Make a Difference in the Life of a Child Battling a Recurrence of Cancer
Our Mission
In loving memory of Lauren "ELLE" Richmond
CREATING MEMORIES OF JOY FOR CHILDREN WITH CANCER & GRANTING FINAL WISHES FOR CHILDREN BATTLING A RECURRENCE
Remember you are not just making a donation,
you are granting a wish.
Grace: One ELLE of an Orlando Family Birthday Getaway
Grace was first diagnosed with a Supraternotrial Epndymoma brain tumor in September 2023 two days before her 17thbirthday, then after 26 months of remission Grace was diagnosed with a recurrence in November 2025, just days after her 19th birthday.
Grace wished to go to Orlando to visit the theme parks to celebrate her 20th birthday away fr
Grace was first diagnosed with a Supraternotrial Epndymoma brain tumor in September 2023 two days before her 17thbirthday, then after 26 months of remission Grace was diagnosed with a recurrence in November 2025, just days after her 19th birthday.
Grace wished to go to Orlando to visit the theme parks to celebrate her 20th birthday away from hospitals and treatments with her parents and two brothers.
Grace and her family travelled to Orlando this September 2026, staying at the Grand Floridian and enjoying all that Walt Disney World® and Universal Studios have to offer.
Their thank you notes to ELLE most fully explain the joy and incredible experience of the wish trip:
Excerpts from Grace’s mother:
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving Grace and our entire family a wish trip we will never forget. Celebrating her 20th birthday and the anniversary of her first brain surgery together at Disney World and Universal Studios was an extraordinary gift.
The hotel was spectacular, the food was wonderful, and celebrating Grace’s birthday there was truly magical. But the greatest gift of all was having our whole family together—laughing, enjoying one another, and creating beautiful memories.
My favorite part of the wish, and the moment I will hold closest to my heart, was watching the fireworks spectacular in front of Cinderella Castle on our last night. The songs celebrating the heroes of Disney movies carried messages that felt so personal: keep trying, have courage, be strong, and find the determination to carry on. As I watched the fireworks and looked at my beautiful daughter’s face, I cried happy tears. I thought about everything Grace has endured, the bravery she shows each day, and how grateful I am to God for every day we have together.
Thank you for the care, generosity, and love you poured into Grace’s wish. You gave us joy when we desperately needed it and memories we will treasure forever. The Elle Foundation, you and Lauren will always be part of those memories.
We will be forever grateful for all the wonderful people who donated to make this dream come true! They are real heroes!
Excerpts from Grace:
When I was young, my grandparents used to take us to Disney, and we’d all stay at the Grand Floridian. They passed away when I was young, but we made so many happy memories there, and to get the chance to stay there during our trip was really special. It felt like a piece of them were with us there too.
My family is the most important thing in the world to me, and the past few years with my two brain tumors have been very hard and scary. Yet, when we all were walking down Main Street USA, arm in arm, it really was the happiest place in the whole world. We were all together, surrounded by magic, joy, and the feeling that all our wishes could come true. It was just so special. And as the cherry on top, it was so amazing to be there over my 20th birthday! It was definitely the most magical, and we had my birthday dinner inside the Beast’s Castle! When they sang happy birthday to me, the Beast came out and sang along. It was awesome!
I do want to share with you my favorite moment of the whole trip, which is saying a lot because there were so many incredible experiences. The last night in Magic Kingdom, we had a spot right in front of the castle to watch the fireworks and show. Seeing the stories of all the heroes projected out in front of me, through their hardships and into their triumphs, filled me with so much hope and inspiration. Just like them, I can beat the odds. I can go the distance. And I can have my happily ever after too.
Thank you for not only making my wish come true but giving me happiness and hope.
Emily: One ELLE of a Margaritaville Orlando Resort Family Vacation & a Swimming with a Dolphin Experience
Emily, a 9-year-old from Spencerville, IN was in remission for 5 years before being diagnosed with T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma in January of 2025. Her second battle with cancer included a stem cell transplant which required Emily and her mom living in or near the hospital for 4 months. In her letter to ELLE she said that her wish is to
Emily, a 9-year-old from Spencerville, IN was in remission for 5 years before being diagnosed with T-cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma in January of 2025. Her second battle with cancer included a stem cell transplant which required Emily and her mom living in or near the hospital for 4 months. In her letter to ELLE she said that her wish is to go to Florida because she loves the beach and wants to have fun with her family on vacation.
Emily and family travelled to Florida in September and sent ELLE these wonderful thank you notes:
From her family
On our wish trip we stayed at Margaritaville. Our cottage was a wonderful home away from home! We loved going to the waterpark and playing at the pool and in the sand! The private pool at our cottage was great too!
Discovery Cove was absolutely amazing! A favorite of the trip for all of us! Interacting and swimming with the dolphins was an awesome experience that we will never forget! We will have fond memories every time we look at our pictures!
We also enjoyed going to sea world! The rides were fun and the shows were amazing! We loved watching the Orcas and trainers perform!
Thank you so much for giving us this wish trip! We will never forget the amazing time we had in Florida!
From Emily
Thank you for my wish trip! I loved the wish trip so much!! It was a great, great, great wish trip! I loved everything about the trip!
My favorite part was the dolphin swim. When I actually got to ride on a dolphin it was so awesome!
I also really loved the cottage and Margaritaville! My sister and I shared our own room!
The orange slide at the waterpark was my favorite slide. I also loved playing in the sand by the pool at Margaritaville!
We all had a great time at the cottage and everywhere we went!
Thank you!!!!
Emily
Joseph: One ELLE of a Family Orlando Adventure
Joseph: One ELLE of a Family Orlando Adventure
Joseph was diagnosed with B-Cell ALL at the age of 6, finished his treatments and lived cancer-free for 11 years until January 2025 when he was diagnosed with MPNST Sarcoma.
From his mom: “Last year Joseph was diagnosed with a new secondary cancer after battling leukemia nearly 11 years ago. He underwent 4 major surgeries that caused many
Joseph was diagnosed with B-Cell ALL at the age of 6, finished his treatments and lived cancer-free for 11 years until January 2025 when he was diagnosed with MPNST Sarcoma.
From his mom: “Last year Joseph was diagnosed with a new secondary cancer after battling leukemia nearly 11 years ago. He underwent 4 major surgeries that caused many complications, many hospital stays, and inevitably many months of not being able to eat or simply do normal daily activities.”
Joseph's wish is to go to Orlando and visit the theme parks. Joseph is the oldest brother of 10 children and his wish is to have a carefree, relaxing time away with his whole family.
These excerpts from the family’s thank you to ELLE sum up the wonderful experience they had:
“We wanted to extend a huge thank you for all that you have done to make Joseph's wish come true! It was a wonderful experience for our family to be able to escape the hospital mode and have fun and relax!
It was one Elle of a wish. Traveling as a family of 12 is a big undertaking but it was a much-needed break for all of us. Joseph was granted a trip to Orlando, where we stayed at Give Kids the World and we were able to visit Disney for 3 days and Universal Studios for 2 days.
Joseph was happy that he could experience some of the rides especially since many of them were simulation rides. The Avatar ride at Animal Kingdom and the Transformers ride at Universal Studios were among the favorites. He also enjoyed trying some of the exciting park foods that he was researching before going on the trip! We are forever grateful for the generosity that has been shown to our family, this for sure will be an unforgettable experience not only for Joseph but for his entire family.”
ELLE'S Upcoming Wishes
Meet Nevaeh
One ELLE of a Wish to Swim in the Warm, Clear Ocean Waters of Puerto Rico
Due to a genetic predisposition to cancer Neveah has been battling cancer since the age 1 ½. Nevaeh has battled 3 different types of cancer, including brain and bone cancers with treatments including a partial amputation of her right arm. Neveah is currently battling a recurrence of her bone cancer.
In her application, Niveah wrote “I live with a lot of pain and I really don’t remember what it feels like not to have pain. My amputation has made things worse. It makes it hard to do everyday things and the things I love to do too, like play video games, ride my bike and swim. If I get a second wish it would be special to me because I could maybe have one more chance to do things I miss doing like swimming (it would be even better if it was in the ocean with clear water!). It would be nice to get away from hospitals and to have a chance to make new, Happy Memories with my family.”
Niveah and her mother and two older brothers will journey to Puerto Rico to swim in the clear, warm ocean waters.
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