By Kristen Dahlgren and Erica Ayisi, NBC News

What started out as a modest fundraising event held in a Santa Barbara, Calif., parking lot has turned into a life-changing moment for Jennifer Vasilakos, thanks to a chance meeting with Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner. 

It all began in a parking lot in July of last year. Vasilakos, 42, set up a table near her hometown's annual Santa Barbara French Festival to raise money for stem cell treatment, displaying signs and flyers that explained her cause. She also brought a small moneybox to stash cash made from parking cars for festival-goers.

Equipped with sunglasses, a water bottle and coffee, Vasilakos was prepared to spend the day raising awareness and telling people her personal story – that she was diagnosed with acute renal failure in 2011 and had received dialysis three times a day, three times a week. It was a grueling regimen that she would endure the rest of her life. A kidney transplant wasn’t an option; she had been rejected as a candidate because of a previous bout with cancer.

Vasilakos, a Reiki teacher and herbalist, decided her only option was to save up for stem cell treatment – a costly procedure that is not performed in the United States.

But as the day wore on, her moneybox largely remained empty. The festival, she said, “was completely dead.”

That's when a lost driver in a “small little car” drove up, looking for directions. Jennifer chatted him up.

Louis Lanzano / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ty Warner, Beanie Baby creator and chief executive of Ty Inc., arrives at the Toy Fair to sign

“The man rolls down the window, has a piece of paper in his hand and he’s looking for a local business,” she recalled. “I provide him instructions and because I am fundraising that day to get my stem cell treatment, I hand him my flyer.”

The man gave her $50.

About an hour later, the driver returned, looked her in the eye and asked if she was the woman in the flyer raising money for stem cell treatment. She confirmed that she was.

Courtesy of Jennifer Vasilakos

Jennifer Vasilakos received this note from Ty Warner, accompanied by a check for $20,000. It reads: "Dear Jennifer, Someone up there loves you because I was guided to meet you on Saturday. I never lose my way, but fate had me lost and ask you for direction. The rest of the story I hope will be a wonderful new life for you. God bless you Jennifer. Ty."

The man replied, “I’m Ty Warner, and I’d like to help you with this and take care of it for you.”

Yes, that Ty Warner – of Ty Inc., the billionaire brain behind the Beanie Babies collectibles craze. Vasilakos said she recognized his name but had no idea he would ultimately make a huge donation.

“I was hoping to raise a few hundred dollars that day by the generosity of my community for the stem cell treatment that I needed to get,” she said. “I had no idea I would meet Ty Warner that day.”

On her blog, Vasilakos wrote: “I listened as he repeated over and over that he was going to help me. That my fundraising was done.  That I didn’t need to worry any longer. He said he would send a check after he returned to his offices during the week.”

Several days after they met, Vasilakos received a $20,000 check from Warner along with a handwritten note. She said she hopes it “was a little birdy in his ear that said, ‘You should help this woman.’”

Vasilakos had the stem cell treatment last year in Trinidad. 

Warner, according to a prepared statement, was enlightened by their chance encounter.

"After I serendipitously met Jennifer, I further educated myself on her stem cell needs. I was shocked that this particular type of treatment wasn't available to her in the U.S.," Warner said. "My hope is that we can bring this lifesaving treatment to the forefront so that it can become more readily available and provide alternatives for people like Jennifer."

Vasilakos underwent the treatment in September 2012 and now, after months of recovery, she says she feels great. 

"The day the length of my dialysis treatment was reduced to two and half hours per treatment was an exciting day. I regained three hours of freedom per month! My blood pressure has dropped down to normal with lower and lower levels of medication," she wrote recently on her blog. "The biggest change is how amazing I feel, and I am brimming with energy. My immune system has become resilient, and I can feel the difference in my body." 

As Floridians wait to see what Tropical Storm Isaac will do, they're also remembering a storm that changed lives 20 years ago today.

Hurricane Andrew blasted onto the Florida coast on Aug. 24, 1992, and in the days that followed, the storm left 26 dead, 126,000 homes damaged or destroyed, and $26.5 billion in total damage. The toll was so great that it forced Florida to strengthen its building codes and enforce them more rigorously. Some who lived through the hurricane are still in awe of its power.

"Just to see what that kind of a storm can do, and how it can totally displace your life ... it's just amazing," said Stacy Linfors, who weathered the storm with her neighbors in the Miami area.

Today, researchers can model the force of Category 5 hurricanes like Andrew using research tools such as the "Wall of Wind" at Florida International University's International Hurricane Research Center. At the center's hangar-sized facility, 12 giant fans can whip up winds measuring up to 157 mph, blasting away the roof of a house that's built to pre-Andrew standards.

"The nation is better off" thanks to the lessons learned from Andrew, said Erik Salna, the center's associate director.

NASA / GOES

A composite image based on GOES-7 satellite data shows Hurricane Andrew moving from the Caribbean Sea, across Florida and on to the Gulf of Mexico, on Aug. 23, 24 and 25, 1992.

Where in the Cosmos
To mark the Hurricane Andrew anniversary, we featured a composite image showing the storm's passage over Florida as today's "Where in the Cosmos" picture puzzle on the Cosmic Log Facebook page. This picture shows the storm's position on Aug. 23, 24 and 25, 1992, as seen from orbit by the GOES-7 satellite.

Twenty years since Andrew hit, meteorologists can get a much better picture of a storm's expected route, not only because of enhanced satellite capabilities, but also because of more extensive data-collection networks and more sophisticated computer modeling for weather phenomena. Such tools indicate that Isaac is highly unlikely to become as destructive as Andrew was.

It didn't take long for Shawn Harness, Deena Perleberg and Darron Sands to recognize the satellite imagery as Andrew's track. They're eligible to receive 3-D glasses in the mail, courtesy of Microsoft Research's WorldWide Telescope project, in recognition fo their quick wits and fast typing fingers. Those red-blue specs will come in handy for looking at 3-D images of Hurricane Andrew and other storm imagery.

Click the "like" button for the Cosmic Log Facebook page and get ready for next Friday's "Where in the Cosmos" contest.

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.