Relief for Mom Who Sold Blood Plasma to Feed Her Kids

Las Vegas mother Dasha Kelly, on verge of eviction, receives $200K through GoFundMe
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 4, 2021 11:10 AM CDT
GoFundMe Raises $200K for Mom on Verge of Eviction
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/Vyacheslav Dumchev)

The CDC on Tuesday issued a new "targeted" moratorium through Oct. 3 that will keep people from being evicted in areas of the country with "substantial and high levels of community transmission" of COVID. This pause came days after an old one had expired, leaving millions vulnerable to being tossed out of their homes. One of those people was Nevada's Dasha Kelly, a mom of three young girls who lost her job as a casino card dealer during the pandemic. She was interviewed Monday on CNN before the CDC's new moratorium was announced, and the 32-year-old explained she had also lost her car and laptop (she sold that for cash) and didn't have money for child care. Kelly even started donating blood plasma, for which she received $100 a pop, so she could buy her family food.

As for the rent owed, she noted she couldn't come up with it and was set to be kicked out of her Las Vegas apartment. "We owe $1,900 for rent alone not including utilities," Kelly wrote in the GoFundMe she set up for herself on Monday night. "I will figure out utilities by pawning a few things." The next day, Kelly was back on CNN, where show host Erin Burnett had better news: the GoFundMe had brought in upward of $95,000. (As of this writing it's at $203,000.) "I just want to tell everybody thank you so much," an emotional but grateful Kelly said, her daughters—8-year-old Sharron, 6-year-old Kia, and 5-year-old Imani—next to her on the sofa, one of the very few items left in her apartment that she hadn't sold. "I'm still in denial. ... I just want to make sure I do the best that I can to help the next person that is in my same situation." (More eviction stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X