Tag: Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation

Of Good and Thankful Things

On Thursday, December 12, 2024… Chase turns 15! He loves to know the exact time of his birth (3:27PM, CST), and he’s been going around and telling everyone that right at the time that the buses leave all the grade schools, he will reach the moment he turns 15. I know this because even the teachers in the high school have mentioned it to me. Oh Chase… 🙂

15 years on this earth… Isn’t that an incredible miracle?!

As always, his birthday request remains that we raise funds to be equally divided between the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation and Lurie Children’s Hospital (specifically: the Pediatric Brain Tumor Program) . 

We, as his family, can’t think of a more fitting plan. Lurie has gifted Chase life and the Rizzo Foundation has instilled hope – Hope and Life – together.

Would you consider donating here? The link will take you to a GoFundMe page called “15×15” and you can give $15 for Chase’s 15 years or a multiple of 15…or more!

Hey… THANK YOU.

Every dollar counts, and this year, it feels like it counts double as the dollars will go to help a child like Chase and a family like ours – often in their most stressful, heartbreaking moments – both in the hospital with the Lurie Pediatric Brain Tumor Program and around the country with the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation.

As we celebrate the gift of Chase’s incredible 15 years, with your help, we can contribute to research, resources, and encouragement for so many children like Chase.

Thank you for doing this with us… Moment by moment.

Hey, again, just a quick note…. Maybe this isn’t your year to give… I get it. It’s been a year, but there is another way you can help. The link, pictures, and updates will be posted on Chase Away Cancer on Facebook and Instagram and I’d so appreciate if you could share the joy and help us get the word out. Thank you, dear ones.

*images courtesy of Margaret Henry*

Of Birthdays and Good Things

On Tuesday, December 12th, Chase turns 14! Isn’t that a miracle?!

This year, he (again) had a request: his birthday fundraiser be equally divided between Lurie Children’s Hospital and the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation. But there’s also a little extra, a special 14th birthday nod to his friend Robbie Gould’s new partnership with Cal’s Angels. In honor of Chase, we will also be raising a separate $500 going to Cal’s Angels in order to help grant a wish for another child like Chase.

We can’t think of a more fitting plan! Lurie has gifted Chase life more times than we can count, the Rizzo Foundation has instilled more hope, and Cal’s has brought more joy – Life, Hope, and Joy – all together.

Would you consider donating here? You can give $14 for Chase’s 14 years (or a multiple of 14…or more!).

The Lurie/Rizzo link is together right here.

The Cal’s Angels’ wish link is right here.

Every dollar counts, and this year, it feels like it counts double…no, triple! …as the dollars will go to help a child like Chase and a family like ours – often in their most stressful, heartbreaking moments – in the home with Cal’s, in the hospital with Lurie, and around the country with The Rizzo Foundation.

With your help, we can contribute to research, resources, and encouragement for so many children like Chase.

Thank you!

THANK YOU

Dear ones, as Chase lay asleep last night, just short of the ten o’clock hour, we quietly crossed over the $10,000 mark. In less than 24 hours, no, in barely half that time, the Chase Away Cancer community and friends gathered OVER $10,000 for Lurie Children’s Hospital and the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation in honor of Chase’s 13 years!

Did you hear that? Did you read it, because I want to say it again… in 2022, with inflation and illness and sadness all around us, you quietly and efficiently added thirteen to thirteen to thirteen over and over again until it was thousands and thousands!

He came to find me at my computer right before his dad tucked him in and wrapped in his gingerbread man pajamas, he leaned over the screen. “How did we do?”

“They did it, Chase. For you… Ten thousand dollars…”

And last year, he gasped and jumped up and down, but this year, his eyes got wide, a smile appeared on the edge of his lips, and then he bent his head to my shoulder with a long sigh of relief and a single word.

“Good.”

And isn’t that just the heart of it sometimes? We put our heads down, rest from the fight, take a deep breath, and sit with the good – even if only for a moment – because there is always good to be had, especially now, in the Advent of the Best.

And dear ones… this was a VERY GOOD THING that happened this Monday, the 12th of December. We rested for a moment and we hope and pray that these beautiful, amazing donations help others rest longer and easier farther along.

Looking forward with great hope, from the bottom of our hearts –

THANK YOU

Moment by moment

[photo: Margaret Henry]

12 For 12 – A Cause, A Celebration

ANNOUNCING…. “12 FOR 12” …!! [Chase’s birthday fundraiser]

Can you believe it? By all rights and data, our precious Chase should have never seen a 3rd year, let alone a 12th birthday! Yet, here we are and Chase still lives and breathes joy into our family and the world around him. And on December 12th – 12/12 – he will officially be 12. A golden birthday for a golden boy. He is a miracle and we are so thankful.

This year, Chase had a very special request for his birthday fundraiser (which is running an extra day – so the whole weekend!). He wanted the money equally divided between Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation – two of his absolute favorites.

We can’t think of a more fitting plan! Lurie has brought Chase life more times than we can count, and the Rizzo Foundation has instilled so much hope – and Hope and Life go hand in hand in so many precious ways.

So after much discussion with our Lurie and Rizzo families, THIS PAGE was put together. All the funds will rest there, so we can see a grand total, and then when all is said and done, the Rizzo Family will write a check for half of the total, on Chase’s behalf, to Lurie Children’s – because of YOU, dear ones!

Would you consider making a donation? You can give $12 (or a multiple of 12…or more!) in honor of Chase’s 12 years. Every dollar counts – and it feels like it counts double this year – as the dollars will go to help a child like Chase and a family like ours – often in their most stressful, heartbreaking moments – both in the hospital with Lurie and around the country with ARFF.

With your help, we can contribute to research, resources and encouragement for so many children like Chase.

On behalf of the fighters and families supported by Lurie Children’s Hospital and the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation…

THANK YOU.

**PLEASE feel FREE to share the fundraiser link far and wide!!**

photo: Margaret Henry Photography

Of Numbers and Joy

There are rare and wonderful species of joy that flourish only in the rainy atmosphere of suffering.

John Piper

This year, he doubled his digits, and he doubled his diagnoses too. 

With his own eyes, he witnessed the celebration of the Super Bowl in Atlanta.

With his own words, he told his story to the Vice President of the United States in Washington.

With his own body, he’s gone swimming and running and laughed and played. 

And with that same body, he’s wept and known fear and exhaustion and pain.

He’s had 1 surgery, 2 full body scans and biopsies, and 3 ultrasounds in the pursuit of this, the second cancer. Which means that he’s been under anesthesia close to 10 times this year.

He’s had 1 round of treatment, 2 documented instances of spread/relapse, and what feel like limitless amounts of blood drawn from his body.

He walked back into the world of seizures – for the first time in 7 years – and had to face down the fear of a potential brain cancer relapse.

He’s had MRIs, CTs, and X-Rays to spare. 

And if I counted off the days out of the last 365 that he spent in the hospital, they number about 60. …that’s more than once a week.

Those are the days alone. But if I counted the actual appointments, the number would close to triple. 

It’s been one of the most extraordinary years of his short life, and so it’s perfectly fitting and perfectly amazing that your response to his year and life was equally extraordinary. 

Dear ones, in your celebration of Chase, you raised almost $5,000* in a single day! 

You are incredible. 

And I love that – because of your many, sacrificial, encouraging, ‘happy birthday’ gifts to the Rizzo Foundation on behalf of Chase – more help will walk the halls of the hospital, more tears will be dried, more smiles will be felt, and more end-of-their-rope parents will be granted more rope and easier breathing in the worst seasons of life. 

This is all you, dear ones, and we are so proud of and thankful for your extraordinary response to our extraordinary Chase. 

Thank you for faithfully, joyfully, compassionately walking this journey with us…

Moment by moment.

**If you haven’t had a chance to give yet, you’re not too late! Simply click HERE to donate now!**

*As of 8:20AM (CST), we are at $4,950!

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