what's new
OUR 9th Annual Golf Tournament was a Success!
The event raised nearly $50,000 to be directed to the Mulligan Lab at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. As always, we are very grateful for all of the golfers, volunteers, and donors who made this day possible!
Save the date for the 10th Annual MollySTRONG Golf Tournament: Saturday, July 26th, 2025! A decade of being #MollySTRONG
NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH CHICK-FIL-A IN TREXLERTOWN
Back in October, our local Chick-fil-A in Trexlertown announced that they were searching for a local non-profit organization to partner with for the quarter. We are proud to announce that the MollySTRONG Foundation was chosen amongst many other worthy non-profits in the Lehigh Valley. Over the past few months, we have been collaborating with Chick-fil-A on several projects. The LVHN Children's Multipurpose Infusion Center will now receive Chick-fil-A meals every other week as a treat on long treatment days for the rest of the year!
MOLLYSTRONG SPONSORS ICEE MACHINE AT THE CLINIC
Angel 34 Foundation was an amazing organization that provided much support to local pediatric cancer families for over two decades. Nicole Sheriff, a 14-year-old cancer patient, launched Angel 34 in 2003 with a goal to ease the pain of other young cancer patients. Her first project was getting ICEE machines installed in our local clinic to soothe the burning associated with chemotherapy. Sadly, Nicole passed in 2004, but her parents continued her mission and raised over 10 million dollars to assist those in our local pediatric cancer community. Her parents recently made the difficult decision to cease operations and MollySTRONG Foundation has been able to coordinate efforts to continue to the ICEE machine at the LVHN Children's Multipurpose Infusion Center. Molly, along with friends and family, always enjoyed having an ICEE at the clinic. We feel very fortunate to be able to provide some smiles during difficult clinic days much like Nicole did.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS IN THE COMMUNITY
MollySTRONG Foundation will directly receive a percentage of sales from a new business in Allentown called Graze Craze (www.grazecraze.com )! Graze Craze Charcuterie Boards are customizable boards that provide a unique and affordable option for any special occasion or event or even just a quick, healthy lunch on the go. They are made with premium cheese and meats, fresh produce and house made dips and spreads. It is a natural partnership where by working to help create memories, we can also continue to give to researchers that can enhance the quality of life of children with a cancer diagnosis.
Mollystrong 5k RUN/walk 2024
It was a rainy, chilly morning at the Lehigh Parkway for our inaugural MollySTRONG 5K Run/Walk on Saturday Apri 13th, but still lots of smiles from a group determined to make a difference! We are thankful for the sponsorship from ChickFilA Trexlertown to make this event possible!
Molly's Story
Molly was a 15 year old high school freshman when she was diagnosed with a rare sub-type (hypodiploidy) of ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) in February of 2014. She started a 2 and ½ year course of chemotherapy. After 28 days, her cancer was in “remission” and she had a MRD (minimum residual disease) of ZERO. Researchers are finding that risk of relapse is generally proportional to the level of MRD. This was good news for Molly, but because she had hypodiploid ALL, we had to make an agonizing decision of whether she should undergo a bone marrow transplant (indicated with HALL) or continue aggressive chemotherapy only (because of her MRD=0). After consulting many sources, it was decided she would continue with chemo.
So, Molly spent a lot of her high school career undergoing chemo, hospital stays and spinal taps. She did this while also trying to juggle school work and friends. Molly finished her treatment in June of 2016, the summer before her senior year. There were a lot of ups and downs along the way. She developed steroid induced AVN (avascular necrosis) in her hips and knees. She received several surgeries at CHOP to help correct the damage, but eventually had a right hip replacement in July of 2016. She went on to have her left hip replaced in May of 2019 and her right knee replaced in July 2021. We are hoping that she will now be free of any pain and her other knee will be spared.
Although it was a rough road, Molly was fortunate to have many positive things come her way in those 2 and ½ years as well. We all had a great vacation with extended family to Justin’s Beach House (a respite for cancer patients and their families- www.justinjennings.org ) in Bethany Beach, DE. She had a huge Sweet Sixteen party, a helicopter ride, Taylor Swift and One Direction concerts, a hot air balloon ride and even a trip to LA to see a taping of "Dancing with the Stars" ( www.dreamcometrue.org )! All of the fun times with family and friends got her through the bad days.
In October of 2014, Trinity Pharmacy employees (the pharmacy that Rusty was a part of) planned the 1st annual MollySTRONG golf tournament to support and honor Molly. It was a fantastic, successful event and turned out to be the beginning of the MollySTRONG Foundation! It was a great idea to come together in support of Molly and use it to do good things!! See below about our 8 MollySTRONG golf tournaments and what they have gone on to do!
Progress
Molly Today
Molly is living life to its fullest! Molly finished her chemo in June of 2016 and went on to enjoy her senior year at Emmaus High School and graduate with her class of 2017. She graduated from the 6 year doctorate of Physical Therapy program at Lebanon Valley College in 2023. She has since started her career as a physical therapist at Phoenix Physical Therapy where she has just earned the title of Clinic Director! We feel blessed that she has remained in remission and on June 4th, 2021, she was officially considered "cured"! Molly recently got engaged on December 10th,2023 and we are beyond excited for her as she begins this new chapter.
Drug Discovery!
There are very exciting things happening in terms of leukemia treatment options! We hope to continue to support the researchers at St. Jude's in their developments! Click below to read more.
Donate Now
The MollySTRONG Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. No goods or services were provided in exchange for your generous financial donation.
Thank you to our Sponsors
