Once upon a time there was a little boy named Liam who was cute as a button with beautiful brown eyes, sandy blond hair and the most expressive eyebrows. As fate would have it, he also spent a lot of time from the age of 2 ½ at MSKCC. He became friends with everyone he met whether it was the nurses and doctors who cared for him, those who operated the floor cleaners, ran the cafeteria, were part of the security team, in the pharmacy or on the fire safety brigade. If you were at MSKCC when he was at MSKCC, you probably heard his voice on the intercom system assuring everyone that everything was fine during a fire safety alarm test. He spent so much time in the halls of MSKCC that he used it as a classroom. He learned about different art styles from mosaics to impressionism looking at the art hanging on the walls. He learned how pneumatic tubes worked. He watched how blood was collected and how plasma separated. He would saunter into the office in the cafeteria as if he belonged and no one ever made him feel anything less than a part of the team. He helped operate the floor cleaning machines which was so satisfying and fascinating. He was known for asking a million and one questions and always wanting to know how things worked and everything about the people who made those things work. He would routinely bring a telescope or two with him to the hospital, sometimes a microscope just because, a guitar, lots of notebooks, his super ball collection, caution tape and other décor to jazz up his room and a wide variety of pens in all different sizes and colors. He could never have enough pens.

When he was cancer free, his family was so grateful that they decided to bake some cookies to help fund a new treatment. With the help of more than 250 passionate volunteers, they baked (and baked, and baked, and baked) 96,000 cookies. At the time, it seemed like a perfectly reasonable number. The cookies were shipped all over the country and even to a princess in Saudi Arabia. They thought it was a one-time project. It was so much more. As people heard the story, they wanted to get involved and help kids. And, as the story goes, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer was born.

Today, the organization has funded more than $21 million in research which has helped make many new treatments for kids available. Supporters in all 50 states and more than two dozen countries have organized more than 16,000 grassroots events from bake sales to billiards tournaments, corporate supporters have stepped up to support and of course there have been lots of cookies sent far and wide. After all, with 100% of the proceeds going towards pediatric cancer research, it’s a thoughtful, meaningful and yummy gift that gives back.

Liam’s story took a turn and the little boy known as Prince Liam lost his battle after a valiant four year fight. His memorial service was held on the only day that made sense for the little boy who exuded love and life – Valentine’s Day. Dozens of people from MSKCC attended and many participated. It was a service fit for the Prince he was.

This Valentine’s Day we wanted to share some of our cookies with you as a thank you for all you do. Think of these cookies as a gift from Liam. We know that Liam's expectation was that if there was something we could do to make things better, we would. And it's what we know you're doing every day.

Love,

Liam and The Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Team