Benefit concert in the park for Karlie Mae Kranz medical fund
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Saturday, September 25, 2010 The Wartburg Parish Lutheran Churches are sponsoring a concert to help with the medical expenses of Karlie Mae Kranz, infant daughter of Lindsey and Jay Kranz. The concert will be held in the Peace Lutheran Church Park on North Sparta Street in Steeleville from 7:30pm -9:30pm. Bring your blankets or lawn chairs and enjoy an evening of music and help a good cause. Music will be provided by Fertile Soil and other musical guests. A free will offering will be taken up and a 50/50 drawing is also planned. Light refreshments will be available for purchase and all proceeds will go to Karlie Mae's medical fund.
Karlie Mae was born in St. Mary's Hospital in St. Louis May 13, 2010 with a congenital diaphramic hemia which caused her lower organs to push up into her chest cavity, leaving her heart pushed to the center of her chest and her lungs seriously underdeveloped and a hole in her right lung. She was immediately transferred to Cardinal Glemion Children's Hospital where doctors repaired the hernia and lung and then placed her in the neonatal intensive care unit. Karlie was only given a l0% chance of survival at birth, but alter spending about 5 weeks in the hospital she has exceeded all of the doctors' expectations and has been home for about two months now. She is gaining weight and her lungs continue to develop. All of this special care has exceeded Jay and Lindsey's insurance coverage and len them with a number of large medical bills. Also, Lindsey has had to give up her job to stay home to care for Karlie.
Karlie Mae's matemal grandparents are Bev and Jim Cleland of Steeleville and her patemal grandparents are Karen and Clark Kranz of rural Chester. The Wartburg Parish Churches are: St. Johns, Bremen; St. Johns, Post Oak, Campbell Hill; St. Peters, Wine Hill; Peace Lutheran, Chester and Peace Lutheran, Steeleville. Lindsey, Jay and their family are members of St. Johns, Bremen.