Hi! I’m Joanna. I am an Auntie of a little girl fighting pediatric brain cancer. I’m not a doctor. I’m not a nurse, or a scientist, or any kind of researcher.  I don’t know much about childhood cancer. And two years ago I knew nothing about brain tumors. I’m just a random person. I don’t have much and I don’t know much. But I do know how to love. And I know how to fight. And I’m not willing to have someone I love be taken from me without a fight. 

I cheer, and have always cheered, for the underdog. Do you? Kids with cancer need our support now more than ever. St. Baldrick’s is the largest non-government funder of childhood cancer research grants. The pandemic has slashed salaries, cut jobs, and crippled our economy, which have impacted donations, slowing down the progress to find cures. If not a cure, how about even decent, safe, stable, or reliable treatments? This Auntie will take a treatment right about now. 

CHILDHOOD CANCER IS RARE - UNTIL IT’S SOMEONE YOU LOVE. Then it’s revealed that cancer actually kills more of our kids than any other disease. RESEARCH can change that; I know it can. Look how covid research has led to solutions we didn’t have a year ago. We have got to do SOMETHING. ANYTHING. Thank you immensely for reading this and being in our lives. We need all the support we can get.

My niece is an “honored kid” at this event, and is pictured below. Isn’t she pretty? She’s nice too. If you haven’t yet, I can’t wait for you to meet her.