For the 7th year, the Kids v. Cancer Book & Bake Sale, organized by the Verzani-Steinberg family at their home in Maplewood, raised money for pediatric cancer research and brought friends and neighbors together to remember Jacob Froman.
Jacob lost his battle to medulloblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer, on Jan. 16, 2009, at the age of 10. His mother, Nancy Goodman, founded Kids v. Cancer in Jacob’s honor after finding that the scientists and physicians who were helping and treating Jacob were hampered by a lack of new drugs for children, a lack of tissue samples for studying pediatric cancers, and a lack of access to funding.
In the intervening years, one of Kids v. Cancer‘s greatest accomplishments has been the passage of the Creating Hope Act which created a voucher program to encourage companies to develop drugs for kids with cancer and other rare diseases. Kids v. Cancer is now working to reauthorize the Act.
Meanwhile, the Verzani-Steinberg and Froman-Goodman families have remained close. Noah and Eva Verzani and Ben and Sarah Froman — despite their varying ages — had an easy camaraderie as they played in Noah and Eva’s backyard last Saturday during the book sale.
Jane Steinberg said that the sale raises about $1,500 each year. Her husband John Verzani cranked out lattes on the porch as neighbors brought baked goods for sale. Local Spanish teacher “Señor” Steve Carberry serenaded the crowd. Parents with small children wiled away a lazy weekend morning browsing books, and at least one local school teacher stocked up on cheap buys to fill a new colleague’s shelves.
For more information on Kids v. Cancer visit kidsvcancer.org/. For more information on Jacob, visit here.
Scroll down for images from the 2015 Kids v. Cancer Book & Bake Sale.
Steve Carberry serenades the crowd.
Eva, Noah, Ben and Sarah
Nancy and Jane
John Verzani cranks out the lattes.
