CALEDONIA, Mich. — What started as a birthday party turned into a public fundraiser for a cause that’s especially close to one Caledonia family’s heart.
“He has never let me throw a birthday party for him in 36 years of marriage,” Tammie Brown told FOX 17 Saturday. “I had such an overwhelming response from the businesses here in Caledonia, from my own employer, so it just kept growing and growing and growing until the point that we decided to make it public, and here we are.”
Tammie Brown wanted to make her husband Tom’s 60th birthday one to remember.
“We thought, ‘well, gosh, we wouldn’t want people to, you know, waste money buying a card of a gag gift,’ so we thought we would ask our friends and family to bring, you know, a donation for Ronald McDonald House in memory of Nyla,” Tammie explained.
Tom and Tammie’s granddaughter Nyla was diagnosed with a rare genetic syndrome that affected her lungs and organs, causing issues from birth.
Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor allowed Nyla’s parents, who live in Muskegon, to stay close by while she was receiving treatment at Mott Children’s Hospital.
“Even though she had to go through so much and so many procedures and painful procedures, knowing that they were right there, and we’re a phone call away and could run across the street to be there with her, that just meant everything,” she said.
Sadly, Nyla passed away after a heart surgery in December. So, the Brown family held a musical celebration and fundraiser Saturday at Caledonia Community Green Park in her honor.
Nyla’s father, Ryan Brown, came to celebrate his father while also celebrating the life of his little girl.
“The six months we had with her were just so amazing. She was full of life and energy. I was inspired by how she continued to fight, despite facing issues with her blood, her oxygen, with her brain,” he said.
He’s forever grateful for his time spent with his daughter, but also, forever grateful for Ronald McDonald House for keeping them close.
“They fed us. They gave us places to sleep every night and supported us, even to the point where they printed off sheet music so I could play classical guitar for her while she was in an incubator after she was first born,” Ryan recalled. “They’re just a really wonderful organization, and we want to do the best that we can to support them so that they can continue to help other families in similar situations.”
Click here if you'd like to donate to Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor in honor of Nyla.
