Why Joy For Kids With Cancer is important to me.. Joni Kennedy.

When Kelly first tome me about this great cause, I immediately put my "supporter hat on and have gone to work! I am trying to spread the word to everyone I know in order to help in any way I can. Here is the reason Joy For Kids With Cancer is special to me...

I am a childhood cancer survivor who knows what it is like to be stuck in the hospital. I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma when I was 17 years old. I was one of the oldest kids in pediatrics and, initially, I was not so friendly to the other kids. Then one day a counselor threw me into a room and made me talk to her. To make a long story short, I was afraid to befriend them in case they "died on me" and she made me realize that these kids looked up to me. Their lives were mostly confined to the hospital and I was like an older sister to them. Luckily for me, my cancer was not as life threatening as some and I was not as confined to the hospital as they were.

So, I made it my mission to be the best big sister I could be. It was amazing to see their faces light up when I would bring them stuffed animals that I won at the fair, or hats that I made with puff paints with their names on them. Not only did it put a smile on their faces, it helped me get through some of the tougher times that I had faced personally. We had a bond that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately some of the younger kids, Mikey, Erica, and Hannah, all succumbed to their cancer and 17 years later I am a survivor. I often question why I am the survivor when, at 17, I had already lived a longer life than they had a chance to live. But in realizing that everything happens for a reason, I know that one of those reasons is for me to help with causes like this one. If I can be a part of putting a smile on a cancer-stricken child’s face on Christmas (or any other day) then that is enough for me.

I hope that everyone that sees this will pass it along to their friends and families and Joy For Kids With Cancer is able to touch as many lives as possible. Not only will this bring a smile to the face of a child, it warms the heart of their family, friends, hospital staff and the people bringing the toys – this truly is a win-win situation in a very hard time in peoples lives.

Happy Holidays!!!
Joni Kennedy