Leia Hunt was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma when she was just 2  1/2 years old. This form of Pediatric Cancer cost her the use of her left eye and she went through many difficulties both physically and emotionally during her early years, adolescent years, and into her teenage years. 
Knowing instinctively that she had to help other kids who were suffering with different forms of Pediatric Cancer, Leia  started her LEIA'S KIDS Non-Profit when she was 18 years old.
Her mission is to directly help kids and their families who need financial support to cover expenses and Leia hosts a "Crowning" Party for those families who qualify for a $1000 check.
Her non-profit now has over 100 kids waiting to be crowned and there will be many more down the road as Leia intends to expand and help as many deserving kids as possible. 

Tyler Trent was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in 2014 after what was thought to be only a broken arm after throwing a frisbee. His parents Kelly and Tony  will talk about Tyler's incredible journey which eventually became known throughout the country due to his connection to the Purdue University Football team.
Attending Purdue while a freshman , Tyler and a friend decided to camp out the night before at the  football stadium before their game with Michigan. What was most unusual about this was that Tyler had just completed a chemotherapy treatment 6 hours before. When head football coach Jeff Brohm got word about what Tyler did, he visited him the next morning.
That began the amazing connection that Tyler developed with the entire Purdue team, especially with starting quarterback David Blough.
In 2018, as Tyler's condition worsened and he was unable to return to school, he still made his presence felt by predicting that his beloved Boilermakers would upset undefeated Ohio State in a Nationally Televised game. Purdue destroyed the Buckeyes 49-20 . Tyler attended the game despite being very sick the week leading up to kickoff, and he was really the star of the night.
Sadly, Tyler passed away less than 3 moths later. His legacy however, will continue for many years to come. 
 

Mandy Spielvogle Powell is the Managing Director and Steve Passagno is the Treasurer of the non-profit  the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer. Mandy and Steve will discuss the many programs that this world wide organization has implemented to make their non profit a major factor in the fight against Pediatric Cancer. 
With their focus being on coming up with less toxic treatments, pediatric cancer awareness and survivorship, research and treatment, and family support, their non profit brings people in from differing backgrounds to collaborate with each other to find the best solutions for these most difficult problems that face pediatric cancer patients and their families.

One of the reasons that Lily Pevoto wanted to attend Penn State University was that she was so impressed with their Dance Marathon known as THON. This event is the largest student run philanthropy in the world. Now approaching its 50th year, this fundraiser has 700 dancers who take to the floor at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College and dance for 46 straight hours. More than 16,000 student volunteers make certain that this event runs as smoothly as possible. Lily is the Executive Director for the upcoming THON to be held in February of 2023, and will talk about this fundraiser which has raised over 200 million dollars for the cause of Pediatric Cancer. 

Lorna Day's son Sam was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in 2010 and went through an arduous treatment ordeal that included losing his left leg and right foot to amputation. After Sam's very unfortunate passing in 2016, Lorna set out to help other pediatric cancer patients and their families as she set up her Sam Day Foundation in honor and memory of her beloved son.  As its' core principal, this foundation focuses on trying to fund research for the most difficult pediatric cancers including many of the Sarcomas and Brain Cancer.
Nicknamed the "Hope Junkie," Lorna will talk about the many programs that she has initiated through her foundation in the Pacific Northwest, as she strives to accomplish a goal of getting as many people as possible involved  in this Pediatric Cancer fight from that area of the country, and especially in her home state of Oregon. 

Rich Nardiello suffered a hemorrhagic stroke at the age of 55 and fortunately was one of the 4-6 percent of people who survive that condition. After relearning how to speak, swallow, talk, and walk, he went back to work and then at age 60 decided that he wanted to focus his attention on making lives brighter for Pediatric Cancer Patients.
As a result, Rich started his own non profit called PopPops Kustom Kars. For this non-profit Rich designs and builds Custom Coupes and distributes them to pediatric cancer patients. He has now delivered close to 50 of these kustom kars to individuals and also is working on kindness kars, which he has delivered to local hospitals with global hospitals possibly on the horizon.

In 1988  iconic actor Paul Newman started the Hole in The Wall Gang Camp to help kids who were suffering from both pediatric cancer and other illnesses to be able to have fun and "Raise A Little Hell" for one week each summer.
On today's podcast Jimmy Canton, who has been with the camp since its inception and has been its CEO for the past 20 years, will talk about how this week away from treatment and hospitals is so therapeutic  and what this camp has meant to so many kids  and their families. 

While home during college break Kylee McGrane watched the movie Frozen. As she saw  the Princess Elsa, and also thought about how Taylor Swift  did so much for Pediatric Cancer patients , Kylee thought it would be fun to dress up like a princess herself, and visit a pediatric cancer patient in the hospital. After she and her roommate went to a hospital on Long Island  dressing up as Princesses Anna and Elsa, Kylee decided to continue what she started , which ultimately led to to her non profit A MOMENT OF MAGIC.

This non profit, which features college students from around the country dressing up as princesses and interacting with pediatric cancer patients is now in 350 hospitals, has helped 110,000 kids, and has 29 chapters in colleges and universities in the United States. 

During the time period that David Hagan's son Ben was going through his battle with Leukemia, a battle that he unfortunately was not able to recover from,  David joined the Worcester , Ma. based non profit WHY ME to help him cope with what Ben was going through. This non profit affected David to the point where he eventually gave up his career in banking to become the Executive Director of this non profit, trading his focus from profit and loss to helping children and their families. 

Jaclyn Murphy was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma when she was 9 years old. During her treatment, the Women's Lacrosse Team from Northwestern University found out about what Jaclyn was going through, and "Adopted" her as a team member. This act of kindness proved to be a special one for both Jaclyn and Northwestern, so much so that Jaclyn's father Denis and the Murphy family started the Friends Of Jaclyn Foundation. 

The central theme of this Foundation centers around its Adopt A Child Program, in which colleges and high schools around the country "Adopt" a Pediatric Cancer patient and make them a team member. This foundation was started in 2005 and is nearing 1000 patients that have been adopted with many more to join them in the future.

Jaclyn is now 27 years old and is able to live a life of good health as she and her dad give so much back to kids who need it the most.