Turning Love Into Lasting Impact.
See how your generosity helped provide hope, healing, and support to heart families. Read our 2025 Impact Report.

2025 IMPACT REPORT 2025 IMPACT REPORT

MELONY

MELONY

It was supposed to be a regular checkup.
Melony was five, full of giggles and excitement to start kindergarten. Her backpack was packed, her sneakers were new  and then everything changed.

During her physical, her doctor noticed something unusual and sent her straight to the ER. Within hours, we were transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). That day, our lives shifted forever.

Doctors diagnosed Melony with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy (RCM) and pulmonary hypertension secondary to congenital heart disease  rare and serious conditions that make it hard for her heart to relax and fill with blood. Our bright, bubbly girl suddenly needed life-saving care.

Since June, she’s endured multiple open-heart surgeries, a cardiac arrest, a stroke, blood clots, COVID-19, and sepsis  and through it all, she keeps fighting. She was placed on the heart transplant list more than seven weeks ago, and every day we wait for that miracle call.

The Strength of a Warrior

Even when she’s tethered to machines, Melony smiles. She colors pictures for her nurses, sings along to her favorite shows, and dreams about going home to her brother and sister. Her joy is her superpower  it lights up the hospital room and keeps us all going.

“She’s super strong and fights every single day,” I tell people, and it’s true. She’s the definition of a Heart Warrior  brave, resilient, and full of hope.

Faith, Family, and Community

My husband and I have been at her bedside since day one. We haven’t been able to work  our only focus is being there for our girl. We also have two other children, ages two and seven, adjusting to a new “normal” while their sister fights for her life.

Our faith has kept us grounded. Our community has carried us. Friends, neighbors, and even strangers have rallied around us with fundraisers, meals, prayers, and love. 

“It means the world that the community can get together and show so much love especially in a dark time like this.”

Waiting on a Miracle

Now, we wait in hope, not despair. Each day, we pray that the perfect heart will come. Each day we celebrate the gift of another sunrise with Melony.

She asks, “Mommy, when can we go home?” and I whisper back, “Soon, baby. Soon.”

Because I believe that day will come  the day she runs, plays, and laughs freely again.

Melony is our miracle in motion, our reminder that even in the hardest battles, love always wins.

Melony Rivera, Age 6 Now (Celebrated her 6th Birthday in October)
Restrictive Cardiomyopathy • Pulmonary Hypertension
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Listed for Heart Transplant

Forever our Heart Warrior.

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CONTACT US
info@theohhf.org
144 W. Lockwood Ave, Suite201 Webster Groves, MO 63119

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MEGAN BITTLE - Chairperson

President & CEO of RSI Kitchen & Bath

KYLEY PRUITT-TATE - Vice Chairperson

Senior Director of Talent Acquisition, Advantage Solutions

KATY LINNENBRINGER - Member at Large

Member at Large Criminal Defense Attorney, Pelikan & Orris LLC

STEPHANIE DETERDING - Financial Chairperson

Managing Director, Crux Climate

DR. LESLIE DAVIS

Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Relationship Coach in Private Practice Heart Mom

NYTASHA TAYLOR

Vice President Drug Sourcing, Express Scripts

MATT DUNAWAY

CEO, Tarlton Realty Heart Dad

ROBBIE DEALEY

Operations Manager, Missouri Center for Public Health Excellence Adult Heart Warrior

RICK PUDER

Retired Senior Leader in Customer Experience, Training, and Sales Enablement Adult Heart Warrior

LINDSEY CARLIE

Bunge – Global Talent Acquisition Manager

TEMEKA GAUSS

Advise and Counsel Lead, BJC Healthcare

LAUREN SHELLEY

Chief Operating Officer, Jasper Paul PR & Marketing Adult Heart Warrior

KATIE PUTNAM

Partner at Husch Blackwell

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Jenn Hinkle was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended DePaul University in Chicago, where she graduated in 2004 with a degree in marketing. Jenn’s early career began at Gibsons Steak House in Chicago, where she gained invaluable experience in hospitality and met her soul mate. Chicago is Jenn’s second home, but St. Louis called her back to start the next chapter of her life with Mark Hinkle. Jenn’s career in the restaurant industry continued to flourish as she welcomed her first child, Maddie, into the world in 2009. Then shortly after, along came Oliver in 2011.

Ollie was born with a congenital heart defect (CHD) that took their family in and out of the hospital for nearly 14 months. Unfortunately, he lost his battle with CHD in 2013. From this experience, the Hinkle’s set out to take their love for Ollie and all the love they were shown and share it with others. Jenn and Mark know firsthand the heartache and struggle of having a critically ill child and what a difference even the tiniest gesture of love can make. They took the pain and grief they felt and turned it into a way to give back to help them heal and, at the same time, spread more love to the heart community than they could ever imagine through the Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation (OHHF).

The Hinkle’s started investing in technology and research through the Children’s Heart Foundation, where they also served on the board for 3 years. Through that experience, they decided that they also wanted to provide outreach and individualized support to heart families. Today OHHF is a successful and influential organization thanks to Jenn’s leadership, as she positioned the team and programs to be the go-to resource for heart families and healthcare professionals in St. Louis and beyond. In addition, Jenn and Mark co-own the Olive + Oak Hospitality Group, where they have established their home in the Webster Groves community with their two daughters, Maddie and Annie, and fulfilling Ollie’s legacy.

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Born and raised in Alton, Illinois, Mark fell in love with food at an early age. When he wasn’t terrorizing the neighborhood with his three brothers, he would indulge in his favorite cooking shows featuring the likes of Emeril Lagasse, Jack McDavid, and Martin Yan. Never foreseeing a “career” in food, he attended the University of Illinois and pursued a degree in business. To earn a little cash, he worked in kitchens in Champaign. After graduating, he moved to Chicago, where he landed a job in banking. Though it all looked great on paper, he couldn’t resist his true calling with one of the most outstanding restaurant cities in the country at his fingertips; the banking gig didn’t last long.

He took his first front-of-house job working at the perpetually busy Hugo’s Frog Bar and Fish House. Under some of Chicago’s best Maître D’s guidance, he learned how to run a great restaurant. While he never lost his passion for the kitchen, he followed his dreams of delivering old-school hospitality. After stints within Gibsons Restaurant Group, at RL and Gibsons Steakhouse, he earned a spot as General Manager of Hugo’s at 25 and swept his true love off her feet. In early 2007, Mark and Jenn moved back to St. Louis to tie the knot, start a family, and join what was becoming an inspiring local restaurant community.

After acting as General Manager for two restaurant openings, Mark eventually found a home at the Chesterfield landmark, Annie Gunn’s; he found his niche there. His passion for not just the guests but also food, wine, beer, cocktails, and all aspects of the business evolved. In 2015, after falling in love with the character and charm of Webster Groves, Mark set out to bring something new to the neighborhood his family called home. Determined to create a warm, bustling spot with thoughtfully prepared food and gracious hospitality, Olive + Oak was born. As additional opportunities in Old Webster presented themselves, the group expanded, opening The Clover & the Bee, O+O Pizza, Perennial on Lockwood, and a private event venue, The Hall.

Mark’s leadership and impact on the local restaurant community have been profound, putting Webster Groves on the map for some of the best culinary delights and wine pairings in town while creating awareness about pediatric heart disease through their family’s story.

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Beth grew up in St. Louis City as an only child and a fierce point guard at Bishop DuBourg Highschool before leaving St. Louis to fill her desire to see and know the world after completing her BSN at Deaconess College of Nursing to start her career in Colorado then onto California where she trained at the University of California-San Francisco as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP). Then onto Arizona as an NNP for a private practice Neonatology group before being recruited as the Program Director of Fetal & High-Risk Cardiac Infant Programs, Outpatient Cardiology Supervisor, & Cardiac Nurse Practitioner before returning to St. Louis in 2012 to spend the next nine years of her career with BJC Healthcare System, first as a manager then as their Director of The Heart Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital & Washington University, Cath Lab & Recovery, Mechanical Assist: ECMO & CRRT, Perfusion, Interventional Radiology, Care Coordination along with serving as the Chief Advanced Practice Provider for St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Barnes Jewish Hospital.

As Beth’s career path took her back to her hometown, it was clear that so much had remained unchanged in healthcare and racial inequities. Beth credits Amy Hunter, Vice President of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion of Caleres, for entering her life and inspiring her to do more to move the needle at St Louis Children’s Hospital regarding race equity culture and dismantling oppression. Beth is committed to doing her own personal work along with leading and infusing racial equity work into everything she touches, for example, by developing the Antiracism Coalition Oversight Board for the Cardiac Service Line, executive leadership support of the Black Hair Care Project, and leading a comprehensive DEI strategic development and deployment plan.

Beth was honored to join the Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation (OHHF) in 2018 to serve as a board member supporting OHHF’s mission. This role allowed Beth to be a thought partner for OHHF’s strategic direction to keep putting the “Heart Back in Healthcare” by eliminating barriers to mental health care while serving as a liaison between OHHF with local children’s hospital(s) and services to cultivate relationships focused on community involvement and philanthropy to provide financial and social benefits to the greater heart community.

As one chapter closes, a new chapter begins for Beth Rumack as the Director of Partnerships with the Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation to serve our local and national community bringing Ollie’s Branch to new markets to eliminate barriers to access to mental health care, impact state, and federal policy, and address social determinants of physical and psychological health through a collective lens.

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Helpful Resources
  • Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988
  • National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
  • Crisis Text Line: Text “DESERVE” TO 741-741
  • Lifeline Crisis Chat (Online live messaging): https://988lifeline.org/chat
  • Self-Harm Hotline: 1-800-DONT CUT (1-800-366-8288)
  • Essential local and community services: 211, https://www.211.org/
  • Planned Parenthood Hotline: 1-800-230-PLAN (7526)
  • American Association of Poison Control Centers: 1-800-222-1222
  • National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependency Hope Line: 1-800-622-2255
  • National Crisis Line – Anorexia and Bulimia: 1-800-233-4357
  • LGBT Hotline: 1-888-843-4564
  • TREVOR Crisis Hotline: 1-866-488-7386
  • AIDS Crisis Line: 1-800-221-7044
  • Veterans Crisis Line: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net
  • TransLifeline: https://www.translifeline.org – 877-565-8860
  • National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262)
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Ollie’s Branch Waitlist Form

Are you a heart warrior, parent/guardian, or caregiver seeking Ollie’s Branch mental health services in an area where we do not have a current partner? Send us a message to add yourself and place your name and information on our waitlist should Ollie’s  Branch become available in your state. We will contact you in the future to see if you may be interested in our services.

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Danny Sullivan’s Story

Danny died in his teens from congenital heart disease (CHD) during surgery at Children’s Hospital in the 1950s. Danny was one of the earliest to experience an open heart operation for this condition. Thankfully, this type of surgery is much more successful all these years later. But the mental challenges Danny’s parents and siblings faced then are still challenging heart families today. Kathleen Sullivan MacDonough, Danny’s oldest sister, decided to fund Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation’s Telehealth solution to fill these mental health gaps for heart children and their families in Danny’s memory.

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