I’ve always loved children. From being a camp counselor when I was in high school (no, I will not recite the 4H pledge for you), to volunteering with Special Olympics in college, to loving the crap out of my nieces and cousins kids, to making my full time job raising money that is critical to help kids in my community have better lives through mentoring.
Healthy kids, sick kids, younger, older, from single parent homes, from a huge family. All children need someone to be there for them. They need someone to advocate for them in tough situations. They need someone to stand by them when the going gets tough.
And when this picture of Jennifer posted by The Young and Brave came up on my Instagram feed a few weeks ago, my heart ached.
Ached because even before reading her story, I knew this beautiful little one had cancer. The photo was introducing her as the newest warrior for The Young and Brave Foundation.
Most of you have probably heard of The Young and Brave Foundation. The always wonderful Ashten over at Always Ashten has been working tirelessly (along with her full time super busy job and her blog) to help out the co-founders, Matt Coulter and Nathaniel Curran, spread the word about the amazing work they are doing to help those under the age of 30 with the financial burden that comes with cancer.
Jennifer is one of these young people battling cancer. She was diagnosed with DIPG, a tumor which located in the middle of her brain stem. This diagnosis came on her 6th birthday, and she has been given 9 months to live. This breaks my heart to think of her parents and her three younger siblings. But you still have to smile when you think about the absolutely wonderful and amazing support network she has around her. Her family, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends.
And the guys behind The Young and Brave. When a friend was diagnosed with cancer, they decided they couldn’t just sit by and watch. They immediately jumped into action to help raise money to support their friends medical bills. And just how they stood by their friend, they stand by their Warriors with encouragement and financial support. And love.
From the beginning the theme of the foundation has been LOVE. Cancer is one of the most difficult challenges anyone can face in their lifetime. “Always LOVE” has become their battle cry because with LOVE, absolutely anything is possible!
It’s a new year. Start 2014 off with a bang and consider doing something amazing and making a donation to The Young and Brave through the campaign that Ashten put together. Help children like Jennifer. And I promise you, every dollar helps. $1? $5? $20 or more? Whatever you can donate will make a difference.
And make sure to follow The Young and Brave on social media. You will learn more about the amazing work they do and you can help spread the love!
