ELLE Foundation

Make a Difference in the Life of a Child Battling a Recurrence of Cancer

All About ELLE Foundation

The Heart of the Foundation

Why is the ELLE Foundation Important to Children with a Recurrence of Cancer?

At the age of 10, Lauren "ELLE" Richmond was diagnosed with a very rare and tenacious chordoma tumor on her brainstem. For over five years Lauren fought numerous recurrences. She knew that a recurrence is more emotionally and physically devastating than a first diagnosis. Lauren would say: “With a first diagnosis, you have a plan. You go through surgery, chemo, and radiation with the hope and faith that you are going to get better. It’s a terrible thing to go through, but there’s hope. Then all of a sudden, whether it’s a month, a year, or two years, it comes back. Now you feel…why can’t I catch a break, what did I do wrong?”

In her final days Lauren wrote, I AM UP TO YOU – and charged her parents, Laurie & Dean and older sister, Dana, with taking care of her final wish & foundation, which Lauren defined as the "Reason for Her Journey”. Lauren’s mission for the ELLE Foundation is to give children with a recurrence of cancer and their families a moment to forget, to laugh, to rejuvenate their spirits.

Why is the ELLE Foundation Important to Children with a Recurrence of Cancer?

The ELLE Foundation is the only wish granting organization whose primary mission is to grant final wishes for children battling a recurrence of cancer. Their recurrence of cancer is often a secondary cancer caused by the chemo that was used as the treatment for their first diagnosis. When medical options may be coming to an end, all a child and their family wants and needs, is a moment of joy in their lives.

Our Wish Children are warriors, fighters, and heroes of the highest order, having already done battle with a life-threatening illness and are fighting once again for their lives and enduring additional treatments and operations.

Many of ELLE's wish children are on palliative or hospice care so time is of the essence in fulfilling their wishes. Their recurrence of cancer is often a secondary cancer caused by the chemo that was used as the treatment for their first diagnosis. Although these children still want to fight - in many cases science has failed them. ELLE gives these children a little bit of light in a world filled with darkness and fear.

Executive Committee & Members of the Board

Laurie Richmond, President and Chairman

Dean Richmond, Co-Vice-President

Members of the Board

Dana Richmond, Co-Vice-President

Members of the Board

Lauren "Elle" Richmond

Members of the Board

Elizabeth Johnson
Generations of Dance,

Landing, NJ

Mary Krayeske, ESQ
Con Edison, NY

Liz Rapoport
Marketing

Denise Roth
Treasurer

Pam Stone, RN
Robert Wood Johnson

University Hospital
ELLE Foundation – Nurse Advisor

Lauren "Elle" Richmond

In our Hearts forever

Pediatric Oncology Centers

The following hospitals have been on the front lines of treatment for ELLE's kids:

Banner University Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ

Blank Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorder Center, Des Moines, IA

Bristol-Meyers Squibb Children's Hospital - RWJBarnabas Health, NJ

Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disease, CA

Children’s Minnesota Specialty Center, MN

Children's Hospital of Chicago & Lurie Children's – Chicago, IL

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, PA

Cincinnati Children's Hospital, OH

Columbia Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, NY

Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, MA

Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas

Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Portland, OR

Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI

Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital, MD

Lehigh Valley Hospital, PA

Loma Linda University Children's Hospital, CA

Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago, IL

Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)

Memorial Sloan Kettering, NY

Minneapolis Children’s Hospital, MN

Morristown Memorial, Goryeb Children’s Hospital, NJ

Nemours Children’s Hospital, Wilmington, DE

NYU Langone, Hassenfeld Children's Center, NY

Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, Indianapolis, IN

Robert Wood Johnson - Rutgers Cancer Institute of NJ

Roswell Park Cancer Center of Buffalo, NY

Seattle Children’s' Hospital, WA

Smilow Cancer Center at Yale, CT

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, TN

St. Luke's Roosevelt, NY

St. Peter's Hospital, NJ

The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University, Durham, NC

University of California - San Francisco, CA

University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, IA

Winthrop University Medical Center, Mineola, NY

Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, NY

Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, New Haven, CT