Help Honor My Mother With A Headstone

Marisa Nicole Parker is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

My name is Marisa Parker and my loving single Mother, Heather Baumann, passed away suddenly in her sleep on September 15th, 2012 when I was 16 years old. It’s hard (and even embarrassing) for me to type this nine years later and inform the world my beloved Mom still doesn’t have a gravestone to this day. To honor her on her 41st birthday today August 10th, and to ensure she has a headstone by her 10 year death anniversary this September I’m asking for your help to make this situation right.

When my Mom passed my Aunt paid for her funeral, and as many know these services can be financially straining on a family. We didn’t have the money to buy a headstone therefore it was going to eventually be financed. I was just a teenager at 16 and couldn’t pay for it myself. Unfortunately, my mom's gravestone never was financed or taken care of. Fast-forward two years to 2015 and I was graduating from Appoquininink High School where I played Field Hockey and Lacrosse.

I went on in 2015 to start college at Wilmington University where I played DII Lacrosse on a partial athletic scholarship. I worked two jobs some semesters, played lacrosse full time, went to school full time, and paid for everything I needed by myself. I considered taking out a loan for my Mom’s stone but I knew she wouldn’t want me to go into further debt and would advise me against that. I couldn't start a GofundMe in college because back then as a Student-Athlete in the NCAA I couldn’t raise money on crowdsourcing websites or I’d risk losing my athletic scholarship. So the years just kept passing, but I never forgot about what I needed to do for my Mom. I graduated on time from WilmU in 2019 with my Bachelor’s in Organizational Management and a certificate in Human Resources.

Now, I just turned 25 on August 6th and today, August 10th is my Mom’s 41st Birthday. I have my first full-time job and I am trying to make ends meet by myself, and I wish I could say I am financially fit to pay for this but on top of living expenses, paying for my car, student loans, food, rent, etc I simply cannot afford to finance anything else without falling behind on my current responsibilities.

Please help pitch in to pay for my Mom’s headstone so that I can correct this situation and honor my loving mother the way she deserves to be remembered. There is no donation too small and I truly appreciate everything.

After paying for the stone, the installation fee, and GoFundMe’s fees any extra funds will be donated to another family in need of financial assistance for their loved one.