SUPERHEROES OF KC 

Every September, the Kansas City Clothing Co., a fierce warrior in the fight against childhood cancer, donates 50% of the proceeds of each shirt in its Superhero collection to the Supporting Kids Foundation (SKF).

SKF is a non-profit that helps Kansas City families fighting pediatric cancer with the everyday cost of living, so moms and dads can be with their child during treatment.  

Each shirt in the collection is inspired by a fighter of the disease who passed away, and whose family leaned on SKF for financial support. I was honored to write their stories with a superhero twist. Meet Lucy, Noah, and of course, my son, Jonah (read his story here). They are the Superheroes of KC. 

Lucy's Origin Story

Here to serve as an ambassador for humanity’s grace, Lucy fights cancer and promotes peace on earth

In June of 2008 in the City of Fountains, a little girl named Lucy was born to a family that believed in kindness above all else. The family could see Lucy wasn’t like other children, she had an air of destiny.

At less than a year old, the red-haired girl was curious and strong-hearted. She was often watching people with her wise eyes, taking them in as though she could see to the soul.  She would greet people with arms in the air, showing them what love looks like so they would take it and spread it. Her mother could see Lucy would be called for something big, but she was scared.

The day before Lucy’s first birthday, cancer sent an evil form of itself to defeat her. AT/RT attacked in her brain aiming to stop the flow of kindness from Lucy to the world. 

Down, but not out, super surgeons assisted Lucy by pulling AT/RT from her. Lucy then struck it again, this time with high dose concoctions of chemotherapy, but the dose was so strong it also hurt Lucy.

Outside of her hospital room, the people of the City of Fountains began helping each other, letting go of grievances, and cleaning up the metro.

On November 20, 2010, Lucy’s family, which believes in kindness above all else, set her soul free from AT/RT. They know what cancer doesn’t - that love never dies.  

Amidst a chorus of a thousand acts of kindness from the city she showed how to love, Lucy turned beyond human, she became compassion.

Noah's Origin Story

Cancer is attacking the children of Crown Town by taking away their identity.

To save the future of the city, medical staff, parents, and clergy are trying to stop the attacks on the children who have often lost hair, hearing, and even limbs to cancer. But, its young Noah Wilson, an enterprising six-year-old, who found a way to restore the identities until cancer can be stopped once and for all.

Noah presented his elegant solution to the city. Each kid would be given a unique bandage created from careful calculations of their favorite color, character, or sport. The bandage would be presented to the child after each attack of cancer reminding them- you’re still you.

The grown-ups cheered and implemented Noah’s peaceful solution, and the children were reinvigorated with their sense of self. But, it’s a case of it takes one to know one, because Noah was being attacked too.

The cancer began in his back and then went to his lungs in a rare form called Ewing’s Sarcoma. While Noah helped the other kids, the grown-ups helped him. They fought together in a medical battlefield creating specialized forms of cancer weapons.  Noah struck the evil force with 30 rounds of chemotherapy and 37 rounds of radiation. The cancer receded and was, by all accounts, gone.

Noah’s ingenuity, bravery, and selfishness endeared him to the city. He and his family were even sent to Crown Town’s most important event, the World Series.

For a bit, there was peace for Noah as he continued his work on the cancer identity crisis. He gave the besieged children of Crown Town more than 9,000 unique and healing bandages. He sought respite in being with his kind brother and sisters, and playing baseball with friends. But, on June 27, 2015, cancer struck a low blow reappearing in Noah’s blood.

On June 30, 2015, Noah said goodbye to his family as he escaped to a heavenly fortress. After the goodbye, his family met in Noah’s bandage lab where they discovered the secret instructions for continuing his work, the start of a plan to defeat cancer for good. 

Today Noah’s Bandage Project, led by his family, has given more than 80,000 bandages to kids with cancer, and more than $300,000 for cancer research to stop the disease once and for all.