N.J. nonprofit works to bring hope, help to children diagnosed with cancer – NJ.com

“For every parent who has heard the words, ‘your child has cancer,’ it is a moment frozen in time,” said Monica Vermeulen, founder of the Monmouth County-based Ashley Lauren Foundation. “In one shattering instant, life forever changes. Coping with pediatric cancer is one of the most distressing events that a family must face. They are thrown into a world of unfamiliar and uncertain terrain.

“I am not a stranger to this dreaded disease,” Vermeulen continued. “In February 1991, my daughter, Ashley Lauren, was a typical, energetic 3-year-old child, adored by her family. When Ashley’s diagnosis of Wilms Tumor (kidney cancer) came, our lives were shattered. After losing her left kidney and adrenal gland to the disease, it had spread into her lymph system. Ashley endured many grueling years of chemotherapy, radiation and their effects. Ashley is now a grown woman, is cancer-free and lives with hope in her heart and, in her honor, I began the foundation.”

Vermeulen runs the nonprofit with a “passion to bring hope and help” to children in New Jersey who have been diagnosed with cancer and their families.

The independent nonprofit works “hands-on” with each family. “We provide immediate relief for the daily burdens thrust upon those who are battling pediatric cancer,” Vermeulen said.

Describing how the Ashley Lauren Foundation is different from other nonprofits who help children diagnosed with cancer and their families, Vermeulen said, “There are organizations that fund research, we do not do that. I know that hands-on support is greatly needed and emotional support is essential, and that’s what we do … 24/7. When a need comes up, we’re there.”

Since its founding in 2005, the foundation has helped more than 1,000 children (newborn to age 21). At any given time, the foundation is “actively assisting” 100 children.

Specifically, the foundation works to “ease the journey when pediatric cancer is diagnosed by providing direct financial and material assistance as well as emotional support and advocacy.”

The foundation offers families financial assistance to help with household bills, medications not paid through medical insurance, traveling expenses to-and-from hospitals, funeral expenses and more. The nonprofit also helps with food, clothing and household items.

Vermeulen stressed the extreme financial hardship for families when one parent must stop working and for single-parent households.

“One of the biggest needs for a family battling pediatric cancer is financial assistance,” she said. “I can personally attest to that. The needs are so vast, and we are committed to doing all that we can to help in this area. We have been receiving referrals of families who are in jeopardy of losing household utilities; health insurance, etc. because they are losing time from work and their medical bills are so enormous.

“In addition, we have been receiving referrals of families who can no longer afford the medications needed for their child and are without transportation to and from their child’s treatment center. As unbelievable as all of this might sound, it is true.”

For families coping with pediatric cancer, emotional support is of paramount importance, too. Annually, the foundation hosts four parties for the children and their families — a Spring Party at the Boardwalk, Summerfest, Harvest Party, and Holiday Party. Bus service is always offered to those who need transportation to and from events.

Each event — open children who are off treatment and their families, too — typically draws as many as 250 attendees.

In the time of COVID-19, the in-person events for children have been impossible, Vermeulen noted. But the organization and its supporters have come up with creative ways to deliver happy moments to the children.

“We do everything we can to bring smiles to their faces and joy to their hearts,” Vermeulen said.

Since in-person parties are not feasible, supporters have held toy drives and collected baskets full of treats to be delivered to the children.

The nonprofit also runs a Making Dreams Come True program. Recently, “very generous” supporters of the nonprofit funded a trip to Disney World for a 13-year-old with spinal cancer. Airfare, accommodations and park tickets were all provided to the child who “always wanted to go to Florida” and her family.

The foundation also has a Birthday Brigade program for each child.

“The Ashley Lauren Foundation has been a tremendous help for all of the families I have referred to it, providing both financial and practical assistance as well as delightful holiday and birthday gifts to help the children’s spirits,” said Heather Hoover, a pediatric oncology social worker at Newark Beth Israel Hospital. “The amount of assistance has been generous enough to meet specific emergent needs of very low-income families who are faced with the recent cancer diagnosis of one of their children.

“The single-parent families I have referred have been particularly grateful for the assistance so generously provided, as they are often unable to work as they struggle to accommodate their schedules with their child’s treatment and must often wait up to two months for disability benefits to start.”

Vermeulen explained that families typically learn about the foundation from the hospital where the child is being treated or via word-of-mouth.

The foundation is partnered with several hospitals where children receive their care.

Partner hospitals include:

• Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch
• St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston
• Hackensack/Meridian Hospital in Hackensack
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick
• St. Peter’s Hospital in New Brunswick
• K Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune
• Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark
• Goreyb Children’s Center at Overlook Medical Center in Morristown
• St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• and Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York Presbyterian, New York University Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian, and Mount Sinai Hospital, all in New York City.

The foundation stays with families for as long as its services are needed.

“Basically (we’re with them) as soon as we get the referral and we stay with them until we are no longer needed,” Vermeulen said. “We stay when a child is in remission, when they go for checkups and bloodwork; if a child relapses, we’re there; and, if a child loses their battle, we’re there. We don’t just drop the family; we stay until we know we’re no longer needed. The family knows when they’re fine.”

She said sometimes families who have received assistance become volunteers themselves.

Vermeulen said like other nonprofits, fundraising in the time of the coronavirus has been challenging for ALF.

Before COVID-19, the biggest source of fundraising was in-person events such as galas and golf outings. Direct donor contributions and 50/50 raffles also support the nonprofit.

“The pandemic has eliminated the in-person fundraising events, so we’ve had to be creative,” she said. “We’ve been fortunate to have help, like other organizations, with federal and local grants — that was a big. Currently, ALF is running an off-site 50/50 raffle (for more information, go to the nonprofit’s website below).

The nonprofit, which currently has about two dozen volunteers, is always looking for people to help with its efforts.

“We always need volunteers,” Vermeulen said. Donations also are always gratefully accepted. To learn more about the foundation, go to its website, call 732-414-1625 or email info@ashleylaurenfoundation.org.