Our Story

Be The Rainbow Foundation was founded by our family who has fought alongside our youngest daughter, Charlotte, deep in the trenches of pediatric cancer, not once, or even twice, but for her third time after discovering a relapse in January 2025. In 2016, at just 2 years old, Charlotte was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer of the peripheral nervous system. Our sweet, typically full-of-life toddler, suddenly became lethargic and anemic with abdominal pain. After many weeks of visiting her pediatrician, Charlotte was admitted to the hospital where a large abdominal tumor was discovered. It had metastasized into her bone marrow. In a blink, our baby girl was facing stage IV cancer.  We were thrust into a world of helping our daughter fight for her life while also trying to prioritize keeping our family together and intact. We were surrounded by a wonderfully supportive village of family and friends, and also received help from many incredible organizations along the way. Every ounce of support and kindness carried us along this journey towards healing Charlotte. We leaned into our faith and believed God had a bigger plan than we could have ever imagined. We knew one day we wanted to help other families who were also going through the unimaginable, but we wanted and needed Charlotte to be a part of it.

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After 5 years of battling cancer, including a devastating relapse just weeks before she started Kindergarten in 2019, Charlotte had finished all therapy and our hopes began to look like a reality. However, instead of having her FINAL MIBG scan to check for cancer, she started having some lower leg pain that could not be explained by x-rays or the orthopedist. We decided to request an MRI and her MIBG a little early to be sure it wasn't our worst fears....and yet it was. At the end of January, 2025, 5 years after being clear of disease, Charlotte's scans revealed her cancer had returned and metastasized to some of her bones--both of her legs and a spot on one of her arms. It has taken me 8 months to even be able to type these words and update this website. We were beyond devastated. As you might imagine, when we started this nonprofit, our family felt like we were in the position we had hoped and fought for!  We were finally able to be on the other side of all the receiving and so we created Be The Rainbow Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, offering families facing pediatric cancer support during treatment, recovery, and beyond the days of therapy. We partner with families and family support organizations to help in any way we are able, filling in any gaps with gifts of comfort, joy, living expenses and various financial assistance that they may need as they battle childhood cancer. 

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Although Charlotte’s story is still being written and she is back in treatment for this relapse, Be The Rainbow Foundation was created WITH her, and in honor of her and all children and families facing a pediatric cancer diagnosis. Thank you for your generous donations and for helping to be the rainbow for families facing childhood cancer. We look forward to sharing the impact you have helped us make as we work towards helping families fight pediatric cancer, together. And we will keep fighting for her and all the kids and families who need a village of support to keep going.

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Behind Our Name: Why Be The Rainbow?

Shortly after Charlotte’s diagnosis, rainbows began to appear at the most incredible moments. Each one felt like a wink from God, fueling us, comforting us in our darkest moments. These rainbows provided a hope that we were part of something much bigger than this awful disease that was trying to tear us apart. But even more incredible than feeling God’s presence, like His hand on our shoulders, was how the rainbows began to weave people into our lives along this journey we were on. Suddenly, through the sharing of Charlotte’s care page, rainbows would start to be sent to us from all over the country and world! We didn’t always need to have a rainbow appear directly in front of us because the village we had begun to amass would instantly stop when they saw a rainbow, and they would share that moment with us through a text message, an email, or a social media post. We were flooded with rainbows from friends, family, neighbors, and sometimes strangers that had begun to care for our family and Charlotte. It was incredible. Heaven sent. And no matter the person’s faith, their prayers for Charlotte flowed to us as we kept chasing these rainbows through years of treatment. We kept blogging about Charlotte’s journey not only to help gather the power of prayer, but because we believed that something bigger was unfolding, weaving us all together.

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So many people became the rainbow for us in our darkest moments. We knew we wanted to be the rainbow for other families facing childhood cancer one day. We knew our ever growing village, which had surrounded us all this time, would want to help us too. And so Be The Rainbow Foundation was created with the hope that through the continued generosity of spirit, we could help provide families battling childhood cancer some necessary support by partnering with these families identified through hospital social services and child life, as well as working directly with established family support organizations. 

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We can simply count our blessings, our rainbows, and celebrate how far Charlotte has come, or we can continue sharing what we witnessed by being the rainbow in another family’s darkest time. And just like we always have, we need your help to keep our mission going and moving forward. Thank you for supporting Be The Rainbow Foundation and helping us make an impact for families in need.