September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, an opportunity to raise awareness for those affected by childhood cancer and a time to share the stories of the countless number of families and children who are fighting the disease each day.
In Okeechobee, Marie and Moses Neal know that fight. Marie is the primary caregiver for her great nephew, Moses Holness, a 19-year-old patient battling Diffused Large B-Cell Lymphoma. Moses also has Autism. Moses started chemotherapy treatment in April 2020 and is expected to continue treatment through December 2020.
Marie and Moses are heroes, just like all the other families fighting for the health and life of their children. Yet, medical costs, transportation costs and other financial expenses have taken a toll on the family — they drive from Okeechobee to West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie and Miami for treatment.
Working with the Pediatric Oncology Support Team (POST), which helps local children and their families in six South Florida counties, the Neal family was matched with Tire Kingdom. For the past three years, Tire Kingdom has been supporting POST in Florida as a sponsor of its annual Stronger than Cancer 5k Run/Walk and other programs.
“When POST told us about the Neal family, we knew we had to help. This family, like all families, is dealing with a lot. And dealing with a pandemic in the middle of this health crisis has not made things any easier. Marie and Moses travel far between Moses’ appointments,” said Jamie Levin, VP of Communications, who also oversees community initiatives for TBC Corporation, parent company to Tire Kingdom. “We want to help keep Marie’s car in safe working condition with new tires so that she and Moses can get back and forth to treatments and doctor visits safely.”
Tire Kingdom donated a set of four tires to the Neal family. To help ease some burden, Tire Kingdom’s Mobile Tire Installation Van team met the family at Palm Beach Children’s Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida, and installed and balanced the tires while Moses was receiving his chemotherapy treatment.
“This has been a very difficult and unsettling year for everyone because of COVID, so the generosity of Tire Kingdom to help this family with this need is so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes. Moses has had an exceptionally tough time with treatment-related side effects. He already has to fight for his life, now he won’t have to worry whether he can get to the hospital,” said Dr. Barbara Abernathy, CEO of Pediatric Oncology Support Team. “Tire Kingdom is the best community partner we could ever hope for. They understand that getting Moses to his appointments is the difference between life and death. We cannot thank them enough.”
