A Texas tween who survived cancer as a toddler collects and distributes toys for kids fighting cancer. When David Lauritzen was 18 months old, his mom, Samantha, took him to the doctor because he had a little blood in his urine. The doctor thought it might be a bladder cyst, but at Samantha’s urging, he ran some more tests and it turned out to be a rare type of cancer. Fortunately, they caught it early and after ten rounds of chemo and eight weeks of radiation David was able to beat it.
After their experience, the family became ambassadors for pediatric cancer awareness and when David was six, his mom asked him what he wanted to do to help raise awareness for pediatric cancer awareness month in September. Remembering how much it meant to him when he was given toys while in the hospital getting treatment, he told his parents that he wanted to use the money from his change jar to buy toys for kids in the hospital fighting cancer. His parents told him that his change wouldn’t go very far, so he decided to ask people to donate to his cause.
That first year, all on his own, David managed to raise over $1-thousand. The next year, he more than doubled that, so they created a nonprofit, David's Toy Project, and started working on it year-round. Now 12 years old, David puts in the hard work for the nonprofit, hosting lemonade stands and working the donation table at popular retail spots in their hometown of Katy, Texas. But he also gets to do the fun part: shopping for toys. “I actually purchase the toys with all the money and then we bring them to the hospital,” he says. “But we’re not able to give them to the kids personally.” He may not be able to see the joy his toys bring to cancer patients, but he hopes that his efforts will make a difference for them.
Source: Today