Ellie is a spunky 9 year old, with a huge mission. She is hoping to outdo her last year's fundraising goal.  

Ellie was born on Friday, August 13th in Fargo, ND. While pregnancy seemed somewhat normal, the hours after birth were not so routine. The NICU team of doctors could tell that something was wrong with Ellie, but could not diagnose her until a Karyotype test was completed. This test does take a few days, so in the meantime, her parents, Kaylie and Paul, were left with many questions. They were told: don't name her, don't put out any birth announcements, nothing goes in the papers, no birth certificate could even be signed, and the hardest thing was that we were to tell people that we had a baby, not a baby girl, but just a baby. Confusing, right? That's what her parents were dealing with. It wasn't until she was a week old that we could solidify that YES, ELLIE IS INDEED A GIRL. They most often don't want to have to change all that paperwork if her genotype was different than we expected. In the months/years to come, we found out that she has heart issues, questioned if she was deaf, eye issues, thyroid troubles, growth deficiency, social/emotional instability, and more.

When Ellie was only 6 years old, we started having a fundraiser in our town to donate to the society in Ellie's behalf. First, it started at the school, then a basketball game. From there, she came up with the idea to have a lemonade stand and donate all the proceeds to the Minnesota Turner Syndrome Society. 

The MN TS Society is very near and dear to our family's heart as we know how hard it can be not knowing what to do next with our daughter's diagnosis. The money raised goes to help fund the yearly national conference, host events, spread awareness, and even gives scholarships to families that would like to attend the National Conference. 

We were lucky enough to go to the National Conference in Denver, CO (2017) and again in Nashville, TN (2019). If it wasn't for this chapter, we wouldn't have ever made all the connections and lifelong friendships that we now have.

Last year Ellie was able to raise over $767 to donate by having her lemonade stand! This year she was set up at Town n' Country Days in Twin Valley and also at Turkey BBQ in Ulen. She has raised $452 so far! Help reach her goal for our upcoming walk!