In April 2015 at age 16, Rebecca was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma. Rebecca went on to battle her condition for 33 months with grace and courage. Despite ongoing and time-consuming treatments, in May 2017 Rebecca graduated from high school on time and with honors. Rebecca was the beneficiary of many acts of kindness as people from all over “Rallied for Rebecca”. In turn, Rebecca continued her volunteer work and spreading her own acts of kindness with a special emphasis on pediatric cancer patients in need. Rebecca passed away on December 27, 2017.
In 2016, Rebecca was granted a Wish from Make-A-Wish North Texas. She and our family saw first-hand the positive power of a Wish on a sick child. After experiencing her Wish, Rebecca went on to speak at Make-A-Wish fundraisers in the Dallas area to help raise funds so that Make-A-Wish could grant as many Wishes to as many sick kids as possible so that they too could experience the power of a Wish.
In December 2017, Rebecca was very sick and confined to our home on hospice. She had signed up to adopt a pediatric cancer patient and her family through the Children’s Medical Center Holiday Adopt-A-Family Program. Using her own money, Rebecca had us take her to Children’s, and in her wheelchair she delivered the gifts and extra monetary support for each family member. She told everyone she wanted to help make that family’s holidays a little brighter.
Rebecca was an inspiration to many. The Foundation in her name will continue Rebecca’s inspiration and honor her legacy as it will “Rally with Rebecca” to help others in three areas that were so important to her:
Make-A-Wish - help grant as many Make-a-Wish Wishes to as many pediatric patients as possible in the Dallas area,
Holiday Adopt A Family Program - adopt as many pediatric patients and their families as possible during the holidays, and
Scholarship - award an annual college scholarship to a high school senior who has overcome adversity, demonstrated a commitment to community service, and excelled academically.
100 percent of all contributions received by the Foundation go directly to the above three purposes (no administrative expenses are paid by the Foundation)
We appreciate all those that were incredibly kind and supportive of Rebecca when she was being treated and have now transitioned from “Rallying For Rebecca” to “Rallying With Rebecca” so the Foundation can continue Rebecca’s legacy of giving by positively impacting the lives of other sick children and their families.
You can learn more about Rebecca here.