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Families Team Up For Cancer Challenge

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 10, 2008

VALRICO - It's a club none of them wanted to join, but they're all grateful to be members.

The club has no bylaws, no annual fees and no initiation ceremony. There is no formal meeting place or time. The club doesn't even have a name.

There's only one requirement to join. All prospective members have a child who is battling cancer.

The informal group now includes a dozen or so Brandon area families who formed a bond after their children were diagnosed.

Together, the families celebrate milestones and offer each other support and encouragement. And they are there to console and comfort when a child dies.

"If I didn't have these other moms around me, I don't think I could have made it," said Mary Kay Arrington, whose daughter, Taylor, died at age 12 on April 22, 2007. She had waged a 31/2-year battle with Ewing sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of bone and tissue cancer.

"Every time I get together with these women, I feel stronger. We laugh and cry together. And I know I'm not alone," Arrington said.

Sitting with her at a table on a recent evening at the Pottery Patch make-your-own-pottery studio in Valrico, Mary Lynn Kesler and Christy Reichert nodded in agreement.

The women were painting ceramic tiles to be presented to winners and sponsors at the second annual Cure Kids Cancer Challenge on Saturday in Lithia. Just as she did last year, Pottery Patch owner Wendy Pettys donated 50 tiles that Brandon area children with cancer and their families decorated for the event.

Last year, Kesler's daughter, 8-year-old Sierra, was among the young artists painting tiles. Sierra lost her battle with leukemia in May.

Sierra and Taylor both loved butterflies, so their mothers decided to adorn some of their tiles with the colorful insects in their daughters' memory.

Reichert, whose son, Jimmy, died of leukemia June 23 at age 9, said her son loved Pokemon. She had no idea how to paint the Pokemon character, she said, suddenly overcome with grief.

The three mothers were quiet for a few minutes, thinking of the children no longer with them. Arrington broke the mood.

"This looks pretty good," she said, examining her tile, surprised by her previously undiscovered artistic talents. "I don't think I want to give this one away after all."

Seated at the next table, Samantha Lee, 9, and Peyton Mayhew, 4, both in remission from lymphoblastic leukemia, quietly painted tiles of their own. Peyton showed a vast improvement in her painting skills over the past year. Instead of simply splattering the paints on the tiles, she was careful to keep the paint within the outlines of a pre-printed foot pattern.

The foot, explained Amanda Polson, special events manager for the nonprofit Pediatric Cancer Foundation in Tampa, is the logo for this year's Cure Kids Cancer Challenge.

The foundation is the challenge's coordinator and beneficiary. However, the challenge is the brainchild of Brandon area parents' group.

"It's really a tight-knit community that's come together," said Sherry Tucker, whose son, Zachary, died from a brain tumor two years ago at age 8. She said the parents were motivated by the large number of children in the Brandon area who had cancer and the lack of attention given to pediatric cancer research.

All money raised by the challenge will go to The Sunshine Project, a nationwide effort by pediatric cancer researchers to speed up the discovery of new therapies for childhood cancers.

"Pediatric cancer is the ugly runt of the pack in the cancer world," Tucker said. "It seems to be last in line when it comes to handing out government research dollars. The lack of any new drugs or treatment protocols for children facing cancer in the last 20 years is evidence of this."

"Helping to fight cancer, knowing you're doing something that could benefit other children, is part of the healing process," Arrington said. "It gives meaning to their deaths."

Scheduled during National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the Cure Kids Cancer Challenge will take place at Park Square, 16144 Churchview Drive, in FishHawk Ranch. Events will include a 5-kilometor race and a 1-mile family walk.

The entry fee is $25 per person or $100 for teams of six. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., and the challenge begins at 9 a.m.

The community will gather at Park Square following the walk for a fundraising festival with food vendors, a bounce house, face painting, snow cones and a disc jockey.

"Everything at the festival will cost $1, so bring your dollar bills," Polson said.

More than 500 people attended last year's challenge and raised more than $85,000.

"It was a great response for a first-time event," Polson said.

"Each school day in the U.S., 46 more children will be diagnosed with cancer," Tucker said. "Unfortunately, there is no way to know if it could be your child. Pediatric cancer does not discriminate."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Cure Kids Cancer Challenge, a fundraiser for pediatric cancer research. Events will include a 5-kilometor race, a 1-mile family walk and family festival.

WHEN: 9 a.m. Saturday; registration starts at 7:30 a.m.

WHERE: FishHawk Ranch Park Square, 16144 Churchview Drive, Lithia.

COST: The entry fee is $25 per person or $100 for teams of six.

CONTACT: For information, contact the Pediatric Cancer Foundation at (813) 269-0955 or visit www.fastercure.org.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

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