For more than 10 years Nicole Darden Creston has been there for you through central Florida’s biggest news events, as host of Morning Edition and All Things Considered for WMFE, the region’s flagship NPR station.

With poise and grace, Creston has talked you through a historic pandemic and unprecedented presidential election in 2020. She also has narrated radio coverage of hurricanes, floods and much else, including the Pulse mass shooting in 2016, at the time the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.

You know her as Nicole Darden Creston. But to us, her former WMFE colleagues, she is Nikki, a dear friend who has been there through our own dark times. Now she needs our help.

Nikki suffers from an auto-immune disorder that has left her vulnerable to a multitude of health problems, the latest one called SIBO or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. SIBO is a rare condition where bad bacteria in the digestive tract process food before the body itself can, denying the body of nutrients and fuel and instead generating waste products that can cause nonstop gastrointestinal distress and pain.

For Nikki, the condition has led to a grueling and expensive battle against malnutrition that has left her severely debilitated. If you are wondering why you have not heard her for a while on the radio, this is why.

The financial strain the illness has caused represents only the beginning of the challenges ahead of Nikki, but it is where we can help.

Julian will perform a solo show with special guests, and proceeds will go toward Nikki's medical expenses.