Mary Ruchalski Foundation's annual Heart of Gold Gala

The Mary Ruchalski Foundation has prepared to make the most of Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month with several fundraiser events that support rare disease research and treatment for children in need.

Carol and Fran Ruchalski lost their daughter, Mary, to a rare form of pediatric cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma in 2018. Since then, they became fierce advocates for treatment for children suffering from cancer.

“It's such a rare pediatric cancer that I could not believe that my daughter had it,” Carol said.

Mary was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma at 11, and began receiving treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Her illness required taxing treatments, including chemotherapy, which changed everything about her day-to-day life.

“Mary was bright like a star: a star athlete, and a star student,” Carol said. “Within 15 months, her quality of life was diminished so much from her treatment and her cancer. We quickly became aware that there weren't any more new treatments for her.”

One of the greatest challenges the Ruchalski family faced was that pediatric cancer is an underfunded part of the medical industry, resulting in little research and few avenues for children to return to health.

Mary died two days before her 13th birthday. Her parents were motivated to keep her memory alive by creating the Mary Ruchalski Foundation to raise awareness and support researchers from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, a prestigious research institution that has produced several Nobel Prize winners in the medical field.

“The outpouring of support from our community was unbelievable and helped us establish our foundation,” Carol said. “I wish I didn't have to have a foundation, but I do this because Mary's life mattered.”

In addition to improving survival rates for children, the foundation provides financial assistance for families with ailing children.

“Our family was fortunate enough that we stayed with Mary the whole time — I did not work, I was her caretaker,” Carol said. “There are so many families that we ran into at MSK where some of the parents had to leave to go to work, and I saw how difficult pediatric cancer is financially for families.”

The foundation addresses these problems by holding several fundraiser events throughout September. The fundraisers come in many forms, including a 5K marathon and the lighting of golden Christmas trees across Nassau County.

Assemblyman Brian Curran attended the Lynbrook Tree Lighting in 2022, which inspired him to support the foundation’s growth with new events.

“It blew me away — not only her personal story with her daughter Mary, but also what her and her husband Fran has been trying to do ever since then,” Curran said.

Curran and other local elected officials coordinated with the Mary Ruchalski Foundation to create the first annual Hearts of Gold Gala fundraiser in 2023.

“We thought that the best way that we could assist is actually to have a gala celebrating the foundation that was non-politicized, yet encouraged local officials to contribute.”

The second annual gala will be at the St. Agnes Parish Center, on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m., featuring a raffle, silent auction and live entertainment. Tickets are $125 per person and a $1,000 for a table of 10. There are several different levels of sponsorships.

“These are two really incredible people,” Curran said. “You hear stories all the time about people suffering tragedies that most people couldn't handle, and here are two people who lost a young daughter to cancer, and they made it a lifetime goal to help other kids.”

For tickets and sponsorships, go to Tmrf2024Gala.givessmart.com.

To learn more about upcoming events, visit TheMaryRuchalskiFoundation.org.