Lending a Jar for A Fund for Jennie

You may be aware that the greater food blog community is banding together to help fellow food blogger and writer Jennifer Perillo, who lost her husband Mikey suddenly (heart attack) and tragically earlier this month. It happened with no warning, with no time to prepare – it took Jennie utterly and completely by surprise, in the worst way.

I’ve had someone taken from me like this before and it’s just awful; my heart breaks for Jennie. I learned about what happened while at the end of my time in Washington State. I remember reading the news and just feeling so sad, and then a sense of urgency in getting home to be with T overtook me. I’ve been feeling even more grateful that we are together these days, in light of this (and other various natural disasters/events as of late).

Right now, Jennie is forced to deal with some tough real life issues that revolve around money. She can’t collect widow’s benefits from Social Security because she makes “too much money” yearly; her health insurance payments for her and her girls are coming and are crazy expensive; her name wasn’t on the mortgage – it was totally in Mikey’s name – so there are money issues with that. In short: she needs some serious help on the financial front.

That’s where we all come in. You, me, everyone – we’re raising money for Jennie. She’s in a real pickle financially – and that’s putting it lightly – but there is a way to make this burden lighter for her. Please consider donating to Bloggers Without Borders, a new non-profit with the purpose of enabling bloggers to help others in need, “where the strength and good will of the blogging community could easily be harnessed.” They’ve got a bank account set up and Paypal account and everything; this is the real deal.

The first project is helping alleviate Jennie’s financial ordeal, if only for a little while. They’re calling it A Fund for Jennie.

I’ve donated, personally, but I’m also contributing to a collection of preserves as part of a larger auction. Kate at Snowflake Kitchen has put together a collection of almost two dozen different preserves, jams and pickles, from a whole lot of bloggers-who-can, to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. My contribution to the mix is a jar of plum vanilla jam, which I think is pretty excellent stuff. I made it last week from the plums growing on the trees in my backyard.

And at this writing, the bidding has reached $325!

If you’d like to bid on this amazing package of home preserved food, please go to Kate’s post, Jars for #afundforjennie and leave a comment with your bid. Bidding will conclude on Friday September 2nd at 11:59pm EDT. Shipping to the US and Canada only.

(There are other auctions going on, too – go on over to the Bloggers Without Borders #afundforjennie auction page to check them out!)

If this is too rich for your blood (I know how that can be, as someone who is currently unemployed), please consider donating straight to Bloggers Without Borders. Truly, any amount will help. You can do that below:

Please give as much as you can – truly, any amount is welcome and will be embraced. And you’ll be helping Jennie, a kind soul who really needs our assistance during a very difficult time. Thanks for considering this!