"In February 2019, our world was shattered. We heard the words "Diffuse Midline Glioma" and were told our previously healthy 8 year old daughter had 9 months to live."
All of this started with a child’s simple dream... Kids with cancer deserve better. At just 8 years old Liv knew that the status quo wasn’t enough, kids deserved more. They deserved to live. Before my daughter Olivia was diagnosed, our family knew nothing about the lack of support in all areas of pediatric cancer. The lack of funding for research, the lack of help for families dealing with the devastating diagnosis, the isolation, countless hours driving to appointments, waiting for appointments, and test results.
The summer Olivia was fighting her incurable cancer she organized her first fundraiser and Liv like a Unicorn was born. She raised over $10,000 to help fund the clinical trial she was a part of. Read that again, she organized a fundraiser to help fund the medication that we hoped would slow down the growth of her cancer.
Right then and there our family vowed to commit ourselves to changing the landscape of pediatric cancer and pediatric brain tumor research. My hope as a mother is that the work our foundation does will help light the way for a family during their darkest time.
I implore you to read the many ways that we support the pediatric cancer community and find ways to join us. May you always #bethegood and Liv like a Unicorn.
Emma Edwards Lipnicky
Forever Liv's Mom
THREE MAIN AREAS OF SUPPORT
Unicorn
Boxes
The inspiration for our Unicorn Box program started in 2019 while Liv was going through treatment. Every Thursday night would be chemo night, so every Thursday morning she would wake up dreading the day. That was until a friend started to drop little packages on our doorstep every Thursday morning. The narrative started to switch from Liv dreading Thursdays to being excited to see what treat was left for her.
We wanted to do the same for every child going through pediatric cancer treatment.
Financial Assistance
When Liv founded Liv Like A Unicorn in 2019, the #1 thing she wanted to do was make a difference for kids with cancer. In honor of her wish, we are proud to have developed our Financial Assistance Program. We offer financial assistance to qualifying families in the tri-state area who have had the devastating diagnosis of pediatric cancer. We believe that a family's only worry should be caring for their sick child, not how they are going to pay for their bills.
Research Grants
"Pediatric brain tumors are now the leading cause of death by disease in children. The prognosis for patients with DIPG/DMG is very poor, with most studies indicating a median survival of less than 1 year from diagnosis." Our foundation knows that real change will come from research. To date we have granted over $500,000 in grants to top institutions across the country including: Dr. Nicholas Vitanza of Seattle Children's, Dr. Jessica Foster of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and more.
