Five years ago, Chanel White was a classical vocalist, planning to study voice in college.
“It was kind of my life in high school,” White, now 25, said.
That all changed when she was diagnosed at age 20 with systemic sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder where the immune system overproduces scar tissue to the point where it can turn the organs to stone.
“I wasn’t able to sing the way I used to,” White, a Bothell resident, said, adding she stopped singing all together for a while.
She recently found herself using a karaoke app on her phone and realized, as she put it, she “could still sing.” That happened around the same time White found out she qualified for a human clinical trial in at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago that involves undergoing an autologous stem cell transplantation.
“I’m both terrified and excited,” White said of the prospect of participating in the trial. “I have a very treatment-resistent disease. … Nothing, unfortunately, has worked for me.”
Her insurance will cover most of the medical costs, but the rest of the medical costs and travel-related costs are up to White and her family to cover. White decided to do some fundraising, but didn’t want to do something traditional such as a bake sale.
“I thought a karaoke party would be really fun,” she said.
White took that idea and ran with it, starting a viral #SingingforStemCells campaign online by posting a video on YouTube and Facebook of her singing “Hallelujah” and a corresponding YouCaring page (YouCaring.com/ChanelWhite) to collect the $25,000 she needs to cover all of the costs surrounding her transplant. As of Oct. 13, she has raised $14,570, and the Facebook video has nearly 50,000 views.
The Singing for Stem Cells karaoke party is from 4 to 8 p.m. Oct. 20 at Foodshion in Bellevue. Admission is free, but those who wish to perform a karaoke song are asked to donate $20. Those who can’t make it to the event but still wish to contribute should donate on the YouCaring page.
White hopes to have more fundraising events over the next month before she leaves for Chicago at the end of November. For more information, visit her blog at thetubefedwife.blogspot.com.
