September is designated as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Believe it or not, Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for children under 14. For the last few years, I have been raising funds for St. Jude and childhood cancer selling my handmade greeting cards. If you ask me why I support this cause and am so passionate about it, I would take you back a few years.
A few years ago, a little girl in our community was fighting a battle with a cancer named DIPG. Her name was Anya and her parents had a Facebook page where they were documenting her journey with this dreaded disease. The prognosis of DIPG is heart wrenchingly poor. DIPG stands for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas, which are highly aggressive and difficult to treat tumors found at the base and stem of the brain.
Kids affected by this cancer have barely any chance of survival. Only 10% of children affected by DIPG survive for 2 years following their diagnosis. In fact, Anya had actually survived 2 years after her diagnosis. In the days preceding her death, I have seen how the community grieved for her. We, as a family, would pray for her but in the end, little Anya just left everyone to be in heaven.
Since then, I have been in awe of St. Jude. That is the only hospital, probably in the whole world, which is fighting childhood cancer with courage, hope, and benevolence. It is the leading children’s hospital in Memphis, Tennessee and runs on donations. It does not charge parents of little cancer warriors a single dime to be hospitalized and treated. In this day and age, there cannot be a bigger example of kindness and generosity of the human race than St. Jude. I have always looked for ways to help them.
This year with my new super power, which are my beautiful Meraki-X macarons, I am back to raise some more funds in Anya’s memory and also for this cause, which is very close to my heart. I have come up these pink, blue, and white cotton candy flavored macarons for September in honor of all cancer survivors and those DIPG warriors who may have left this world, but not before touching many lives. These have been decorated with a gold ribbon which represents childhood Cancer and a tiny wafer-paper butterfly. Butterflies are my favorite as they are a symbol of endurance, hope, and life. So, what better than butterflies to celebrate the legacy of these courageous DIPG warriors like Anya!
For the month of September, all proceeds from the sale of my handmade cards and macarons will go to St. Jude. Also, please donate to St. Jude to the best of your ability if you want to bring smiles on the faces of these little angels and give them the gift of life!
Update as of Sep 5!
I am releasing another flavor for this special occasion, Vanilla Cheesecake Swirl Macarons. I will be coming up with more flavors in the coming weeks. Look out for more flavors on this space!
You may like these macaron recipes below:
Gratitude Macarons – Cheesecake and Dark Chocolate Ganache Macarons
