The Melissa Nathan Foundation: Supporting families in crisis

Melissa’s Legacy

We can’t think of any better way to make Melissa’s memory live on than helping others in her name. The Melissa Nathan Foundation will enable us to honour Melissa’s extraordinary kindness and warmth.

Melissa was a remarkable person. Her modesty was legendary (she didn’t like to talk about herself); her humour could be warm, caustic, scathing and gentle – undoubtedly one of the funniest people we’ve ever known. Her talent was proven and yet not fully fulfilled. She was an extremely skilled writer - with a big fan-base of readers to prove it. And she was loved by everyone that met her. Even in her darkest cancer-ridden days she’d still be in the kitchen counselling her friends through their problems. Her big circle of friends and family have all said that she’s left an enormous hole in their lives.

However, not many people (other than her husband) knew how much she helped others. She worked assiduously for the Samaritans for many years (in between bringing up a baby, writing novels and going through chemotherapy treatments) and she would help others financially when she could. Only her husband knew about this. This was surely true altruism – she wanted nothing in return for her generosity except the knowledge that another human being has had their pain relieved in some way.

Where the money will go

The purpose of The Melissa Nathan Foundation is: To Support Families In Crisis.

What does ‘crisis’ mean? It could mean such things as:

· a family that's been split up by poverty (eg parents that have had to go overseas to earn money to send home to pay for their children’s upbringing)

· a family that has been divided by war

· a family in which there’s a very ill child or parent

· a family struggling with poverty

· a family that has been damaged by a crime

· …many other difficult circumstances.

We will provide financial support, to help to provide what these families need in order to make their family lives more bearable.

Raising money

Please donate on-line here using the link above.

If you would like to try to raise money for The Melissa Nathan Foundation through an activity or an event, we’ll be more than happy try to help your fund-raising activities.

Contact us on info@melissanathan.com. No donation is too small or too grotesquely large!