Our Story

Living in the Right LANE was founded by April and Brian McDaniel, in memory of their son, Lane.

Lane was born premature in 2005, and came home from the NICU healthy and thriving. Just two days later, he became critically ill from a late-onset infection that led to meningitis and a lifelong brain injury. By all statistics, he shouldn't have survived — but he did, and he spent the rest of his life rising above every challenge in front of him. Anyone who knew Lane remembers his smile, and his laugh that made everyone around him laugh too.

On March 15, 2014, Lane passed away in his sleep. He was 8 years old.

In the outpouring of love, prayers, and memorial gifts that followed, April and Brian felt God calling them toward something bigger than their grief: a way to walk alongside other families facing the same hard roads they had walked with Lane. Every dollar given in Lane's memory became the seed money to start Living in the Right LANE.

That promise is still at the heart of everything we do today.

Living in the Right LANE became an official 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization in July 2016. Since then, we've been honored to bless families in the Midwest with prayer, guidance, equipment, and monetary support — one family, one need, at a time.

Love. Admire. Nurture. Everyday.

Meet the Team

  • April & Brian McDaniel

    COFOUNDERS

    April McDaniel — Lane's mom, and the heart behind Living In The Right Lane’s mission of prayer and support for families.

    Brian McDaniel — Lane's dad, committed to making sure no family walks this road alone.

  • Samantha & Lacy McDaniel

    Samantha & Lacy are Lane’s siblings. The learned firsthand from Lane the importance of compassion, patience and what strength looks like.

    They bring heart and creativity to Living In The Right Lane by running the organizations’ social media.

    You are also likely to see them out and about handing out Lane Changers and Blessings to families.

  • Megan Naber

    BOARD MEMBER

    Megan is an Occupational Therapist and Mom. She brings clinical and practical insight into what families with special needs children need. More than her clinical knowledge she has a heart for kids and families. Megan was one of Lane’s favorite caregivers.

  • Jill Bathen

    BOARD MEMBER

    Jill is a Physical Therapist and Mom. She brings clinical and practical insight into what families with special needs children need. More than her clinical knowledge she has a heart for kids and families. Jill was one of Lane’s favorite caregivers.

Our Mission

Our mission is to help families of children with special needs navigate life through monetary and prayerful support. We do this by teaching and living out love, admiration, and nurtured relationships — every single day.

What We Do

Raising a child with special needs and/or medical complexities comes with many additional considerations. From navigating benefits, adaptive equipment, travel expenses, loss wages, etc. we know the list is long. But it’s not just money - the stress of navigating benefits, programs, insurance can be overwhelming. Our goal is to meet you where you are and help where we can. Part of that help comes from research and connecting families to other programs that exist to address a specific need. As parents and caregivers who have navigated these waters and helped other do the same we have great insight. Living In the Right Lane exists to help find your path - Change your Lane per se. We call the Blessings we provide Lane Changers.

We've helped families in the Midwest with many things but here are some examples:

  • Prayerful support

  • Fundraising for a need

  • Dollars towards home or vehicle adaptations

  • Travel expenses

  • Rehoming of medical and adaptive equipment

  • Life experiences

  • And so much more

Our Foundation

LANE stands on four simple commitments, practiced every day:

  • We meet every family with compassion, not judgment.

  • We see the strength it takes to raise a child with special needs, and we honor it.

  • We build real relationships, not one-time transactions.

  • This isn't a one-time gesture. It's a daily commitment to walk with you.

Featured Lane Changer Stories

Adaptive Equipment Fundraising

Taelyn is 3.5 years old and lives with microcephaly and epilepsy — and she faces it all with a family that stays remarkably positive, showing up for therapy every single week.

When Taelyn's family set out to find an adaptive stroller to make her daily adventures easier, Living In The Right Lane stepped in to help bridge the gap — contributing toward the stroller and working directly with her therapists and parents to make sure it was exactly right for her.

This is what your gift makes possible. Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen for Taelyn and her family.

Blessing Bags in Action

Thanks to generous hands like Girl Scout Troop 20577, 36 stuffed Blessing Bags made their way to families who need a little extra comfort and care.

A special thank-you to Lexi Kraus, Sabryna Boston, and Kailynn Wright — three young ladies who saw a need and stepped up to meet it. This is exactly what your support makes possible: small acts that add up to real comfort for families walking hard roads.

Each Blessing Bag included a faith-based journal, gum, pen, hand sanitizer, lip balm, gift cards for food and/or gas and other items that come in handy while hospitalized.

Lane Changer Highlight: The Hall Family

The Hall family knows resilience. Their daughter Josie, who has Down syndrome, recently battled a serious respiratory illness that landed her in Children's Hospital — and at the same time, their daughter Emma was adjusting to a new Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis, learning to manage pokes, site changes, and a new insulin pump.

Through the sleepless nights and hard days, this family has shown up for each other with incredible strength. Living In The Right Lane is honored to walk alongside them in prayer and in providing them a Lane Changer Blessing Bag.

This Blessing Bag included some activity books for the children, a faith-based journal for Mom & Dad, funds for travel expenses and lost wages and some additional items that come in handy while going back and forth to doctor visits.

This is exactly what your support makes possible: showing up for families in their hardest moments.

Make a Donation

When you choose to give, you become part of something bigger—something powerful. Your support fuels progress and brings hope where it's needed most.

You can also mail a check to us at:

Living In The Right Lane, 204 Highway 81, McCool Junction, NE 68401.

3% Cover the Fee

Tax Information

Living in the Right LANE is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

EIN: 81-3173424

Questions about giving? Reach us at Livingintherightlane@outlook.com.