Security Health Plan supports Ewing’s Sarcoma fighters with $1,000
OnFocus – “Hearing that your child has cancer is every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Security Health Plan Senior I.T. Project Manager Derek Dieringer. His son, Ryan, was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma when he was 16.
Ewing’s is a particularly rare form of bone and soft tissue cancer that typically affects children and young adults – only about 200 children are diagnosed with it each year in the U.S. – so Derek and his wife, Becky, struggled to find information on the disease.
“Then we stumbled on the 1 Million 4 Anna Foundation,” said Derek. The parent-run, Texas-based foundation gave the Dieringer family so much support that they continue to invest in the organization annually with their own money. This year, Derek also nominated the 1 Million 4 Anna Foundation to receive Security Health Plan’s monthly $1,000 Employee-Driven Corporate Giving Award in February.
The funds will be used to help a Wisconsin recipient, depending on his or her needs: partial funding of a college scholarship, family monetary assistance for a Wisconsin teen battling cancer, or a donation of spirit-lifting packages for teens fighting cancer at one of the area children’s hospitals.
1 Million 4 Anna’s mission is to eradicate Ewing’s Sarcoma, with an eye to today (monetary support to families), tomorrow (college scholarships) and until it’s gone (research for a cure). The Foundation has awarded over 88 scholarships worth more than $200,000 since its establishment in 2012. Their largest grant ($250,000) established a Ewing’s Sarcoma Research Program at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas where five research scientists carry out five projects on Ewing’s to improve treatment and find a cure. Ryan Dieringer is just one of the grateful college scholarship recipients.
The Dieringer family found hope, information, support and someone to talk to in founder and mother of Anna, Carol Basso. The foundation has reached out to families in 40 states and three Canadian provinces, sharing stories of success and calling on a network of supporters for needed prayers.
“We were very fortunate to have found 1 Million 4 Anna during a very difficult time in our lives and we’re thankful for the opportunity to give back to them,” said Derek. “We hope they can continue to help others who find themselves in the same situation we were in.”
And even though Ryan is now 21 months with no evidence of disease, the Bassos and Dieringers continue to talk and check in on Ryan.
Visit here to donate to 1 Million 4 Anna, read Anna’s story and view information about upcoming events and fundraisers like the Second Annual Golf Tournament and Dinner to take place this summer in Duluth, Georgia.
You can also join the foundation’s annual $12.12 on 12/12 campaign, which asks supporters to donate $12.12 toward Ewing Sarcoma research in acknowledgement of the daily prayers the Bassos and supporters said for Anna at 12:12 p.m. The inspiration? Romans 12:12, which advises, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
-Submitted to FOCUS by Security Health Plan
