Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – A child diagnosed with cancer impacts an entire family. Not only does a cancer diagnosis turn a child’s entire world upside down, but overwhelming medical expenses can add an enormous amount of financial stress on families with minimal income.
Aid to Families of Children With Cancer (AFCC) is an organization that supports families who have a child diagnosed with cancer in the Puerto Vallarta region. The organization receives no government funding so relies solely on donations from private donors, community organizations, and fundraisers.
The pandemic has made this past year especially difficult for these families but, thanks to all of you, the AFCC continues to make a difference. Here’s the latest news from the AFCC:
Here’s Regina – she’s only seven years old and spent most of this past year in the hospital. Regina was diagnosed with a malignant high-grade posterior brain tumor (fossa tumor Emendymoma grade III) in December of 2019. She had surgery but it isn’t possible to operate a 2nd time because the tumor is too near her brain. The doctors have said that she will need to travel to the hospital in Guadalajara 2 times a month for the next five years.
Her travel expenses to Guadalajara for hospitalization come to $4,000 MXN per month (meals and lodging for a parent). There is an alternative new treatment that will cost $6,000 MXN per month including diet and supplements. She was so excited to receive a laptop which will help her get back to her school work.
We continue to provide monthly despensas to 22 families. Some of the children have been prescribed special diets of organic produce along with Ensure and Pedisure to build up their strength. The shopping for organic produce has to be done twice a month. The addition of organic produce has increased our costs and prescription costs have increased considerably.
We provide travel support to the families. Over this past year, this has been coming to around 50% of our monthly costs. This support helps to pay for travel on the bus and covers the cost of a parent to stay with their child including their meals. This month alone, seven of the children have to make multiple trips between Vallarta and Guadalajara.
We started our Facebook page and our gogetfunding site a year ago this month. As we look back, a lot has been accomplished but as you can imagine, so much more is still needed. We need donations to continue to provide these families with the support they need.
I hope you’ll find it in your hearts to help us help them to live better lives. You can donate through GoGetFunding.com.