About Us
We learned that Genre had acute lymphoblastic leukemia on Memorial Day of 2009. After a whirlwind of explanations, oncologists, and papers to sign, we moved into the hospital room that would become our home for the next two weeks. They immediately did surgery to place a medi-port in our son’s chest and the chemotherapy treatments started shortly thereafter. As the days passed, I watched as Genre become sicker and weaker. During those first two weeks in the hospital, Genre relied on his Nintendo DS to entertain him and to allow him to escape the insanity that had become his world virtually overnight. His friends would come to visit and they could play the games together. The games helped. We met many kids during those first two weeks – not everyone was lucky enough to have a game. When we finally came home, Genre asked his dad and me if we would help him buy a Nintendo DS for all of the cancer kids at the hospital, if they didn’t have one. Obviously, we couldn’t do that. But, when your child is facing a life threatening illness and asks you to do something, with everything that you are, with every fiber of your being, you want to do whatever you can to make your child happy.
Genre talked a lot about wanting to buy handheld video games for the kids at the hospital. At first he chose the name Operation Electronics. Because of this, friends started giving us money to buy the handheld games. After we had spent some time on the oncology floor at CHP, we realized that there were many needs beyond the games and that our Fund name needed to encompass all of what we hoped to do…Genre’s Kids with Cancer Fund was born. We incorporated Genre’s Kids with Cancer Fund in October of 2009. I wasn’t able to do much to get things started back then because Genre was sick. He suffered weakness and weight loss. Genre was hospitalized more than fifty days in the first eight months of his treatment. My dear friend, Jodi Fowler, began putting ideas together as to how we could fundraise. Genre’s leukemia had touched her heart in a way that I can’t explain. She stepped out and offered to help with the Fund. Today, she is the President of our Board.
Genre's request was that every child with cancer at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh should have a handheld gaming system. He knew this was helpful in passing the many hours spent in chemotherapy and blood transfusions. We accomplished that goal in 2010 and have been providing games to 8-12 children each month. In November of 2010, we recognized the need to care for the very unprepared parents who just heard the words, “your child has cancer”. We supply each newly diagnosed family with a bag of essential supplies and toiletries for their lengthy initial hospitalization. The money necessary to fund these services was raised at two very successful events -a Golf Outing and a 5K Race with a Family Fun Day.
Our primary goal is to continue raising the money necessary to provide these services. The Child Life Specialists and Pediatric Oncology Social Workers have come to rely on these items. The games entertain the children and the bags provide comfort to the families. Last year we began financially assisting families based on immediate individual needs. Our goal is to raise additional funds to care for families in desperate need. Because there is no pediatric oncology facility in West Virginia, Genre’s Kids with Cancer Fund serves any oncology family treated at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh regardless of where they live. Finally, we see the need to fund basic science research to improve treatment outcome and find a cure for pediatric cancer. We are proud to see the endeavors of clinicians and scientists right here at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. It is our goal to support them.
