By Daniel Locke
Photos Contributed
When Jeremy Reeves lost his 17-month-old daughter, Elyse Reeves, to brain cancer, his entire world came to a halt. Ten years later, incredible work has been done in her memory.
After searching for God’s plan throughout the tragic loss, Reeves started the Elyse Reeves Foundation, a charity dedicated to supporting the families of children going through cancer treatment.
“I was asking God a lot of questions, and eventually, I got my answer from multiple families, who were following her journey that were touched in such a way that was just incredible,” Reeves said. “There’s been three little girls whose parents named them Elyse because of how wonderful my daughter was and how much she impacted their life.”
He mentioned another woman from New York City, whom he has never met, but upon hearing Elyse’s story, this woman converted from atheism to Christianity and began helping other families of children with cancer.
“I saw God’s plan. He was using my daughter to make an impact, so I felt I had to keep that legacy and create a foundation in her memory,” Reeves said.
The foundation aims to assist these families by minimizing the financial burdens they may face while getting their children the help they need. Many families in these positions have to make difficult decisions, such as whether to pay for their child’s treatment or their bills.
“If the family is someone that’s having financial difficulties while trying to be with their child, we want to take that burden away from them,” Reeves said. “We pay their mortgage directly to the mortgage company. We will pay straight to Alabama Power, the water company, the gas board, whatever it may be.”
Reeves has gotten a significant amount of support throughout the state of Alabama as well as in his local community of Trussville. When the foundation puts on an event to raise awareness and funds, the community comes out in big numbers. This maximizes the number of families who are able to receive the help they desperately need.
“Alabama in general has been a huge support,” Reeves said. “We do an event every September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, that has 4,000-5,000 people show up. We do it in a fun, family-friendly environment that’s outdoors. We generally bring in somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000 after we clear all expenses. That goes to help these families.”
As beneficial as events and fundraisers are for the foundation and for bringing the community together, Reeves’ favorite part is seeing the impact the organization can make up-close.
“This father in particular had to take off work to go meet with these doctors to figure out where to go,” Reeves remembered. “These were decisions the mother could not do alone, so he elected to go to the doctor, and he lost his job. We stepped in and were able to pay their mortgage and all their utilities for six months.”
“He’s hit rock bottom. His son could literally lose his life, but he’s also lost his job. They have other kids that need a roof over their heads. They were going to lose everything if our foundation hadn’t stepped in,” Reeves continued.
If the child and their family do not get the happy ending they hope for, the foundation is there to help as well.
“Sadly, we’ve even helped with funeral costs for the children that unfortunately lost their battle, and their families were not able to fund having a proper burial for their child,” Reeves said. “We’ve even had to take care of those expenses.”
The foundation’s primary focus has not always been giving financial support directly to families affected by childhood cancer. It formerly contributed the funds it raised to larger research foundations and hoped it went where it needed to.
Reeves and the foundation’s board of directors decided they would rather see the raised money directly impact those who needed it, avoiding the risk of the money being used improperly.
“If you are being generous enough to donate your hard-earned money to the cause to help children, we decided that we’re going to protect your money and make sure that it went to something that was truly benefiting the families,” Reeves said. “In the beginning, we wouldn’t have been able to do that because we were just donating all the money to a foundation and just trusting that they were being the right steward of our money, but really, it was going to pay other people’s salaries.”
While Reeves has received support from a vast network of individuals, he could not help but voice his appreciation for some of the people who have been by his side from the beginning. In addition to his family, including his parents, who help at every event, two of his longtime friends have played a vital role in helping the foundation make a difference.
“Tim Meeks is on the board of our foundation and has been for eight years now along with Corey McCord,” Reeves said. “They both were good friends of mine that I called and told that I had this inspiration of creating the foundation and creating an event called Ride for a Cure. They didn’t hesitate. They said ‘I’m on board, let’s do it,’ and it was just remarkable. They’re the two guys that have been with me since day one for the past eight years, and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
When Reeves was met with a tragedy unfathomable to those who had not gone through it, he had a choice. He decided to use the situation for something positive. Despite her short, 17-month life, Elyse has laid the groundwork for many families to get the support they need when dealing with cases of childhood cancer.
Reeves knows the work is nowhere near finished and wants to be able to help many more families in their time of need. As the foundation’s impact grows, so does its need for volunteers.
“We’re always looking for more support for people to help us get out and spread awareness for childhood cancer along with helping our team,” Reeves said.
Anyone interested in supporting the foundation or learning more about it, can reach out to elysereevesfoundation@gmail.com and follow the nonprofit on its Facebook or Instagram pages.
