Karen MacInnes had spent nine months in the hospital. As she grew weaker, the 16-year-old girl asked her parents, “Am I going to die?” Her mother told Karen the truth. After learning the bad news, all Karen wanted was to go home. Her parents decided to satisfy her wish --- no matter that medical fund (基金) , which had helped pay for Karen’s hospitalization, would not cover any of the full time medical care she would need at home. When she was carried through her front door, Karen smiled for the first time in months. A friend of the MacInnes family, Sheila Petersen, knew of this and offered to help. She volunteered not only to find nurses, but also to raise money for Karen’s care. Money was received from so many people that Sheila created a fund, “Friends of Karen”. After leaving the hospital, Karen lived for 11 months. “And those months were happy ones for her,” says her mother, “thanks to Sheila.” Even after Karen died, people kept sending money. Sheila put it into the fund, tried to find someone else who needed help. By last month, Friends of Karen was helping 70 families. “I still have a relationship with each family,” says Sheila. “We have four children who are near death now, and I want to be there for them.” Sheila admits the work is sometimes difficult, but says, “the smile on a child’s face makes it all worthwhile (值得的) .”