Village lights the way gold for pediatric cancer awareness

In recognition of Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, the Village of Rockville Centre invited community members to gather at Village Hall on Aug. 29 for a special tree-lighting ceremony.

The annual event honored the memory of Mary Ruchalski, a seventh-grade St. Agnes Cathedral School student who died in March 2018 of rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of soft-tissue cancer.

Her mother, Carol Ruchalski, created the Mary Ruchalski Foundation in 2018 to spread awareness of the disease and raise money for pediatric cancer research, in the hope of helping other families with children affected by it.

“Tonight I’m wearing a bracelet of a little girl that lost her battle to cancer a few weeks ago. She was 11 months old,” Ruchalski said. “At the time of her death, she was cancer-free, but because of the high toxicity of her treatments, her tiny body failed her. When I spoke to her mother, she said, ‘This is just not right. How, in this day and age, is there not a cure? This is not how a childhood sickness should be.’”

Children diagnosed with cancer, Ruchalski said, are often treated with adult chemotherapy, which can be ineffective and even toxic, and can, in some cases, cause secondary cancers or other chronic issues.

Research by the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer determined that, on average, survivors who received radiation or certain types of chemotherapy have an increased risk of damaging the heart and blood vessels as well as other problems.

“The average lifespan of a child treated with chemotherapy is 57 years old,” Ruchalski said. “That’s 21 years less than the average adult.”

More than 200 cancer drugs had been developed and approved for adults as of December 2023, according to the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer, but only 44 of them had been approved for treating childhood cancers, and 37 of those were originally approved for adult use. Only seven had been originally approved for treatment of pediatric cancers.

Ruchalski also noted that only 4 percent of federal funding for cancer research goes toward advancements in pediatric cancer, and according to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, there is a significant need to raise more money.

“We have to make pediatric cancer a priority in this country,” she said. “I was thinking the other day of some astonishing numbers. In one day, a political campaign raised $200 million. New York City has spent half a billion dollars on congestion pricing infrastructure, and billionaires are spending millions just to go to space for fun. What’s wrong with this picture?”

All contributions to the Mary Ruchalski Foundation help fund critical research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories as well as Memorial Sloan Kettering, the Dana-Farber Institute and Duke University. Over the past six years, the foundation has raised and donated $640,000 to pediatric cancer research and more than $140,000 to families of children with cancer.

“On behalf of my family and, most importantly, my sweet Mary, I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Ruchalski said. “We have to be the voice for our children. We have to — we have to change this, because their life mattered.”

In memory of Mary and Gina Giallombardo, a 2006 graduate of South Side High School who died in 2011, after she was also diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, the village hosts the tree-lighting ceremony each September, which is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month. Last week’s gathering began with a prayer by the Rev. Michael Duffy, pastor of St. Agnes Cathedral, who blessed the tree on the Village Hall lawn, which was adorned with gold lights.

“Bless this tree. Bless its lights. Bless all who pass by it,” Duffy said. “May they be moved by its shining light to work towards justice, to work towards peace, to build up that kingdom here and now where all grow to a healthy old age. Bless their loved ones who mourn their loss, even to this day.”

Deputy Mayor Kathy Baxley presented Ruchalski with a proclamation marking the month of recognition.

“(This tree) will be lit up for the entire month of September,” Baxley said, “and every time you’re driving by, whenever it is, just keep in mind the special people we have lost, such as Mary, such as Gina … and countless others.”

Over the past seven years, the ceremony has spread to communities across Long Island, including Malverne, Lynbrook, East Williston and Mineola, which host their own events in recognition of the fight against childhood cancers.

Baxley told the community that the proclamation will be on display at Village Hall all month. To learn more about the Mary Ruchalski Foundation and ways to help in the fight against pediatric cancer, go to TheMaryRuchalskiFoundation.org.