From Lynne Dale, Summer’s mom:
It’s hard enough to be a kid with cancer, but to be a kid with cancer in a war zone raises the dangers of childhood cancer to a whole new level.
In honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Team Summer is today launching a very special fundraiser. We have teamed up with a hospital in Lviv, Ukraine that has taken in a lot of the kids with cancer who have been displaced by the war. The staff there is overwhelmed, to say the least.
When Summer was sick, she always had the comfort of first-rate medical facilities – sterile and safe. She never had to worry about a missile attack or being evacuated in the middle of the night. And after her treatments, she always could retreat to the comfort of her own bedroom to rest and try to regain her strength. Ukrainian kids with cancer are having a very different experience. They are facing their darkest times in the middle of a violent and frightening war.
If you’ve felt powerless watching this war unfold – like I have – now is your chance to make a direct impact on the lives of Ukrainian kids with cancer. Half the money we raise this month will go to Team Summer and the other half to the hospital in Lviv that is struggling so hard to keep it all together. Click here to choose the fundraising page of one of our 30+ volunteers. They include Summer’s friends, one of her nurses, a boy (now a man) she was in treatment with, adults and kids who have battled cancer, and others who are still in the fight. I’m grateful to each and every one of them.
Some might say this is a crazy time in Team Summer’s history to give away half the money we raise. This fundraiser comes during a period of great growth for Team Summer – growth we have dreamed of and wished for. Nominations for Team Summer gifts are pouring in. We got 31 in just one week in July alone. As of this moment, Team Summer is working in 22 different states!
Maybe we ARE crazy, but we believe in abundance. We believe we can keep Team Summer’s mission moving forward AND help kids with cancer in Ukraine. With your help, there will be enough…enough to help kids with cancer in TWO countries. I know Summer would have been all over this idea. I can almost hear her: “Mom, can you imagine battling cancer AND worrying about your hospital being bombed in the night??”
With the success of this fundraiser, we have the chance to make a real difference in Ukraine…and move closer to fulfilling Summer’s wish that no child with cancer ever feel alone.
