Three children were taken from their parents because their three-year-old daughter was unsupervised and managed to pour boiling water down the lower part of her face, neck, back, stomach, inner thighs, and right foot.  Her parents didn’t want to get in trouble, therefore waited 29 hours before taking little Athena to the hospital. Once they decided to take Athena to the hospital, both parents were arrested and charged with child neglect with great bodily harm.  

The children were placed with Rhonda.  Rhonda is considered the children’s aunt by marriage.  She has been removed from the family for over 15 years.  The state is calling her their aunt and have asked her to take care of these children.

Rhonda was struggling before the three kids came into her life.   She is a single mother to her own daughter Sophia, age 10; and is currently making $15/hour at her job.  The two youngest boys are in diapers. They are going through two cases EACH a month ($200). The two boys came to Rhonda with two sets of clothes, no shoes or jackets.  Athena had no clothes. She was in the hospital for four weeks and didn’t need clothes right away. 

With the added expenses of diapers, lack of clothes, and Christmas rapidly approaching, the Krewe saw a need and stepped in to help this courageous, yet struggling mother.  

The Krewe provided:

• 12 cases of diapers for the two boys ($600).

• A $600 gift card to buy clothes, shoes, and toys for Christmas.  

Here is what Rhonda had to say, “The pirates [Krewe of the 13] are amazing.  I do not know what I would have done without their help. They provided at least 3-4 months worth of diapers that I could not afford.  Plus they gave me the means to give these children a Christmas for the first time in their young lives. Poor little Athena got out of the hospital and had nothing.  Some people donated a few things, but she didn’t have shoes or a jacket. The gift card allowed me to provide for her immediately, when I didn’t have the money to do so on my own.  Thank you Krewe 13 for helping us out. We cannot express how much you all mean to us.”