Conquering Kids' Cancer for Lily

Lily Pham is a young woman who was full of kindness, compassion, and generosity even when fighting for her life. Fifteen months ago, Lily Pham passed away after a lengthy battle with childhood cancer. Following her initial diagnosis at age 5, Lily endured countless treatments of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. At 6 she went into remission and started Kindergarten. For 11 years, Lily lived every moment to the fullest, radiating joy, kindness, and positivity. She ran a half marathon at the age of 14, competed in a notoriously difficult duathlon, got her scuba license, painted, made invaluable memories with friends and family, and most importantly displayed compassion and empathy like nobody else in the world. At 16, Lily's cancer returned. While undergoing numerous treatments of chemotherapy, radiation, multiple surgeries, and experimental clinical trials, Lily refused to let everything that she was going through slow her down. She dedicated her time to art, taking an online class, and raising money and awareness for childhood cancer. At 18, Lily passed away.

 

Before her passing, Lily asked me to “do something good for the world” in her name. This year, in the spirit of Lily's neverending compassion and generosity and for her birthday coming up on December 23rd, I would like to raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation in Lily's name.

 

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a cause that was very dear to Lily's heart. The St. Baldrick's Foundation is dedicated to curing childhood cancer and giving childhood cancer survivors long and healthy lives. As the largest nongovernmental funder of childhood cancer research, they have raised over $312 million to fund 1,644 research grants in 30 countries. The wonderful work of the St. Baldrick's Foundation has impacted many lives.

 

However, there is still a gap in funding. For every $1 million that the St. Baldrick's foundation has been able to dedicate to promising research studies in curing childhood cancer, there is an equal amount of money left unfunded. With your dedication, we can help close that gap, for Lily.