Our daughter, Allison Russcher, passed away on January 29, 2015 at the age of ten months.  In her short life, she spent almost 14 weeks inpatient between Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, MI and Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI.  In those weeks I learned first-hand how hard it is to be at the hospital day and night to take care of a sick child while also taking care of myself.  It wasn’t uncommon to not be able to leave the bedside for adequate meals, a shower, or to wash laundry.  Services provided by charities like the Ronald McDonald House were not options for me because Allison needed me to stay with her.  With the support of local friends and family we made our inpatient time work – but it wasn’t easy.

Our family is excited to introduce the Princess Alli Foundation as a way to support the families of children with illnesses in memory of our sweet girl. Our goal this summer is to provide healthy snacks (packaged bars, fresh fruit, etc.) and maybe a treat or two to Sparrow RNICU, PEDS, and PICU families once a week as a way to help make the inpatient experience more comfortable for them.

It is our hope to expand our offerings at Sparrow by the end of summer 2015, and begin making arrangements for service to the families at DeVos this winter.  It is our vision to one day provide these services NATIONWIDE.

We are entirely committed to this project, in honor of our brave Princess Alli, and hope you will partner with us to make our vision for the Princess Alli Foundation a reality.

With much love,

Melanie

Founder and CEO

Princess Alli Foundation