Fundraiser to Raise Money for Local Mom's Stem Cell Transplant

Image via GoFundMe

A fundraiser for a local mom who is battling a serious disease will be held in March.

Stoneham resident Briana Garcia refuses to lose her battle with Scleroderma.

Before she was diagnosed with the disease in October of 2012, Garcia held full-time and part-time jobs, ran her household and took care of her 5-year-old daughter Gracelynn.

“I lost my mom when I was 10 from cancer and I refuse to let this happen to my daughter,” Garcia wrote on her Go Fund Me page.

Scleroderma is a disease that overproduces collagen in your body which causes skin to harden, organs to develop scar tissue and have them stop working properly.

Garcia went through a year of unsuccessful chemotherapy. She is in need of a stem cell transplant to stop the progression of the disease. Her insurance company is denying coverage for the procedure, which costs $150,000.

Donations can be made via a Go Fund Me page which has been set up and also includes Briana’s story >>>

The Go Fund Me page has already raised over $20,000.

A Clothing and Textile Fundraiser will be held in Stoneham in support of Garcia’s stem cell transplant.

Donations of used clothing, belts, purses, backpacks, blankets, sheets, table cloths, curtains, shoes, boots (tied together) and stuffed animals are accepted.

The drop-off will be held on Sunday, March 29 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Stoneham Town Hall/ Munchkin Park Municipal Lot at 35 Central St.

Contact Stephanie Levine at [email protected] or Jenna Boccelli at [email protected] for more information.

Garcia’s husband David Garcia took a plunge into the freezing waters of Boston in January to help raise awareness and funds for her stem cell procedure.

More:

• Husband to Jump in Ocean to Raise Funds for Wife’s Stem Cell Transplant

Garcia is from Tewksbury and now lives in Stoneham with her husband and daughter.

Watch a video on Garcia’s story below:

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