Mya Lin Terry was little but mighty.
“She was larger than life – always cheerful and always worried about everyone else first,” says her mother, Kelly Lin Terry.
Tragically, Mya Lin died at age 10 after a five-year fight against non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and secondary acute myeloid leukemia. In her memory, Kelly and her family created The Mya Lin Terry Foundation.
“We wanted to help other families because we were swarmed with assistance over the course of Mya’s battle,” Kelly says.
The foundation generously donated $50,000 in honor of Jessica Scerbo, M.D., Mya Lin’s pediatric hematologist-oncologist, who’s now at K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital. The gift will support Tackle Kids Cancer, a fundraising initiative of Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation that supports care, research, survivorship and patient programs at K. Hovnanian and Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital.
The donation will fund programs Dr. Scerbo is helping to grow: fertility preservation and behavioral health services. The two areas struck a chord with Kelly, the foundation’s president. Mya Lin showed clear signs of mental distress during her cancer battle. And the little girl, diagnosed at age five, “always wanted to be a mommy,” recalls Kelly.
Fighting for Brighter Futures
Fighting cancer can give you tunnel vision. You don’t always think about other health priorities because you’re so focused on treating the disease, Kelly says. That can leave mental health and fertility underserved.
Cancer treatment can affect children’s fertility later in life. So, the hospital offers a process to remove and store a child’s ovary. When they reach adulthood, they can choose to harvest eggs for in vitro fertilization. Meanwhile, the behavioral health program focuses on the psychological challenges of cancer care.
“Kelly took this awful experience and turned it into something incredible,” Dr. Scerbo says. “She took this as an opportunity to make it Mya’s legacy.”
At K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, the foundation supports many of “Mya’s warriors”—children battling cancer—with monetary grants and other gifts.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the Mya Lin Terry Foundation and their support,” says Ellen Hahn, director of development at the Children’s Hospital. “Donations like this are a powerful reminder that we’re not just fighting cancer, but fighting for a brighter, more fulfilling future for these children.”
Next Steps & Resources:
- To learn more about Tackle Kids Cancer, or to make a gift today, visit TackleKidsCancer.org or contact Ellen Hahn, director of development at ellen.hahn@hmhn.org.
A Ripple Effect of Giving and Love to Benefit Patients
For Sandy Rosamilia and her family, a generous gift made through the Jessica Foundation to support the cancer center expansion project at JFK University Medical Center – given in honor of her granddaughter, Jessica, and her husband, Joseph – is sure to do just that.
Empowering Recovery and Healing for Children and Families through Community Fundraising
The Audrey Hepburn Children’s House at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, a state-designated Regional Diagnostic Center for child abuse and neglect, is providing much-needed services for infants, children, adolescents and their family members who are suspected victims of abuse.
Family Honors Daughter’s Legacy With Gift to Children’s Hospital
Through the Megan Schulman Pediatric Vascular Anomalies Clinic, the Schulman family is honoring their daughter’s legacy and spirit of giving.
Bringing Smiles and Hope to Pediatric Patients at JFK University Medical Center
To honor the life of Marisa Tufaro, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation and the Middlesex County community rallied together in her memory, culminating in a heartfelt gesture to support pediatric patients and their loved ones at JFK University Medical Center.
Since December, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has made a generous multi-part gift to bring smiles to pediatric patients and their families. Generous donations include a portable Starlight Nintendo gaming station, four new iPads with protective cases, more than 700 children’s books, hundreds of toys, and two multi-device charging stations for parents.
In addition, the foundation also made a monetary gift to support the Patient Assistance Fund, which offers relief for families dealing with various personal or medical expenses.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to honor Marisa’s loving memory by supporting her hometown hospital which, incredibly, assisted more than 23,000 patients in its pediatric emergency department last year alone,” says Greg Tufaro, Marisa’s father and co-executive director of the foundation. “We are honored to be able to pay forward the benevolence of our nonprofit’s supporters from across Middlesex County and beyond with donations that can help ease some of the anxiety or stress these pediatric patients may experience and burdens their families may face.”
Born with a complex cardiac defect, Marisa Tufaro survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing in January 2017 to a rare form of cancer following a courageous battle. She was just 13 years old.