SebastianStrong Spreads Holiday Cheer to Sylvester Pediatric Patients and Families
On Give Miami Day, SebastianStrong served pre-Thanksgiving meals to families at Alex’s Place.
On Give Miami Day, the SebastianStrong Foundation gave as well as received.
The non-profit organization teamed up with Apocalypse BBQ recently to provide a holiday meal to young patients and their families at Alex’s Place, a state-of-the-art pediatric hematology-oncology clinic at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of UHealth – the University of Miami Health System.
“We want to bring a little bit of normalcy and a little bit of joy – and some really good food – to these families who will be spending Thanksgiving in the hospital,” said Oscar Ortiz, the executive director of SebastianStrong, which is dedicated to funding research to cure childhood cancer and easing the burdens of families facing cancer.
Supporting Sylvester’s Cancer Research
Ortiz knows all too well how difficult the holidays can be for families with a sick child, especially one who is undergoing cancer treatment. His son, Sebastian, spent 14 months in and out of the hospital, undergoing grueling treatments for rhabdomyosarcoma, a soft tissue cancer, before he passed in 2016.
Shortly after his son’s passing, Ortiz started SebastianStrong to honor Sebastian’s life and support research to create less toxic, more targeted treatment options for children facing cancer.
When Sebastian was diagnosed there was only one treatment protocol. It was more than 40 years old and highly toxic. Sadly, this is the case for many types of childhood cancer. SebastianStrong wants to change that.
“Through Sebastian’s journey we learned a lot about the lack of funding, the lack of innovation in childhood cancer research and the importance of allocating resources to it,” said Ortiz. “The fact is, organizations like ours play a key role. We are currently in the middle of a four-year, $1.5 million partnership with the Dolphins Cancer Challenge to support critical research at Sylvester.”
Spreading Holiday Cheer
Dressed in a turkey costume, Ortiz joined SebastianStrong volunteers in serving a delicious pre-Thanksgiving meal at Alex’s Place with food provided by Apocalypse BBQ.
Owner Jeff Budnechky was a patient at Sylvester. He spent a good part of his 20s being treated for acute myeloid leukemia and underwent a bone marrow transplant.
“I was able to walk away with a second chance at life and that’s something I will forever be grateful for,” said Budnechky. “Not many children and young adults get my outcome. For me to be back here at Sylvester and give back to this community is incredible. To be able to bring one minute of normalcy to the children’s lives and give them something to smile about is incredibly special.”
Ida Rodriguez, MSW, LCSW, a clinical social worker at Alex’s Place, deeply appreciates the impact such gestures have on young cancer patients and their families.
“Oscar and SebastianStrong have been collaborating with us for several years, providing a pre-Thanksgiving meal to brighten up the day for our patients in the clinic and giving them something to look forward to,” said Rodriguez. “It brings a lot of warmth to my heart to be able to help the patients at their most vulnerable time and support them through their journey.”
Tags: Acute Myeloid Leukemia, alex's place, cancer research, philanthropy, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center