(The following post was published on September 15th.
See the November 4th post for the most recent info.)

Katie's only wish before she loses her sight... 

(Shhh this is a surprise so we won't post this on social media 

but please feel free to share this privately with friends & family)

3 years ago Katie's vision started to decline.  Driving at night became a challenge and she began bumping into things more frequently.  For a year she kept telling herself she just needed new contacts, but as it grew significantly worse, she saw an Optometrist. After many tests, she was diagnosed with a genetic disease called Retinitis-Pigmentosa.  She has recently developed a cataract in the center of her left eye which is further complicating her sight. 

  At the time of her diagnosis, she was told she could no longer drive at night, but she could continue to drive around her 4 children ages 11-4 and the baby she nannied during the day.  Doctors said it could be as early as 4 months, or as late as 20 years, before she noticed a significant decrease in sight.  Katie and her husband Jesse remained hopeful, but within months Katie's peripheral vision had narrowed to 20%. She had to stop driving all together, could no longer nanny as a supplemental income, and began taking courses for the blind.  She is currently at a peripheral vision of 10% and has recently qualified for a guide dog and will graduate from guide dog school in February.    

Katie and Jesse do all they can to remain self reliant with Jesse now working from home.  They always remain positive and say little or nothing of their difficulties.  When asked if there was something she would like to see before she lost her sight, she said, "I know I most likely won't see my children get married and I will miss many of their major milestones.  So, I would love to take my children to Disneyland and see the excitement on their faces as they experience Disneyland for the first time."

       We would love this dream to become a reality and hope this will remain a surprise for Katie & Jesse's family.  We won't post this on social media, but please feel free to share this blog privately by email or text with any friends or family you feel might be willing to contribute; even if it's just a dollar. 

Since we have no idea how much we will receive in donations, we have calculated the amount required for 3 versions of the Disney Dream Vacation.  Our estimations are rough because we don't know the dates of their trip.  Hotel prices vary significantly based on the season or days of the week so we estimated.   We will select the version based on the amount of funds received...

Magical:

$1612.00-3 day Disney passes for their family of 6 plus an extra adult to help with the kids

+$1700- 4 nights at a nearby hotel including tax (comparable to a Best Western or Holiday Inn) 

+ $150 gas

Total: $3,462

Extra Magical:

Fly instead of drive- $1,000 for Southwest flights

Total: $4,312

Over The Top Magical:

Flights plus 4 nights at Disneyland hotel 

Total: $5,428 

Donate online by clicking the PayPal button 

(Now located on the November post)

Paypal will deduct 2.9% +30 cents from your donation.

If you want your entire donation to go to Katie please write a 

check written out to:

The Katie Cline Trust

You can hand deliver or mail your check to Ally Griffin, Aly Pete or Diane Steele (email allyvenice@gmail.com to request a mailing address).  Or you can deposit your donation directly into the Katie Cline Trust account at Bank of America (just email us for the account number).  

Please email Ally Griffin at allyvenice@gmail.com to receive a mailing address, or if you need the account number, or have questions.

Our goal is to gather all of our donations by October 31st .  

Every Sunday night until October 31st we hope to post 

the updated amount of donations received. 

(We began taking donations September 15th)

Total Donations in Katie's Trust Account on 11/31/15= $4,841.56

 Thanks to all who have donated!!

Some ask why we didn't use Gofundme and it is because that site takes 8% from each transaction while paypal only charges 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction and of course a check would be free.