January
A $10,000 grant was given to the Parker family for their son Jacob to receive a stem cell treatment from Duke University as part of a research study. Jacob had a traumatic birth resulting in diagnosis of cerebral palsy. This treatment has had a definitively positive impact on Jacob’s development since he received the infusion.
We are thrilled for the Parker family!
February
Our first annual “Sweethearts for Tiny Hearts” event for heart month was hosted at the Poorter’s home in Fort Worth. We had an incredible night of wine tasting, live music and delicious food, raising close to $30,000. Thanks to the generosity of many sponsors and the Poorter family, we had minimal costs and these funds were vital in doing the work we accomplished in 2025. We look forward to our next Tiny Hearts fundraiser on February 12, 2026!
March
Katharine Louise VII Fund & Birthday.
March 3rd we celebrated Louise’s 4th birthday by visiting the Transitional Care Unit at her home hospital. Generous amounts of snacks and cake were provided for staff as well as custom made gift bags and balloons for each mother/patient in celebration of Louise.
We also official launched Louise’s Fund that allows families to apply for a grant to help cover the costs of transportation equipment that can be difficult to be approved by insurance. The goal is to help these families get their kids out of the house so they can live life to the fullest with their loved ones, making the most of their lives, however short they may be.
We have had several applications in recent months and we are actively working on fulfilling these.
We love you, Louise!
April
Spring Trunk Show
Lilbelle helped us in designing and making custom ALF dresses and skirts with 100% of profits going to the foundation. We hosted an afternoon of shopping at the home of our loyal supporter, Sara Hejl. It was a huge success, raising over $5,000 from sales. We plan to make this an annual event so please plan to shop with us April 2026!
May
Rogers Family Bathroom Accessibility
Early 2025 we got a request from a family in Alabama desperately needing help with making their daughter’s bathroom wheelchair accessible.
We did not have the funds for this, unfortunately. We spent a solid week searching for organizations to help them and could not find a yes anywhere. One week later we received a large check in honor of heart warrior Betsy Wallace’s birthday. We were able to cover the entire project from this unexpected donation paying the contractor directly. A true highlight of 2025 for us.
Sweet Betsy, for whom the donation was made in honor of!
June
Moms Night Out Dinners
We hosted 4 dinners this year for mothers of children with medical conditions & different disabilities to be able to have a night out for themselves. These dinners are always a highlight for Katie and I to get to host. No matter how many mothers attend or where we eat every time we leave with full hearts and lots of “I really needed that” comments from attendees!
Thank you for supporting ALF so we can continue to pick up the bill for these mothers who dedicate their day to day for the children. Additionally, we started a "family directory" to help us keep track of all the families we serve.
July
Texas Hill Country Flood Relief Fund and Trip
July was a devastating month for all Texans as the 4th of July flood ravished the heart of the Hill Country. We felt called to action to collect funds and put them to use. We collected $38,000 from donors all over the US. At the end of July we went in person to disperse the funds as wisely as we could.
Cal Rivera Scholarship Fund
A few days before the start of the school year, ALF was able to write a check for our first tuition assistance scholarship. This new fund is named in honor of local student Cal Rivera who has Down syndrome. Cal faced huge challenges at the start of his public-school education and when his family was faced with litigation his mother began searching for healthier, safer, more supportive education opportunities that were inclusive. Cal was turned away from over 40 private schools that his mom called. She did not give up and found one that said yes, and Cal is there now for his 3rd year and thriving. This scholarship fund was established to honor the Rivera family who never gave up in pursuit of the best education for their son. We have now awarded 3 scholarships at three different small local schools that have said yes to students with disabilities. While it is incredibly hard to find education spaces for our children, we want to help the families who do find a private school option with their tuition costs and we want to support the schools who say yes. We are eager to grow this fund and give more and more scholarships in 2026.
August
September
Medical Calming Kits
This project has been a long time coming and very personal to me as Annie has continued to struggle with anxiety during her medical appointments. While she has come so far and is such a healthy growing girl, she still has to sit through ten or so Dr appts each year, and what her body and brain went through her first few yearsis not easily forgotten.
At every single appointment I find myself asking for anything the staff can give us to help distract Annie and lower her stress- books, music, toys etc, but 90% of the time we get nothing. I had heard from hundreds over the years on social media that it was a struggle for their medical child as well, so I finally decided it was time to help equip families in these same situations.
The medical calming kits will be a customized bag of toys and tools that is only used by a family during medical appts. Families will soon be able to fill out a very detailed application on our website that allows me to fill their child’s bag to their unique preferences. We have been collecting a large selection of items to fill these kits with the help of the community and especially the sororities at TCU who have given so generously!
A few kits have gone out to families helping us test them and fine tune the process so they are the most helpful and effective.
Look for our official launch in 2026 for these kits!
October
We received our new inventory of adaptive onesies made by our amazing partners Spoonie Threads. These onesies are the only clothing these babies can wear while in the ICU because of how adaptive their design is. Since ALF started in 2023 we have mailed and gifted over 200 adaptive onesies! Our inventory became very low at the start of the year and we were out of many sizes (we carry size Newborn to 4T). Our new onesies are made from an ultra soft bamboo material are are “Lou Blue” as we like to call them (a purple blue shade). We are so excited to get these out to families who need them!
Graham Family Home Hosting
Last month Katie and Randal were able to host a sweet family from Lubbock whose daughter, Eliza (11) was having open heart surgery. The Senters have a beautiful newly renovated back house behind their home and live just minutes from the hospital.
We are so grateful to have new West TX friends and to spare them the cost of a hotel for their two weeks in Fort Worth.
Eliza is recovery beautifully and is back home!
November
December
Hubbard Family Baby Beau Open Heart Surgery
This month, and for several months to come, we will be supporting the Hubbard family as their newborn baby boy begins his heart journey. Beau has one of the most unique cardio-pulmonary anatomies his team has ever seen. He was born in Austin but had to be care flighted to Texas Childrens Houston for better care. He will undergo his first surgery any day now. We will be supporting the family with housing, groceries, gas cards, and more.
Be on the lookout for an Amazon wish list for his big sisters as we will also be helping with Christmas gifts.
Thank You! 💜
Thank You! 💜
It is very encouraging to reflect back on all our little foundation has been able to do with serving the families who need us. As a reminder, over 95% of the dollars you give go directly to the families we serve. We value every single dollar we are entrusted with and thank you for helping us fulfill our mission day after day!
If you'd like to bless us with a year-end donation, we'd be so honored!