Warning, slight rant incoming.
This is the very root of the problem. When miners quit mining, blocks can't be found. When blocks aren't found, transactions don't get confirmed AND difficulty doesn't get properly adjusted. How many mined feathercoin at a loss when they the same problem?
You mine for profitability, but until the price goes up, it won't be profitable. That said, the price isn't likely to go up until some blocks are found and the chain gets moving again.
This is why altcoins die. If you want to help the project, you don't have to donate. Mine blocks. Pre-release is coming tomorrow. New difficulty algorithm is in the prerelease. It will still need someone to mine to get it over the block target for the chain fork.