Our pal Kelly of The Indie Mart, workshop., and Heavy Metal Aerobics recently was diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer and is looking for some help:

Kelly Malone, a founder and creative genius behind Workshop, as well as the founder of The Indie Mart, has been a staple of the DIY scene in San Francisco for the last five years. Two years ago, recognizing the city’s desire to cultivate creativity and make things again, Kelly started Workshop, an affordable DIY school. She worked aggressively to grow Workshop to a schedule of over forty classes a month. She has worked these past two years with little to no salary from Workshop, purposefully sacrificing income to keep Workshop class prices low and guarantee access to anyone whom is interested.

This past April, Kelly was diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer that had spread to non-localized areas as a result of previous battles. Originally dropped from her previous insurance because of the cancer diagnosis, Kelly has had no chance of obtaining new health insurance due to this pre-existing condition. Through this all, Kelly keeps a smile on her face and continues to give back to San Francisco, often devoting much of her own income and sweat to continue businesses that enrich the city. As a successful small business owner, designer, artist, event planner, part of the Treasure Island Music Festival & Noise Pop, Kelly has been able to keep up with medical bills through the ongoing treatments, surgeries, and chemotherapy schedules. But this latest diagnosis requires a treatment path that will exceed her financial abilities, and most likely require her to take a hiatus from her businesses. So she is now asking San Francisco for a helping hand.

Some fundraisers and donation drives are planned for the next few months, but if you'd like to help out now, Kelly is accepting donations through Paypal.

[More Info | photo by tweetsweet]