Hitting the ground running…
The Rucker Collier Foundation is hitting the ground running. We are so grateful to be able to begin to execute on our mission and begin to give back to those that made our journey easier than it would have been without them! Below is an update of what we have been working on:
1) Our foundation is reviewing grant proposals for the continuation of the SEF Study at CC-TDI and should be finalizing a grant to continue this important scientific work in the near future.
2) The RCF is providing a hot meal for the staff on 8QB (The oncology floor at Children’s of Alabama) for those that are working the night shift on Christmas eve well as the day shift on Christmas day. We love those that serve kids like Rucker, especially on a day where they might prefer to be home with their families. In 2018, we were on 8QB with Rucker on Christmas eve. We got out just in the nick of time to make it home for Santa and family, through their hard work and determination to get us treated and discharged. To all the doctors, nurses, CAs and other staff on 8QB: we thank you! Merry Christmas!
3) We have funded the first of what will be an annual commitment to Camp Smile-A-Mile to sponsor the camp dances in Rucker’s honor (picture of this post is us at the dance in 2019). An excerpt from our letter to them is as follows:
Our son Rucker was four years old when he was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma called Sclerosing Epithelioid Fibrosarcoma (stage IV). After breaking his leg and a year of multiple surgeries, he was able to attend Camp SAM in the summer of 2019, when he was five. That trip is one of the most memorable experiences that we shared with him. While he had a blast the whole time, the Saturday night dance party brought out something in him that we had not seen before. He was usually somewhat shy with the staff and other patients at hospital and clinic visits, but on that night, something changed in him. His spirit that we knew at home finally came out and he danced the night away with confidence, vigor, and laughter, making new friends and joking with the nurses. He wasn’t embarrassed or worried about his limp because he felt just like everyone else around him. He kept marching up to the DJ to ask him to play more Michael Jackson songs, to which the DJ happily obliged. Rucker was the last one to leave the dance floor that night, begging to stay as we pushed him out the door after 11:00 p.m.!
After that weekend, Rucker went back to Clinic 8 with that same new confidence he found on the dance floor at camp. He looked forward to seeing new friends and his favorite nurses, and continued to dance and show off weekly at the nurses’ station, showing them his new moves (like his “super-slow-robot-dance” or Michael Jackson hat tilt).
Unfortunately, after a hard-fought battle, Rucker passed away on October 29, 2020. Earlier in the Spring, Rucker could not wait to go back to Camp SAM. We were so disappointed that camp had to be cancelled due to the pandemic, but we made the best of our Summer, holding many of our own dance parties at home.
After Rucker’s death, we formed the Rucker Collier Foundation, whose mission is to cure SEF, help other families facing rare pediatric sarcomas, and support the organizations that helped us in our cancer journey. Camp SAM is one of those organizations and we would like to make it a significant grantee of RCF. As our foundation grows, we intend to make this a multi-year donation, and we also hope to grow in our commitment to your organization.
We want to thank all of our supporters. We are humbled by your generosity and grateful for your friendship, love, and support. We wish you all a Merry Christmas!
-John and Katie