Seven years ago, right after their close friend’s 11-year-old daughter Abby was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and then her brother Aaron was diagnosed with lymphoma when she was in remission, Melissa Stolp and her husband Nick decided to take action against children’s cancer.
That’s when they first became involved with CureSearch and its mission to find better, less toxic treatments for all children diagnosed with cancer.
“Children are young and innocent, and they shouldn’t have to know about something so vile as cancer,” says Melissa.
After joining the Ultimate Hike program, Melissa decided to do a fundraiser at a local Pizza Ranch restaurant in Minnesota to help reach her goal. She had heard that they support charities through fundraising events, so she went and talked to the owner.
“I found out that the owner’s daughter had been diagnosed with cancer when she was 2 1/2 years old, and now she is now in her early 20’s,” recalls Melissa.
That was inspirational enough for Melissa to do the fundraiser with her family and friends. They all helped bus tables, check on guests, and even talked to customers about CureSearch.
Because of the hard work they put in that night, and all the people they encouraged to attend the event, their Ultimate Hike team raised a total of $500.
That’s $500 toward lifesaving research for young “superheroes” who are fighting cancer. And it was all worth it to Melissa, who agrees that children who fight battle cancer are superheroes “because it takes superhero strength and resiliency to fight cancer.”
Melissa plans to do at least one CureSearch fundraiser each year at Pizza Ranch, and maybe even other places, and for that, we are grateful. It’s because of dedicated supporters like her and her family that we will continue to fight to protect the future of every child diagnosed with cancer.
Want more stories like this?
Get emails that matter, when it matters.