When 12-year-old Rowan Rieve learned that federal funding for childhood brain tumor research had been cut, he set up a lemonade and sweet tea stand with his friends, raised $22.25, and brought every coin to his next cancer appointment in a small plastic bag for the research team, telling his doctor simply that the hospital needed it more than he did. Rowan has been fighting brain tumors since age eight, has undergone surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and has a genetic condition that creates a lifelong predisposition to developing tumors, giving him a deeply personal reason to want to fund the researchers working on a cure. His neuro-oncologist, Dr. Tobey MacDonald, said she was floored by the gesture and immediately shared the story publicly, saying she could not possibly keep it to herself.
The response was extraordinary: people across the country began donating exactly $22.25 in his honor, matching the amount Rowan had raised one cup at a time, and then an anonymous donor stepped forward and contributed $100,000, bringing the total raised in his name to well over six figures in a matter of days. Dr. MacDonald said the wave of generosity was not surprising to her because it reflects exactly the type of hope and light Rowan inspires in everyone he meets, and that this is precisely the reason she chose to work in pediatric cancer. His parents said they have long prayed for him to grow into a good man living a long and full life. With a bag of coins, a folding table, and a pitcher of lemonade, Rowan made clear he already is one, and the rest of the world took notice. Supporters can still donate $22.25 in his honor through Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
