It seems like everyone and their mom has a GoFundMe page for something or other:
Want someone else to pay for your trip to New York? GoFundMe.
Jumped off a roof for funsies and now can’t pay your rent? GoFudMe.
Desperate to buy some clothes from Kanye? GoFundMe.
Not gonna lie—the sheer overabundance of crowdfunding pages is dizzying, and the amount of stupid crowdfunding or unnecessary crowdfunding is a vampire on everyone’s goodwill.
Face it: The general public is being crowdfunded to the point of fatigue. It’s not just sad; it’s hurtful for people who use sites like GoFundMe to truly lay their hearts on the line for help.
26-year-old, Gina, seems heart-breakingly aware of this struggle…
“I know people don’t like these sort of posts… But if you could share this, i would be so grateful”
In January 2016, Youtuber and blogger Gina, shared a very personal story about being diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) in college.
But that diagnosis was just the start of her medical troubles.
Within a few years, Gina was diagnosed with gastroparesis, and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) on top of having to deal with mental illness and her still uncontrolled POTS.
She powered through college and got her degree anyway, aspiring to become a licensed counselor. Sadly, because of the extent of her symptoms, Gina’s since become homebound and dependent on her mother for help.
It’s not where Gina imagined she’d be, and it’s not what she’d worked so hard to become.
But Gina is nothing if not a hard-worker. Not only is she dedicating her time to raising POTS and rare disease awareness, she’s thinking of strategies to achieve her goals despite the challenges.
A big help, according to Gina, would be getting a service dog.
Unfortunately, a service animal is a huge expense, especially on top of her ongoing medical costs.
Which brings us to Gina’s GoFundMe page.
Gina set the page up in hopes of mitigating the costs of POTS, CFS, and gastroparesis treatment and the introductory service dog expenses. But in five months, the page has only raised $900.
I’m happy she’s raised that much, but that money is nowhere near enough. It’s heartbreaking to read Gina’s updates and see the limited impact her honest and heartfelt pleas have been having. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to stand out when the Internet is filled to the brim with sad stories, happy stories, and yes, really stupid stories.
But I think Gina has a good story and a good heart.
If you feel the same, you can donate here to help Gina’s dreams come true or share her page.
