Hello, lovely people.

Happy May 1st! I hope this entry finds you doing well. I’m not here with an update on Peter (although he is doing pretty darn well), but rather, I’m writing to share something  I feel inclined to let you know about.

Each year my kids’ school participates in a Dance-A-Thon to support a non for profit. This year the planning committee reached out to me and wanted to know what organization helped Peter and our family during his time at Children’s Hospital. Without hesitation, I said Friends of Kid With Cancer. https://www.friendsofkids.com/

Friends of Kids with Cancer is a local charity that supports our St. Louis Community. They raise money through events, grants and donations to help support families going through the difficult journey with cancer. This amazing organization helped my entire family. They created smiles when tears felt easier to shed, provided a fun atmosphere in a stressful hospital room and showered my kids with distractions from the reality we were experiencing. From visits to the Prize Closet to making hundreds of art projects, from gifts around the holidays to decorations for our rooms, from contributing to Peter’s Lego obsession to providing books to help him escape into different worlds, Friends of Kids sprinkled in a special sweetness during our hospital stays.

Next Friday, May 10th (also my Lena’s 7th birthday) my kids and their classmates will be shaking their tail-feathers for Friends of Kids with Cancer. If you would like to donate to this amazing organization, my kids would be honored to dance on your behalf and trust me, they’ve got some pretty good moves!

The easiest way to donate is to simply Venmo me (@kjmant11) and title your donation as Friends of Kids with Cancer or Dance-A-Thon. Please also provide your name so we can appropriately acknowledge your donation. If you don’t have Venmo, but would like to donate, please message me and we can figure out a different way. Thank you for considering donating to this wonderful organization. Your contributions truly make a difference in the lives of those fighting cancer and their family members - I know. My family was one of them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

All my love,

Katie

Venmo Info: @kjmant11

(Joe-Katie Mantovani) *photo of Joe and me both wearing baseball hats.