A special basket raffle and soup sale fundraiser was held Sunday at Bright Path Brewing in Jim Thorpe to raise funds for Jim Thorpe native Melanie Newsted.

The event was run by the Mauch Chunk Charity Foundation.

“She (Melanie Newstead) is a single mom,” said Mary Harwood, who coordinated the event. “Her daughter is in 10th grade with my daughter. She was diagnosed with the Guillain-Barre Syndrome back in January 2022. We’re trying to do this to raise some money to help her toward a vehicle to help her get to her medical appointments.”

Approximately 50 baskets and gift cards were raffled off, and homemade soups, stews, and filling were for sale.

“In January, I fell down and couldn’t get up,” Newsted said. “I spent two weeks in the hospital undergoing a slew of tests. After a spinal tap, I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS).”

Newsted said GBS is a condition when your immune system attacks your nervous system. It’s a very rare disease with less than 20,000 US cases. There is no cure and recovery is a long journey.

The Mauch Chunk Charity Foundation was founded nine years ago to provide charitable assistance to individuals and organizations in Carbon County. Mark Donnelly, Jay Llewellyn, Meredith Koons, Brian and Rebecca Hawk, Harry Pry and Christopher Holland make up the foundation.

“We put on a golf tournament, we do soup drives, we are normally at the Heritage Festival,” Pry said. “Just any fundraiser in town, if we feel like somebody needs it. We try to keep it in Carbon County. We’ve done drives, we’ve put on Christmas shows in the past.”

Another fundraising campaign is set up for Melanie Newsted through “Help Hope Live” at https://helphopelive.org/campaign/20467/. You can also follow on social media at @melshope333 on Instagram and Mels Hope on Facebook.