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Benjamin the Brave: His Battle Continues To Start Your Own Fundraising Web Page Event organizers, patients, families and donors are welcome and encouraged to visit GiveTo.HopkinsAllChildrens.org to learn how to add a fundraising page within the Johns Hopkins All Children's Foundation website. It's an easy and effective way to get the word out about your fundraising goals and passions. For more information, contact Erica Barnes at 727-767-4462. Technology helps a family raise money to honor their son. BENJI, AS HIS obituary so eloquently states, "accepted the mighty task of slaying the most vicious monster in the land, acute lymphoblastic leukemia." A goofy, happy, vibrant 9-year-old boy was always underfoot: giving hugs, causing trouble, asking questions. Then he wasn't. There are no words. Grief like this seizes the air right out of your lungs. How do you fill the hours, block your mind, make it make sense? Benji's mother moved forward. Laura. Has. Things. To. Do. Money must be raised. Pediatric cancer must be cured. Every mama bear understands this: There are battles to be fought for our children. Of course, she credits Benji for being the strong one. No doubt, it runs in the family. "We took comfort in taking action," Laura explains. "A new strategy, a breakthrough medicine or a clinical trial on the horizon would give us hope and keep us looking forward. We are extremely grateful to the oncologists at Johns Hopkins All Children's for their relentless attempts to save our son's life." If Benji was a fighter, his mother has become a warrior. Even while Benji was still fighting mightily to win his extra-fierce, gene- based battle against this otherwise often curable cancer—Laura began finding her own way to slay the monster. She started blogging about Benji's bravery. Now, grief is her fuel. Blogging, her outlet. Her achingly raw blog woke people up. It spurred them into action. 'BENJAMIN THE BRAVE' Laura's blog—titled "Benjamin the Brave"—has had an incredible following of people who cared, who worried, who wanted to help. Some know her. Many she will never meet. They share her journey. They offer hope. They thank her for exposing her pain. Laura has found an extremely effective way to harness that devotion so it may help the next goofy little Benjamin battling leukemia. With tools from the Johns Hopkins All Children's Foundation, she created a web page for The Benjamin Gilkey Fund for Innovative Pediatric Cancer Research to collect donations in his memory. She shared this fundraising page with her blog readers and within weeks, her many devoted followers raised an incredible $100,000. Several months later, that number has doubled. "We can't think of a better way to honor our son's bravery," Laura's husband and Benji's dad, Michael, adds. Laura and Michael have followed with diligence every beam lifted into place and every nail pounded into the new Johns Hopkins All Children's Research and Education Building as it rises toward opening in fall 2018. They know the answer lies in one of its soon-to-be-occupied laboratories. She is almost shoving Benjamin Oshrine, M.D.—Benji's oncologist—through the door. Laura has high hopes for what he and other top physician scientists will accomplish within its innovative new walls the minute the paint dries. If anyone can make a scientific discovery happen, this tireless mama bear warrior most certainly can. Benji Gilkey's inspirational story continues to help in the fight against cancer. ■ Faces of Philanthropy 20 Johns Hopkins All Children's Foundation | GiveToAllKids.org