Angeline is still weeks away from being born, but she is already a miracle for her mother, LaDonna Thompson, and her father, Jared Litke. The young couple from Biloxi learned in April that their daughter-to-be had spina bifida - her spinal cord was literally growing outside of her back. They researched, consulted with experts and weighed heavy options.They could wait until her birth, then face a dangerous operation and growing odds that she might need to have a shunt inserted into her brain or spine to help drain spinal fluid. Or, they could try a risky but promising procedure available at only a handful of hospitals in the country. Fetal surgery to enclose their baby daughter's spinal cord before her birth offered the best chance that she might live a more normal life. "Only four hospitals in the country do it," says Litke, 24. "Vanderbilt and Cincinnati Children's are the top two."So Litke and Thompson, 19, who met while working at Petsmart in Mississippi, made plans to travel north. "We lost our jobs, we lost our home coming up here," Litke says. Though engaged, they don't qualify for the Family Medical Leave Act. They relied on family and friends to do what they could to help.They had three weeks to clear out their belongings and head north. It was a daunting task, but Litke and Thompson didn't hesitate. "Kids always come first," Litke says.Their stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Avondale started this spring. Thompson underwent a three-hour surgery in May to close Angeline's spine. Results looks promising so far, but because of the risks, the parents-to-be will stay in Cincinnati until Angeline's birth in September. The couple settled on the name Angeline early on, Litke explains. The word for "angel" has strong Irish and Italian roots, as do the parents.The Ronald McDonald House never withholds treatment because families can't afford it, but Thompson and Litke wanted to contribute something to offset the cost of treatment. In 2010, the facility housed more than 1,200 families from 49 states and 28 countries. Providing a room costs the agency $90 per day, but the suggested donation amount for families is just $25. Thompson and Litke could scarcely afford any additional expenses, so they decided to start a non-profit, Angeline's Hope, to raise funds for other families in similar conditions. They started collecting pull tabs from canned drinks, mostly via Facebook and friends in Mississippi, to donate to the Ronald McDonald House as well as to raise awareness of the organization's never-ending needs.Just 13 percent of its annual budget actually comes from McDonald's, explains ?Colleen Weinkam, communications manager of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center contributes 1 percent of the annual budget. But the lion's share of the funding, 84 percent, comes from donations and contributions. Last year, the organization raised more than $16,000 by cashing in hundreds of thousands of pull-tabs. Though it takes more than 300,000 pull-tabs to support a single night's stay in the house, Litke and Thompson were inspired by the House's existing pull-tab donation program. Plus, they wanted to give something back to show their appreciation and support of the people who became their family away from home. So far, they have collected more than 100,000 pull tabs. Their goal is to hit 400,000 before Angeline's birth. "It really does feel great knowing there is that there is all that support there," says Litke. "It's important to know that we are giving our little girl a better shot at living more of a normal life." Do Good:• Become a friend. Get the latest news on Angeline and fundraising on Facebook.• Sponsor a family. Pay for as little as one night for $25 or three months for $2,325 to cover costs for a family that is fighting for its life.• Be a Hero. Pick from more than a dozen options that package donations into categories including a "Basic Baker's" pack, a "Comfort" pack and a "Kitchen" pack.By Elissa YanceyPhoto courtesy Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati
