2009 Award Recipients


Grant: Grant is a 16 yr old young man conquering cancer. Grant's mom writes, "Grant is a junior in high school in a program for advanced students. He is an avid online gamer and PC techie, with a 3.2 GPA. Upon noticing a swelling in his neck, he went in for a physical. The physical resulted in a whirlwind of doctor visits, CAT scans and biopsies. Grant was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in late February 2009 and is currently in chemotheraphy and progressing positively." Grant lives with his single mother and three brothers and sisters. Unfortunately as if a family fighting cancer is not enough to endure, their home burned down in March. WBF was so pleased to be able to cover any medical expenses not covered by insurance for the Grant.

Tino: 26 years old Survivor of Testicular Cancer, Construction worker and father of 2 girls. Tino had no insurance when he came to us and we worked with his doctor to cover medical expenses so he could use his income to support his new family. Tino is so immensely grateful for our help and continually sings our praises.

Daniel: 20 year old college student lacrosse player. We helped cover housing expenses for Daniel during his travels to treatment. Daniel in early December 2008 was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma after a terrible bout with the flu that led to the ER and then to U of MD shock trauma because he stopped breathing from a huge tumor on his trachea. Once able to breathe on his own, Daniel began in and outpatient treatments and will continue to do so for 2 years. When Daniel does return to school he will need special medical accommodations that cost more than the normal board. Daniel normally works at a golf course all summer to help his single mother pay for his education in the fall. WBF was able to help him with that missed income this summer. His mother writes: “I am a single parent and Daniel is my only child. I am grateful for the support of my family and friends, to his father for his support of Daniel and for each day that Daniel’s health improves. I am also so thankful that an organization like yours exists to help support young cancer patients with their unique needs”

Frank: 22 year old diagnosed with Testicular Cancer in Florida. Here is part of the letter his girlfriend sent: “Wow never did I think I would be in a situation like the one I am in now.  Let me begin by introducing my self.  My name is Rafaela, I am 23 and I live with my boyfriend Frank,  22 & his mother Jeanne.  In December the week before Christmas my boyfriend went in to see an Urologist.  He was complaining that one of his testicles was really sore & seemed larger than the other one.  When he went in he was told that it could be one of two things.  It was either a tumor or cancer.  We weren’t going to know for sure what it was until some blood work was done, so an appointment was made and then we were just waiting for the results.  When the results came in we were told that there were signs of cancer found in his blood …. My heart sank and my world was turned upside down in a matter of seconds!! ....... So now here we are ….  I’ve been a goggling fiend ….. it turns out that there isn’t much help for young adults, and there is much help for his type of cancer.  I know it is not the worst cancer, but it is still a cancer and I am finding little to no help for him.  I running out of options and don’t know where else or who else to turn to...... So many of our plans have changed since we found that he might have cancer.  We planned to go back to school, get a place of our own, and eventually raise a family.  Now I don’t know if any of this will happen.  I would just be happy knowing that this situation has been resolved”.  We at WBF have been able to help with many medical expenses in his journey!

Kurtis: 16 year old High School honor roll junior who is one of the youngest to be diagnosed with colon cancer. Kurtis lives in Michigan and will have to be home schooled for at least his junior year and likely his senior year. We at WBF have provided payment for household expenses because his parents own a small business that when they don’t work they don’t have any income and there have been many hours by Kurtis’ bedside. They also live far from the hospital so a simple expense as gas to travel back and forth is breaking them. We are able to cover that expense as one of the expenses we cover. Kurtis’ mom with every bill she submits to the Foundations lets u know how much this money has meant to her son’s journey.

2010 Award Recipients

Loren (21): Loren is 5 years in remission from Ewing Sarcoma. This is a cancer of the bones in teenagers. Loren had to have salvage surgery on her hip which makes her limp slightly an after many months of chemo and a few set backs she is one of the lucky ones she shared the oncology pediatric floor with. She now has a dream of being a pediatric oncology nurse and is taking courses at Northern Virginia Community College towards this goal. Her first step is to get her EMT license so that she can help and earn money while she gets her RN. Loren says she would like to work with Millerstrong to create a young adult support group in Northern Virginia. We had a great conversation about all the obstacles she faced that were just like Matt’s she says it is hard to not have many who understand her journey and know there are others who feel the same. Her scholarship was essential in her attending this next semester. We got the award in just in time to complete her registration!

Rony (19): Rony is a soft spoken teddy bear who loves to give all who helped him a hug! Rony wants to be a teacher and will be studying at Northern Virginia Community College too (different campus) Rony is in remission from Acute Lymphatic Leukemia. He is excited to emerge into the academic world to make difference!

Not able to attend the awards event were the next two recipients...

Insup (19): Insup is a survivor of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia and will be attending Harvard. Insup’s resume is longer than most adults! However, what we noted most was his commitment to give back to fellow cancer warriors and encourage them to get back to living and pursuing their dreams.

Kerry (20) Kerry was also unable to attend and she is a survivor of Hodgkin Lymphoma, Kerry has had both chemo and stem cell transplant and she will be attending NYU. Here is a piece of her thank you note... “I am so honored to be recognized by your organization. I am currently a freshman English major at NYU and I really love my school. I would like to pursue a career as a writer or perhaps attend law school. The scholarship money will be o great benefit as I continue my (expensive) education.... but an education I adore and treasure deeply. Thank you for giving me that an extra boost as I go forth and purse my dreams.”