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Their daughter, Shannon, would have turned 42 years old Monday, but Shannon passed away on May 31 to a rare condition called Chiari Malformation.

"It was such a frightening thing because we didn't know anything about it," David Hudson said.

He now knows Chiari affects one-in 1,000 people; 75 percent of those affected are women.

Hudson says his daughter was diagnosed with the condition five years after she started having what she thought were migraine headaches.

"There are 13 or 14 very common symptoms,” he said. “The problem is not every patient has the same symptoms."

It took an MRI scan to find the problem.

Shannon underwent surgery, but it wasn't enough.

Now, her neighbors are spreading the word about Chiari through events like a community cookout held Sunday.

Mary Kay Schittone lived behind Shannon.

"We should be celebrating her life and we should be celebrating our independence. What better way than to get educated at the same time?" she said.

In just a couple of hours, a glass jar was filled with 50 and 100 dollar bills. That money will be given to Chiari research.

Strangers who did not know Shannon stopped by to pitch in.

“It's wonderful to have their support. I can't tell you how much this means to us," David Hudson said.

To learn more about ways to help, or to find out symptoms of Chiari Malformation, click here.