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Category:
Published: September 2007
Before 9-year-old Catie Hoch succumbed to neuroblastoma, she asked her parents to help other sick kids have a "day off from cancer." The Catie Hoch Foundation has since become one of the area's most ardent crusaders in the fight against childhood cancer.
The story of the Catie Hoch Foundation is one of tragic loss and magical success. It's about the frustrating journey of parents and doctors who work tirelessly to save children who are suffering from cancer. It's about the organization of a fund that began with one goal but grew into so much more. It is the story of a little girl known to rollerblade into the hospital for chemotherapy and radiation treatments, her bright and shining spirit, her instructions to her parents on how to help other kids with cancer, and her continuing presence in the lives and work of those who came to know her or of her. It is the story of how a positive movement gains momentum.
Larry Hoch and Gina Peca speak of their daughter, Catie, and her two younger brothers with the admiration typical of a household built on strength and happiness. To Larry, the success of the Catie Hoch Foundation lies in its initial mission raising money to give kids a "day off from cancer." For Gina, the ongoing work of the organization is reflected at home. There, success lies in fostering a spirit of compassion and generosity in their two sons, as well as in helping them to cope with the loss of their sister and keep her memory alive.
"The boys know that they can talk about Catie if they want to or not talk about Catie. It's about remembering her, but knowing it's not a shrine or anything like that," she says.
Both parents fondly recall Catie's own days off from cancer, those few memorable times when Catie felt well enough to leave Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to go ice skating in the middle of July at Chelsea Pier where, Larry admits, "when she stepped onto the ice something magical happened. For a time she was just a normal kid having fun, gliding around on the ice." And there were the trips to Benihana, FAO Schwarz and Yankee Stadium.
"She just loved New York," Gina said. "She got into hailing cabs and everything."
It was those outings, those moments of normal life, that were the seeds of the Catie Hoch Foundation. Catie told her parents they should ensure that other kids were able to do those same things when they felt up to it.
"Catie started the whole thing. She would tell us, make sure you give money to go to Benihana, Chelsea Pier or Yankee Stadium," Larry says.
"And she was serious, too!" Gina adds. "She would say, grab a pencil and some paper. You have to write this down!' She was telling us these things right up until a few days before she died."
When Catie grew weaker and expressed her concern about not being around to read the fourth book in the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling called from Scotland, swore Catie to secrecy, and read to her from the manuscript. She and Catie corresponded by e-mail for some time and, though Rowling was saddened to learn that Catie's cancer had spread, she sent encouraging notes to Catie, telling her she was "a true Gryffindor." Upon their daughter's passing, Rowling wrote to Larry and Gina that Catie "was braver than Harry Potter."
It was this bond which thrust the Catie Hoch Foundation into the international eye. When Rowling's fourth book was published, Time magazine ran an article about her reading to Catie.
"We were shocked," says Gina. "Someone told me about the article right before I was going on television to talk about the foundation. I opened it up and started reading it, and of course I was sobbing and had stage make-up running down my face. Later, we saw that not only had the story run in the U.S. edition, but in their overseas editions as well. It was amazing to see the Time magazine edition in Japanese and then in English, Catie Hoch! I thought, well, now Catie has gone international!"
Then came the $100,000 donation from Rowling.
"Her donation really provided a sense of credibility to the foundation," Larry says.
"And it enabled us to branch out and provide different types of assistance to families," adds Gina.
"We were lucky," she recalls. "Larry was working at GE, but there are families losing their jobs, trying to survive on one income. Travel costs now, with the cost of gas... "
The organization began with the mission of providing family outings for kids with cancer, and has grown to provide assistance to families whose "resources are tied up in caring for their sick child," says Larry.
This year Rowling is donating one signed copy of each of the seven books in the Harry Potter series to be auctioned online. The plan is to announce the winning bid at the Catiebug gala on September 29. Organizers have already set up a website for the auction. It is called .
To list the accomplishments of the Catie Hoch Foundation both adds to and takes away from the story. It is not just about the fundraising and the disbursement of funds. It's about the singular thread of humanity that ties the organization together; the people who unselfishly give of their time and their money in order to benefit others, and those who gratefully receive the assistance it provides. The foundation's website, provides a guestbook where recipients often express their thanks to the organization for its assistance.
"That, for me, is the best part of the foundation," says Gina. "Hearing from people who are going through what we did, and who are so grateful for what the Catie Hoch Foundation was able to provide. I would like to be able to help more families."
"Paying a mortgage and bills and taking time for family outings are all things you take for granted when you don't have a child who is sick," says Larry.
In addition to its earlier successes, the foundation reached a milestone this year, donating $250,000 to help fund a translational research position at Sloan-Kettering.
"This position," Larry explains, "allows doctors to take research from the lab and more quickly translate it into protocols for treatment. It streamlines the process, which is important when time is of the essence. With Catie, when the protocol she was on wasn't working, it would be two to three years before what they were working on could be used for treatment."
"Permanently endowing this position is one of our goals. The goal is to raise 1.5 million dollars in order to establish the translational research position in perpetuity, because just the interest from that will fund the position at $80,000 for the year," Larry explains
When asked how they'd like to see the story continue, Gina doesn't hesitate, "Selfishly, we want people in the area to think of us as the go-to foundation, where the administrative costs are miniscule, where virtually all the money raised goes into the programs. If a kid in your community is diagnosed with cancer, there is an organization that's going to help them. When people... are making their charitable donations, I want them to think, Wow, the Catie Hoch Foundation does such a great job balancing administrative and program expenses that it would only make sense to support them. We can make a difference, because we're not funding salaries. I want people to understand that we're hands-on. That's what I want us to be."
There is so much to Catie's story. It is the story of a little girl who was known to exclaim enthusiastically during a day off from cancer, "Oh Mom! This is the best day of my life!" As her father lovingly describes, "Not only was her glass half full, but she gave the impression that to add any more to it would somehow ruin it. She really lived life. She didn't talk it she really lived it."
"She charmed everybody," her mom says. "She really did. She's something to aspire to. She still guides us."
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