-3Futm-5Fsource-3Dshare-26utm-5Fmedium-3Dwebm-26utm-5Fcontent-3Dcopylink-5Fleftmenu-5Fphp&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=UV5-7zyEk7swvCTpzhnaR5e0sdqAlG2EBzIo6v3BpmA&m=fQtZCc95s9PSWS8p3iycLOOmgzBSnjCJC5KsTc_lO-Gc1ZAM3CsEaI4DlPW0ndYy&s=7Gl9ikLk5M_jrUeeb895EqoRQWYCqV9y4ozq82q3BhE&e=

Thank you!

Melanie and Gregg Smith