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When our founder, Sidney, was in high school, his friend Lauren passed away from a rare form of cancer. Watching her go through that journey, he knew he needed to help.
That’s when he met Jenny, a 9-year-old cancer patient who’d recently braved a tough cycle of chemotherapy. When we saw her in the hospital, she’d been out of school for months, and it was time for the next step of her journey -- a bone marrow transplant. Jenny was terrified. We popped into Jenny’s room and could see a fragile excitement in her eyes as she looked at us, looked at Mom, and then looked at us again. Jenny was excited that someone wanted to be with her -- and not talk about her cancer. She smiled. |
When we asked Jenny what she wanted to be when she grew up, her eyes lit up: “I WANNA BE A DANCER!” It was incredible. You could tell in that moment, she totally forgot about cancer -- and was just a kid again.
As we were saying goodbye, Jenny’s face changed, and she all of a sudden got very serious. She looked down, thought for a minute, and turned to us: “I’m just afraid that all of my friends are going to forget about me because I have cancer.”
Hearing that, from a 9-year-old girl, was heartbreaking. Being out of school for so long, away from her friends, no longer with hair, and not able to dance -- Jenny was afraid that she would be forgotten.
And she’s not the only one.
That fear of falling off the map is pervasive. We hear it from so many kids, parents, doctors, and hospital staff. It’s echoed throughout research papers. In the field of pediatric oncology, something is missing.
Jenny inspired us to find it.
We launched a pilot program with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 2012, building friendships for two newly diagnosed kids. Today, over 90% of local child cancer patients are being referred to CCChampions. Our research-based, outcomes-driven program is making waves in the field of pediatric oncology, and national expansion is on the horizon.
As we were saying goodbye, Jenny’s face changed, and she all of a sudden got very serious. She looked down, thought for a minute, and turned to us: “I’m just afraid that all of my friends are going to forget about me because I have cancer.”
Hearing that, from a 9-year-old girl, was heartbreaking. Being out of school for so long, away from her friends, no longer with hair, and not able to dance -- Jenny was afraid that she would be forgotten.
And she’s not the only one.
That fear of falling off the map is pervasive. We hear it from so many kids, parents, doctors, and hospital staff. It’s echoed throughout research papers. In the field of pediatric oncology, something is missing.
Jenny inspired us to find it.
We launched a pilot program with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 2012, building friendships for two newly diagnosed kids. Today, over 90% of local child cancer patients are being referred to CCChampions. Our research-based, outcomes-driven program is making waves in the field of pediatric oncology, and national expansion is on the horizon.