Too painful to do again
A 17-year-old had finished chemo and then relapsed. He told his mother he could not do it again. It had been too painful and too isolating, he had no friends left, and because of his age she respected his answer.
We sent him 450 to 500 cards collected from one local school.
Every single card
He took the cards to his room and stayed there for several hours reading every single one. When he came out he said, "Mom, these kids believe in me and they think that I can make it. So I'm going to try one more time."
After that round, the cancer was gone for good. He is in his mid-thirties now with a family of his own. His mother later told Lisa, "If it weren't for those cards, we wouldn't have our son anymore." That was the moment we knew the cards were making a difference and we had to find a way to do this on a larger scale. The family's name is kept private at their request.
Highland Elementary ran a dance off. The money the kids raised built an ADA ramp on the Biesiada family's house.
13abc covered Ayanna's campaign while it was still running, and somehow the surprise held.
Kennedy's mom asked to keep her thank you short, then rewrote it many times.
