Nearly two decades ago, after being diagnosed with leukemia at age 7, Lily Hensiek promised to help other children diagnosed with cancer.

At the time, doctors at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt explained her diagnosis through a simple analogy. Cancer was like weeds taking over a garden, they told her, and chemotherapy was the tool used to remove them. The idea inspired her family to create the Lily’s Garden Fund, a fundraising effort dedicated to advancing childhood cancer research, training and innovation.

Over the past 18 years, Lily’s Garden has funded pediatric cancer research, programs, lectureships, fellowship training and early-career investigators.

The family recently announced its latest commitment: $5 million to establish the Lily’s Garden Pediatric Leukemia Program at Monroe Carell to support leukemia research, physician-scientist leadership, precision oncology, innovative discovery projects and family-centered care initiatives. This gift brings the family’s total giving to $8 million. Family members have added to Lily’s Garden through personal giving, fundraising events, and the support of friends and community partners.

“We are so incredibly grateful to Lily’s family; they are absolutely amazing,” said Debra Friedman, MD, MS, Director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Monroe Carell and Deputy Director of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

“This leukemia program will provide us the ability to continue to advance discovery for leukemia and then translate that discovery to patients in the clinic,” continued Friedman, holder of the E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Pediatric Oncology.

A Family Affair

The Lily’s Garden Fund has been a family affair. Joining Lily in the endeavor are her parents, Larisa and Phillip Featherstone; grandparents, Carol and Ron Johnston; and sisters, Sophie Hensiek and Sophia Featherstone.

The family, from Franklin, Tennessee, owns a workplace safety consulting and third-party claims administration firm, Johnston & Associates, which was founded by Ron. 

Lily was first diagnosed with pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was in second grade. At the time, she set what felt like a lofty goal — raising $1 million for childhood cancer research.

“I never imagined when we started the Lily’s Garden Fund that it would go this far or become this big,” said Hensiek, who is now 25. “I’m very thankful that we’ve had the opportunity to do all of this and help support research.”

The family’s philanthropy journey began simply.

“Our first fundraiser was making soap,” said Larisa Featherstone, who also serves as Chair of the Monroe Carell Advisory Board. “Honestly, it felt insurmountable,” Featherstone said. “But it shows how something really small can compound over time, and every bit truly makes a difference.”

A New Era of Discovery

The newest gift is designed to accelerate the rapid progress in research. The gift will support a directorship to help advance pediatric leukemia care throughout the care continuum, including long-term survivorship; it will also create a directorship in cancer predisposition and precision oncology; and it will provide resources for innovative, high-impact research projects.

Hensiek knows firsthand how life-changing research can be. As a teen, she experienced a rare late relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and benefited from an immunotherapy treatment previously unavailable when she was first diagnosed.

“Immunotherapy wasn’t really even a thing when I was 7 years old,” Hensiek said. “It’s really amazing to see how far research has moved forward.”

For the type of leukemia Hensiek had, cure rates have risen dramatically.

“When Lily was first diagnosed, we said there was probably somewhere around 85% to 90% cure,” Friedman said. “Now, with the same leukemia, due to advances, we’re at almost 98%.”

The program will also support mental health and family-focused initiatives — areas the family believes are essential.

“Childhood cancer affects the whole family,” Featherstone said. “It doesn’t just affect the child or the parent.”

A Full-Circle Moment

Today, Hensiek is doing well and preparing for a career in health care. In a full-circle moment, she is studying to be a physician assistant at Kansas State University and will graduate in May 2027. Inspired by the physicians and caregivers who helped save her life, she too hopes to help children with cancer.

She also had the opportunity to do some of her clinical training at Monroe Carell. “It was such a phenomenal experience,” she said. “I’ve been the patient, and now I’ve been the student. That’s kind of wild to think about.”

As Lily’s Garden enters its next chapter, the family hopes the new leukemia program will honor not only Hensiek’s journey, but also the many children and families they have met along the way.

“We just keep going until there’s a cure,” Hensiek said.

The post Featherstone and Johnston families make $5 million gift to establish Lily’s Garden Pediatric Leukemia Program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt appeared first on Vanderbilt Health News.

When 4-year-old Monroe Peterson was diagnosed with cancer, her family was determined to not only rally around her in support but also wanted to make a difference for other patients and families going through a similar experience.

To honor her journey, in November 2024 Monroe’s father, fitness expert and celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson, started the MVP Challenge on his app, Common Ground, to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer efforts at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

The MVP Challenge, named for Monroe Vivian Peterson, included four weeks of guided workouts, question and answer sessions with Gunnar, and an opportunity to win special prizes. The fitness challenge raised funds to support pediatric cancer research, training and care at Monroe Carell.

“For months, Monroe has faced this battle with more grit, determination and positivity than I’ve ever seen,” said Peterson. “She hasn’t backed down; she doesn’t quit; and she moves forward with a smile on her face every day. To honor her strength, we launched the MVP Challenge as a way to come together as a community, push ourselves and raise funds to support children’s cancer treatment and research.”

Monroe was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and completed two rounds of chemotherapy. She received two bone marrow transplants, one from each of her older brothers, and she is now in remission.

During her treatment, Monroe’s family says that she brought positivity, joy and levity to those around her and earned the nickname MVP. Many family members, friends and community members came together in support of the challenge to make it a success.

“We are blown away by the incredible success of the MVP Challenge and know that it would not have been possible without the advocacy, outreach and community engagement work of Gunnar, Jess and the whole Peterson family,” said Debra Friedman, MD, MS, director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Monroe Carell, deputy director of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and holder of the E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Pediatric Oncology. “This challenge was a wonderful way to honor Monroe’s journey and tenacious spirit.”

Funds raised from the MVP Challenge will support Monroe Carell’s vision to advance personalized pediatric, adolescent and young adult cancer care in the region, specifically leukemia and stem cell research.

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The growing number of pediatric and adolescent patients with cancer at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt will soon have access to expanded and upgraded space for outpatient cancer infusion treatments and clinic visits, as well as updated inpatient space — a project made possible through the generous support of individuals and businesses in the community.

The expansion and renovation, part of a philanthropic initiative, “A Campaign Against Childhood Cancer,” will also help support research and training efforts.

“When the opportunity arose to envision a space dedicated entirely to clinical care for pediatric and adolescent cancer, allowing us to accommodate even more patients and families in a more age-appropriate way, philanthropic supporters truly rallied around Monroe Carell to meet this critical need and make this vision a reality,” said Meg Rush, MD, MMHC, President of Monroe Carell. “We are so very grateful to the many individuals, families and businesses in the community who gave generously to support our children and families through this project.”

Currently, outpatient infusion happens in two large rooms on the sixth floor of Monroe Carell’s Doctors’ Office Tower (DOT), with patients of all ages seated side by side in recliners. The renovation will provide private infusion rooms and dedicated, tailored space for young children, teenagers and young adults, all of whom have different needs. Some infusion rooms will have partitions that can be lowered when patients want to interact with each other.

“We see somewhere between 250 to 300 new patients with cancer each year, and we have about 13,000 provider visits each year,” said Debra Friedman, MD, MS, director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and holder of the E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Pediatric Oncology.

“To put that into perspective, when I came here in 2008, we saw 90 (new patients each year), and we have been in the same space since then. The timing is right to expand to accommodate our growing community and patient population.”

Two years ago, Monroe Carell had a record number of visits in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, with last year’s number being about the same.

The new outpatient space will occupy the entire sixth floor of the DOT — currently it inhabits a little less than half of that floor, with the remaining half occupied by other specialties who have relocated to the eighth floor.

This current renovation is the final of a three-phase expansion that also included moving the pediatric primary care clinic from DOT to a newly constructed clinic space at Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks and renovating the eighth floor of DOT to prepare for the move of medical specialties.

Besides the side-by-side infusion chairs, the prior outpatient space on the sixth floor of DOT had three private infusion rooms and 10 exam rooms for clinic visits.

The renovations will include 25 individual infusion spaces, with two rooms set up for patients who are getting partial exchanges of blood cells (apheresis), and 25 exam rooms.

“With each of the patients in their own infusion area, there will no longer be a young adult seated next to a 2-year-old. They’ll each have their own space but will have the ability to walk around the infusion area if they want to,” Friedman said.

“On the other hand, if there are siblings getting infusions at the same time, or kids who have become friendly with each other and want to hang out while they are getting infusions, the partition can come down so they can talk to and see each other.”

There will also be a designated consult room and a designated room where Child Life Services can meet with patients, or where patients can watch a movie or play with toys while they are getting infusions. An expanded nutrition area will be incorporated in the space with snacks and an ICEE machine.

“The new area is really patient- and family-centric and also allows us to be much more efficient in our clinic. Our growing number of patients won’t be waiting so long to be seen because we have more exam rooms to seat them,” Friedman said.

Patients and families were instrumental in planning the new space, she noted.

“We listened to what they told us. We met with them to ask if we were going to redesign this space, what would be important to them. We did this when we created the teen lounge on the sixth floor of the inpatient unit,” Friedman said. “When we talked about individual infusion rooms, we heard from several parents that they often scheduled infusions on the same day as a friend so the kids could sit next to each other and talk. Individual infusion rooms would take that away, so designing some of the rooms with the glass partition was a direct response to what we heard from multiple patients and their families.”

Lighting and decor were also chosen based on patient and family recommendations.

In addition to the outpatient space, the 31 existing rooms on 6A and 6B of the pediatric hematology/oncology area of the hospital are currently being renovated. The rooms are being updated with renovated cabinetry and an updated sleeping area for parents. There will be brighter lighting and updated hallways. Wallpaper is being removed, and the flooring will be uniform throughout.

“It will be a brighter, more modern and positive environment for our patients and families, particularly for those who have repeated visits or long inpatient visits,” Friedman said.

Many patients with cancer treated at Monroe Carell are participating in clinical trials where tests and imaging are required. The new DOT space will provide more room to accommodate this.

Part of the community’s philanthropy will also support research and training initiatives, developing the next generation of leaders who will contribute to the overall field — ultimately improving outcomes for all patients.

“All of the advances we have made in treating children with cancer have come from discovery brought to patients,” Friedman said. “Donor support allows us to have funds to further ongoing research led by faculty here at Monroe Carell and to recruit new faculty who contribute to our research, educational and patient care missions.”

Allison DeMarcus, who co-chaired this campaign with Kailey Hand, said she hopes the renovation will help both patients and their families deal with a cancer diagnosis. DeMarcus and Hand are both Monroe Carell Advisory Board members and longtime supporters of the hospital and its programs. DeMarcus is former chair of the board.

“We are thrilled that Monroe Carell will be able to offer children with cancer this renovated and expanded space for their clinic visits and infusions,” DeMarcus said. “The children treated here already receive the best care available, but they deserve to receive those treatments in a space that is as comfortable and inviting as we can possibly make it for them. It’s unbelievably hard for families to go through the experience of a child having cancer, but due to the generosity of individuals and businesses in our community, we will soon be able to offer this wonderful space as one small thing we can provide to make their experience a little easier and a little brighter.”

Friedman said the new space will be a win for everyone.

“Providing care in an atmosphere that’s more spacious and bright affects everyone’s morale — the patients, their families, and our staff and faculty. Our donors recognized that, and also the cost of those renovations, and were very generous so we were able to really do this well for our patients and families.”

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