Saint Joseph High School vs. Marian High School
The girls’ tennis team at Saint Joseph High School will host a Smash Cancer match versus Marian High School on May 1, 2024, at 5:00 pm at the Leeper Park Tennis Courts in South Bend, IN. The campaign honors A. David Filer V, a beloved member of our tennis community and a friend and teammate to many of our players. After David lost his battle with glioblastoma multiforme in 2023 at age 16, David’s parents donated his brain tissue and spine to Gift from a Child. Our campaign will help support Gift from a Child’s research on pediatric brain cancer.
Campaign Goal: $5000
Amount Raised: $3135
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When a child’s life ends too soon, donating tissue is a way for the child and family to take a final stand against cancer. Tissue donation is a contribution that improves outcomes for children with brain cancer that only families can make.
Gift from a Child is a national initiative supported by families who have lost children to brain cancer, private foundations, researchers and medical professionals.
Gift from a Child’s mission is to increase post-mortem pediatric brain tissue donations through advocacy as well as the education of families enduring the worst … the loss of a child. We have formed partnerships with the best researchers and medical providers who value information and data sharing. These strategic partnerships will accelerate breakthrough cancer research, improve treatments and ultimately CURE childhood brain cancer.
Tragically, one-in-five children who are diagnosed with brain cancer, die from their disease; and sadly, researchers and physicians do not know why the treatments do not work for these children. Until researchers are able to study the brain tissue of children who do not survive their cancer, it will remain a mystery why these children do not survive their disease.
When a child’s life ends too soon, donating tissue is a way for a family to take a final stand against cancer. Many families have reported their decision to donate their child’s autopsy tissue was one of the few positive steps they could take during those final tragic days. Tissue donation is a contribution to improving outcomes for children with brain cancer that only families can make.
Please use the form below to donate to this campaign.
Any donation is welcome, but our event will recognize sponsors and those affected by cancer in two ways:
Sponsor Signs: Our Smash Cancer event will display Sponsor Signs at the courts for families, businesses, and others who want to support the event or remember a loved one. For a Sponsor Sign, donate $100 per sign (or more), and use the Notes section below to indicate for the organizer what you would like printed on your sign(s) (e.g., “In Memory of . . . “, “Survivor . . . ,” or name of business).
Honorees on Shirts: Our event will honor cancer survivors, those fighting cancer, and those who have lost their battle to cancer by including their names on the back of our shirts. Donate $5 per name, and use the Notes section to indicate to the organizer the name(s) would like included on the shirt.
Cut-off for Sponsor Signs and for including names on shirts is April 17
The Swifty Foundation began with Michael Gustafson who was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 10. Shortly after his diagnosis, Michael began fundraising for cancer research and recruited his friends to help. Before his death, with the help of his parents, he started the Swifty Foundation.
The Swifty Foundation now focuses on finding a cure for pediatric brain cancer in three ways:
- Promoting post-mortem tissue donation to improve research
- Improving collaboration among organizations and researchers working to cure pediatric cancer
- Funding research of recurrent medulloblastoma
When Michael was nearing his 15th birthday, his mom recorded this video in a restaurant parking lot. By this point, Michael already knew he wasn’t going to beat brain cancer for himself. But he could beat it for someone else. In the video, Michael lays out what he called his “Master Plan” — to become a tissue donor in hopes of finding a cure.