Meet Avery. She is one of the five St. Baldrick’s Foundation 2013 Ambassadors. And she is amazing.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of them, but St. Baldrick’s Foundation is the largest private (non-government) funder of childhood cancer research grants. Their mission is to find cures for childhood cancers and to give survivors long and healthy lives.
Each year St. Baldrick’s chooses Ambassadors to represent the thousands of kids touched by childhood cancer. Coming from all areas of the country, ages, disease types and treatment statuses, they are a reminder that childhood cancer doesn’t discriminate and that one in five kids diagnosed in the U.S. will not survive.
This year St. Baldrick’s asked me to photograph one of their ambassadors. It was an honor to be asked. And then I found out it was a little girl I knew…from I family I knew and loved that I hadn’t seen in a few years…and it felt like and even bigger honor and blessing. It has been an amazing and incredibly humbling experience for me.
One of my most humbling moments ever happened on a car ride with Avery. We were on our way to the clinic for her chemotherapy. She was telling me about a friend of hers that she met in the hospital and was explaining to me that her friend had been in the hospital for months and months, and told me about all of her treatments…then she looked at me and said, “But I am grateful, because even though I have cancer too, it could always be worse”.
Lesson learned.
Thank you St. Baldrick’s for this opportunity. I hope I can do more with you in the future.
And thank you Miss Avery and family. Thank you for letting me be a part of your life. All six of you are amazing. Love you guys…
Please take a minute to go to their website… St. Baldrick’s Foundation …and find a way to give back.
And Avery…we still have a date to go shopping!
