OUR ORGANIZATION

MISSION

Flamingos for Amber is a non-profit corporation founded in memory of our daughter, Amber, whose sole function is to help people with a debilitating illness or injury, as well as their caregivers, maintain a level of living and life to continue the fight. This is done not only for the sake of helping rehabilitate emotionally and mentally, but to help spiritually and physically as well.

ABOUT US

Our daughter, Amber, was diagnosed at the age of 10 with a rare disease known as Wegener’s granulomatosis, or Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) as it is known today. Early on in her life, with this disease, we noticed a need for help. We have a very good support group as far as family and friends, but we know there are so many who don’t or who just don’t have the funds to help. 

We spent time in Louisville, Vanderbilt, and Duke and the needs were all the same. People need help. Not just with bills, but encouragement, love, and hope. The small things such as food and snacks, the large things such as transportation, lodging, and everything in between. If you had to be in the hospital for any amount of time, who will take care of your pets? Who will get your mail? Who will mow your yard, where or how will I eat? Will my family be able to come visit? How can they afford that? We had been in these situations many, many times with Amber. Even though we had a great support system, there were times we just didn’t have the money to be able to eat every single day. That’s when you use resources like the hospital, for example, with guest trays to be able to eat. Those things always helped but they were still not a guarantee.

Even as sick as Amber was at times, she was always thinking of others. If she was in the hospital at Christmas time, she still managed to do her shopping for her family. She was just that kind of person. We were shown glimpses of this at her funeral, when on three separate occasions, people felt compelled to wait in line for over three hours to pay their respects after having only one conversation with Amber. It never mattered how sick she was, it was always about you. The online condolences were from seven different countries where she had taken the time to give hope and love to those who were battling the same disease.