Leia’s Kids

Local teen, two-time cancer survivor launches foundation to help area children and their families battling cancer

BLOOMINGDALE -- Leia Hunt is only 18, a senior at Indian Creek High School, running track, looking forward to graduation and studying special education in college.

But already she's an inspirational speaker who twice has survived cancer and is the founder of a nonprofit providing hope and support to area children and their families battling childhood cancer, a scenario all too familiar.

Faith in God throughout the journey has sustained and inspired her.

Launched in 2017, Leia's Kids provides direct financial assistance to children and their families who are fighting childhood cancer through the "Crown a Kid" event, when a monetary donation is given on behalf of the charity and Hunt's community partners. Any child up to age 17 actively undergoing cancer treatment and living in the Ohio Valley corridor qualifies. The process begins via an e-mail sent to leiaskids.org.

Hunt presented the foundation's first check in the amount of $1,000 on March 11 at the Bergholz Volunteer Fire Department, where a fundraiser was held to benefit 15-year-old Ian Cornish of Richmond. Cornish, who has autism and is nonverbal, recently was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer rarely seen in children.

"I saw a little brief in the newspaper about the benefit, and we were actually looking for a child to support," Hunt explained. "I am really happy about it and glad I can come out and support a family and be able to help them."

Accepting the check was Ian's mother, Sonya Lancaster of Richmond, who was grateful and emotional.

"I am absolutley just blown away by the complete strangers that reach out to you in this time of absolute need," Lancaster said. "It's overwhelming, it's incredibly emotional. I've never met her before, ever, and to have people come up and say, 'Listen, we want to help, we've been there, we've done this, and we know how hard it is,' it's very emotional, so I am incredibly thankful and grateful for everybody who has just stepped out and said 'Hey, you're not alone,'" Lancaster added.

Hunt, the daughter of Travis and Bonnie Hunt of Bloomingdale, was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer, when she was 2. It led to 31 surgical procedures, multiple rounds of chemotherapy and ultimately radiation, resulting in total blindness in one eye.

Hunt said she was sent to Philadelphia for her treatment.

"I would return every month for surgery and a round of chemo for the next six months until the cancer cells were no longer active. Afterwards, I still returned to Philly for surgery to check the prognosis every month," she noted. "Twelve months from the initial diagnosis, at the age of 3 1/2, the cancer returned. This time, we needed to be a little more aggressive in therapy. I needed a radiation plague placed in my eye for one week. I was hospitalized during this week while the radiation isotope was on the cancer in my left eye. After one week, I was sent home, and the cancer had stopped growing. I have been cancer-free ever since," she said, explaining that she slowly lost vision in her left eye, one of the side effects of the radiation.

"I think growing up with cancer's side effects is just as hard as going through the treatment. It has played a significant role in my academics and athletics. It definitely makes doing the normal things a lot harder. I just have to find my own way to do activities," she said.

It was out of a desire to do more that motivated Hunt to start Leia's Kids.

"I wanted to personally be able to help a family," Hunt said. "I always did fundraisers in elementary school and throughout high school. I soon realized that one of those foundations only put 1 percent into childhood cancer research. The children are the future. Why should their cancer be any less important?" she noted, explaining that her particular cancer is diagnosed 90 percent of the time by age 5, good reason to generate awareness about childhood cancer.

"Many people came out to help my family and me when we were experiencing the initial diagnosis. I wanted to give back and help others take a little off of their minds. I was at the point where I wanted to do more," she said.

In late October 2017, Hunt took the initiative to do just that with the establishment of Leia's Kids, which depends on "the graciousness and generosity of our community parnters or 'Friends of Leia' to financially support our mission," promotional material notes. It does not accept government or federal funding. It does, however, accept tax-deductible donations via PayPal as well as personal and corporate checks, cash and gift cards. All "Friends of Leia" are featured on the Internet site with their business logo, and if desired, a direct link to their website. A donor's request for anonymity, however, also would be honored.

"I really want to spread more kindness throughout the world and giving back to the community that helped my family, and being able to do that really makes me happy," she said. "I was given a second chance at life, and I want to be able to give another family that same chance. When going through treatment, your worry should be on your child and family, not on how to pay for the treatment and accessory needs. I want to help take that burden off of them," Hunt continued.

"When I was undergoing treatment, my neighborhood donated a swingset to us. During this time, I couldn't leave the house because of my compromised immune system, so my siblings couldn't leave either. With the swingset, my older brother and sister could still have fun and be kids. I remember that being something amazing, and it meant so much to my family. Hopefully, one day I can raise enough funds to donate a swingset to a child with siblings," she said.

Through it all, Hunt has maintained a positive attitude.

"I think I am able to have one because of my faith. I fully relied on my trust in the Lord," Hunt said. "Without my faith, none of this would have been possible. My faith gives me the hope to overcome any obstacle. My faith, and my family's faith, was used when we heard the news for the first time and the second time. God doesn't let us go through anything alone. God brought people to us to help and assist us. He brought the world-renowned doctor into our circle, friends to cook dinners, donate a swingset and help with my older brother and sister," she said, referring to Logan and Lauren. She also has two younger sisters in Lucia, a freshman at Catholic Central High School, and Liliana, a seventh-grader at Bishop John King Mussio Junior High.

"Whatever the need, God provided," Hunt said. "He doesn't give us anything we cannot handle. That faith is what I saw when I was little. I continue with that faith, and I want to be there so that someone else does not need to be alone during a very trying time."

Hunt said her attitude was built on her faith and her family, her biggest supporters.

"Although I was young, this became a foundational moment for my journey in the present time. I was too little to have a horrible attitude. As a child, we absorb how those around us are acting. My parents did not lose hope or curse the day that this happened. They had the faith that God was in control, and he would take care of the situation. And God has taken care of every detail," she said.

Naming the foundation involved the consideration of different options and input.

"We picked Leia's Kids for obvious reasons, but to show that we are donating to kids," Hunt explained. "The color gold represents the childhood cancer ribbon, and purple represents loyalty, and that fits perfectly with our 'Crown A Kid' event. 'Crown A Kid' is the event when we donate the check to the family. I want the child to feel special and royal. This is their moment, and I want them to feel special and for it to be a day to celebrate his or her life," she noted.

So far, money for the foundation has been generated through donations.

"I hope to have more fundraisers, but I am trying to finish up my senior high school year, prepare for college and run track," she explained. "Right now, I know God will provide the money that is needed for the children. The money we give to the families is all donations. We have local community members who have donated and also have First National Bank who gave us a donation. We are hoping to do a fundraiser sometime in the future."

Four board members decide who will receive assistance. "We want to do every child, but we don't have the funds to right now. We need more donations and to keep spreading the word. When we get information on a child, my heart sinks because no child should have to go through this, but I also get excited because I know right away that I want to help them," Hunt said.

"Being raised in this area has allowed me to identify that I can make a change due to the socioeconomic status of the surrounding area," she noted. "I know that the community's contributions and Leia's Kids can change a life, no matter the size of the gesture."

Hunt emphasized that Leia's Kids is not about her.

"My desire is purely to help people and show them love and compassion. My family and I speak from experience and are hoping to help in any way possible," she said. "In today's society all we hear about is the negative, but very rarely do we hear about the good. I want to be a positive example of the good that is still left in the world today. My dream is to one day help all the local children with this devastating disease and then move to help everyone in nearby cities and states and then hopefully help families around the world."

"We're very proud of her to have the desire to want to help other children, and it just goes with everything about Leia," said her mother, Bonnie.

"She loves her faith, she loves helping others, and she's doing exactly what she's always wanted to do, and we're so grateful to the sponsors, the community that has sent financial donations to allow her to do this."

To contact Leia's Kids, e-mail leiaskids@gmail.com or call (740) 381-0214. The mailing address is P.O. Box 2211, Wintersville OH 43910.

(Kiaski can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com.)