We help ease the financial burden by assisting families affected by childhood cancer with monthly expenses, allowing them to focus on their child’s diagnosis and treatment plan.
When parents hear the words “your child has cancer” their world stops, but the bills don’t. Most families have to give up an income so one parent can become a sole caregiver due to the extreme demands of pediatric cancer treatment. While income drops, bills increase due to the various expenses that accompany the medical treatment.
That’s where we come in. We help pay a mortgage payment, a car payment, an electricity bill. We assist with medication that treatment requires but insurance won't cover. We don’t want families to stress over how they will be able to keep their home or their means of transportation when they have enough stress just focusing on their child’s diagnosis.
We also donate money to research trials for grossly underfunded types of pediatric cancer so these rare forms have an opportunity to provide life saving treatment for the children that are not provided much for options.
We believe that holistic care goes a long way. We offer assistance with paying for consultations with practitioners who are skilled in treating patients who have endured cancer treatment and assist with post-treatment healing of the body.
We are a volunteer based organization. This means all the donations we receive are used solely for our mission to assist families.
Our Mission
How it started
Would it be easier just to walk away and focus on ourselves? For some, the answer would be yes, but for our founder, Dianna, no way! Learning about the lack of general awareness, knowledge and funding for rare pediatric cancers was enough to start raising awareness almost immediately after Max was diagnosed with stage IV High Risk Neuroblastoma in early August 2018. Now that Max is known as what is abbreviated NED (no evidence of disease), it's time to make a difference for other families and children.
Max had 100% bone, 100% bone marrow, 5 solid tumors, 3 skull lesions and a bone lesion under his right eye. He was in the top 10% of how bad a case of Neuroblastoma can hit a child. Every complication and setback a child could experience on top of the harsh treatment regiment hit Max. The Lariviere family almost lost their son on 4 occasions. He's still in active treatment and still has complications he is working through, but he's a strong boy and an inspiration to his family.
Dianna felt that she needed to make a difference and show her son you can create something positive out of a very negative situation. That's where the idea to start a 501C3 came to mind. The Max Life Foundation honors Max in its name, but this foundation goes way beyond that. To assist families with finances while raising awareness, and as the organization grows, assist with funding for research. Families need help during treatment and that's what we are here to provide!