About Us

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Team Anya was started by her mother Rose. After the devastating loss of Anya, I knew I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. After the last 18 months of Anya’s life and seeing what children go through and how a cancer diagnosis can financially impact a family, I had to take action. I had never heard of childhood cancer Rhabdomyosarcoma before Anya’s diagnosis, nor did I know what we were in for.  After reading and searching endless articles for anything that would give me hope. What I found was shocking. Pediatric cancer only receives 4% of government funding for research. There are over 16 main types of pediatric cancers all with countless subtypes each deserving of that 4% funding. Of that 4% Rhabdomyosarcoma only gets a small portion for research.

I knew what my mission needed to be. To help provide support for the research of Rhabdomyosarcoma for better treatment protocols. In addition to helping fund research, I knew what it felt like as a family impacted by the financial stress of Anya’s cancer and how it left me feeling unsure of how I was going to continue to provide the things Anya needed and still have a roof over our heads. That is where the idea to create a foundation for the help of financial assistance for families also facing a childhood cancer diagnosis came to mind. I wanted to help provide some relief during those hard times for families because I know first hand how much that extra support helped us. I’m simply a mother wanting to help other families who are also going through what I went through with Anya. I want to offer support for those tough times. I want families to feel like they have one more friend in their corner, someone who truly understands what they are going through.