The Maddie B. Childhood Cancer Foundation

09/02/2025

Childhood cancer does not just affect the child — it changes the entire family forever. Parents suddenly become full-time caregivers, siblings feel the heavy weight of fear and worry, and family routines are replaced with endless hospital visits. Vacations are postponed, jobs are put on hold, and normal life is ripped away. The impact runs deep and lasts long beyond treatment. Supporting a family through childhood cancer means lifting up the entire household — because they’re all fighting in different ways.

09/01/2025

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a time to shine a light on the children and families who face this heartbreaking disease every single day. Did you know that in the United States, 47 children are diagnosed with cancer every single day? That’s more than two classrooms full of kids, each day, starting a fight no child should ever face. Behind each number is a name, a face, a story, and a family who has had their world turned upside down. Together, we can spread awareness, raise funds for research, and push for better treatments that will save more lives. 💛

09/01/2025

💛 We have some big news to share… 💛

Thanks to the incredible generosity of this community, the Maddie B Foundation has officially donated more than $10,000 to childhood cancer research with a grand total of $10,341.30 so far.

When we started this foundation in Maddie’s honor, our hope was to continue her light by helping other children and families walking through their hardest days. Childhood cancer is still so underfunded, but every dollar given is a step toward better treatments and more hope for these kids.

We never want another family to experience what we did when Maddie died. That is why research matters so deeply. It saves lives, and it gives kids and families the chance for more time, more memories, and more hope.

Along with supporting research, we’ve also been able to bring joy in the way Maddie always did through toys and room decor kits that brighten hospital rooms and remind kids that they are loved and never alone.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. 💛 Whether you donated, shared, walked with us, or simply cheered us on, you have made this milestone possible. Together, we are carrying Maddie’s love forward and making a difference one smile, one step, and one dollar at a time.

08/29/2025

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

We’re excited to share some great news! Thanks to a generous sponsor, we’ve been gifted a booth at the Webster Garlic Festival on September 6 & 7! 🎉

We will have the same setup as we did at Fairport Canal Days, where together we raised over $2,000 for childhood cancer research and spread so much awareness. Now, we can’t wait to do it all again in Webster!

We’re looking for volunteers to lend a hand with set up, clean up, and running the booth. Even a few hours makes a huge difference and as a thank you we will gift you a free Maddie B shirt 💛.

If you can join us, we’d be so grateful! Please comment below or message us with what you can help with! (I can’t get the sign up sheet to work on my phone and I’m not near a computer)

As always, if you want to donate baked goods to sell (made or store bought individually packaged) or any crafty things that we could sell (in the past people have made jewelry, keychains, 3d printed items, raffle baskets but we are open to anything) they are always welcome!

**Thursday, September 4th 5-8pm: drop items off at our house
**Friday, September 5th 5-8pm: help set up booth at the Garlic Fest
**Saturday September 6th 10am-1:30pm: help run the booth during the festival
**Saturday September 6th 1:30-5pm: help run the booth during the festival
**Sunday September 7th 10am-1pm: help run the booth during the festival
**Sunday September 7th 1-4pm: help run the booth during the festival
**Sunday September 7th 4pm: Help clean up the booth at the end of the festival

08/02/2025

We just sent off another $707 dollars to cancer research 🙌🏻🎉🥳🎊

We are SO close to having donated $10,000 overall to research. If anyone wants to help us reach $10,000 feel free to donate to our Venmo and I will send it over to COG! You could also donate it to COG yourself in Maddie’s name but then send me the screen shot so I can add it to our total!!

THANKS for all of your support 🥰

07/16/2025

🎉 Big news! 🎉

A huge THANK YOU to Jamie Waterman's Warrior for pitching the Maddie B Foundation to GEICO and helping us WIN 3rd place — along with an incredible $9,500 donation! 💛

We are beyond grateful to GEICO for believing in our mission and supporting families facing childhood cancer. Because of this generous gift, we’re dreaming BIG — and already planning a very special project that we can’t wait to share with you.

Stay tuned… exciting things are coming! 🦋✨

07/14/2025

I think this is the most money we have raised during one performance!! $540 more went to Childhood Cancer Research this morning. THANK YOU so much Beetlejuice Cast, Crew and Audience!

06/26/2025

🎉 Help Us Celebrate Our Board’s Birthdays! 🎉

June and July are full of celebrations here at the Maddie B Foundation! John just celebrated his birthday on June 16, Peggy is celebrating hers today June 25, and Kaitlyn’s is right around the corner on July 1!

If you’re looking for a way to help us celebrate, consider sending a gift from our Amazon wish list! We’ve added a few new items that will help our foundation with upcoming events and help spread awareness about the reality of childhood cancer—because childhood cancer doesn’t have a face… until it’s your child. 💛

As always, the wish list also includes supplies for our signature room decorating kits if you would rather send those, which bring smiles and comfort to children during their hospital stays.

Thank you for helping us stay Mighty for Madison and for making these birthday months even more meaningful. 💛🎁

06/25/2025

That’s our girl! Those are her shoes!

🎗️ Honoring Madison Barthelmes 🎗️

Thank you to John and Kaitlyn Barthelmes for submitting Madison's shoes for our CureFest Memorial Shoe Display.

Madison Kait Barthelmes was just 6 years old when she passed away on February 14, 2023, after a year-long fight with Leukemia. She was born April 16, 2016, and lived in Fairport with her parents, brother Jackson, and grandparents.

Madison loved to sing and dance, often dancing with nurses, doctors, and patients at Golisano Children's Hospital. She loved drawing, crafting, learning magic with Grandpa, and sewing with Grandma while singing "Puff the Magic Dragon." She was the best big sister to Jackson.

Madison was a big fan of Harry Potter movies and enjoyed making dance videos with Mama. She wanted to be a hair dresser, makeup artist, song-writer, YouTube star, scientist, and nurse.

Madison was a bright light who shared her positive attitude with everyone. Throughout treatments and hospital stays, she was always smiling and would say she was "good" with two thumbs up. Even after 322 nights in the hospital, she still wanted more treatment to get better.

The 2025 CureFest Shoe Memorial Display will be on display Sunday, September 21, 2025, at the base of the Washington Monument in Washington, DC. Each pair of the 1,800 shoes represents one of the children we lose to cancer each year in the United States.

We are grateful to the Barthelmes family for submitting Madison's shoes.

To Other Childhood Cancer Families:

If you have lost a child to cancer, we invite you to honor their memory by contributing shoes to our display. Please send shoes to:

CureFest Shoe Memorial
Attention: Mike Gillette
10311 Beaumont St.
Fairfax, VA 22030

Include a note with your name, email, your child's name and hometown, and shoe description (brand, color, size).

You'll receive email confirmation within one week. We recommend sending new or similar shoes due to shipping risks. Shoes from bereaved families receive special handling.

Once we receive your child's shoes, they will be included in the display each year. You only need to submit once.

For questions, contact Mike at mike@thetruth365.org. 🎗️🎗️🎗️

06/23/2025

Calling all crafty friends! 🧵✂️

We need your help turning piles of fabric that we have into comfort and joy for kids in the hospital! We’re looking for volunteers to make tie blankets or fun pillowcases—just like the ones Maddie received during her hospital stays. These special touches meant the world to her, and we’d love to pass that kindness on to other kids.

If you’re interested in helping, comment below and we’ll coordinate a time for you to pick up materials in Fairport!

Thank you so much for being Mighty for Madison. 💛
(Pictured: Maddie with one of the beautiful handmade blankets and pillowcases she received!)

06/22/2025

We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who showed up to help us sticker, sort, and package toys for delivery to local hospitals! Because of your time and dedication, our very first delivery is already on its way to RGH 💛

Huge thanks also to everyone who donated toys—your generosity is helping us bring smiles, comfort, and moments of joy to kids who need it most.

Every sticker, every donation, every act of kindness helps us carry Maddie’s legacy forward. Thank you for being Mighty for Madison. 💛🎗️

Stay tuned for the amount of toys we got, we missed two boxes when sorting! Whoops!

06/21/2025

We raised $215 from the cast of Little Women at their intermission bake sale. We have donated this to the Children’s Oncology Group. Thanks so much for your support!