No parent can be prepared for the news of their child being diagnosed with cancer, but the Sarah Grace Foundation helps families and children through these unexpected, and oftentimes painful journeys, to allow children with cancer to be children once again.
“We want to do things that allow the children to be children, not patients in the hospital,” Sarah Grace Foundation President Matthew Weippert said. “We want to give them a distraction from the daily treatments and basically what they’re going through.”
The Sarah Grace Foundation is a Hicksville-based nonprofit that supports children with cancer through various programs and resources.
Services include various book and gift programs for children in hospitals, financial aid for families, and assistance with funeral services.
The Sarah Grace Foundation will host An Evening of Magic to fundraise for these services.
An Evening of Magic will take place on Friday, April 4 at the Milleridge Inn. Tickets start at $125 per person and can be purchased on their website.
A mentalist, otherwise known as a magician, will be at the event, sharing their magic with attendees throughout the night. This is the second year the foundation has hosted the Evening of Magic.
“It was really quite phenomenal,” Weippert said of last year’s event. “So we’re really looking forward to it again this year.”
Previously, the foundation hosted A Night of Laughter comedy fundraiser before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, the pandemic halted their in-person events, but the Sarah Grace Foundation brought back its annual fundraiser event last year with its new look.
Weippert said the goal of the night is to raise $15,000, which would be crucial to the foundation’s operations for a long time.
The foundation is in honor of Weippert’s daughter, who died at the age of 12 after battling an aggressive form of leukemia.
Weippert said after his daughter’s death, he and his family were looking to pick up the pieces after an insurmountable tragedy. What they found in reflection was a desire to make sure their daughter’s life and the fight she gave would have prolonged meaning.
“Everything that Sarah went through had to stand for something,” Weippert said.
So they founded the Sarah Grace Foundation to replicate the support, and the additional support they may have needed, to other children and families dealing with cancer.
The Sarah Grace Foundation provides support to families throughout the year, but especially around crucial holidays to return some normalcy and love to children who otherwise may have missed out on celebrations.
The foundation partners with numerous local hospitals to provide their support to the children being treated there.
One such program is The Escape Hatch, a box replicating an old-fashioned suitcase filled with various items like a disposable camera, books and other activities. Weippert said the intent is to provide newly diagnosed kids with an escape from the negativity around them.
Another is their bead program, a beaded jewelry craft where the kids pick beads representative of their diagnosis and journey.
The bead program is directly inspired by their daughter Sarah, who Weippert said loved doing crafts.
The Sarah Grace Foundation has been active for nearly 25 years, and Weippert said the scope of their impact reaches thousands of children and their families. This has been made possible through donations and individual support.
While An Evening of Magic is one way to contribute, there are other ways to get involved with the Sarah Grace Foundation and support its cause.
The foundation is also hosting a virtual 5K, where individuals and teams can race at any time before May 31 to raise funds for the cause. Registration can be made online at their website.
Donations of any amount can also be made to the foundation at any time.
