Ep 27 - Leia’s Kids Brings Joy And Advocacy To Pediatric Cancer Kids
🌐 Website: https://leiaskids.org/
By Sherry Sutton | Heart of the Hustle Show · The Two-Time Survivor Who Started a Childhood Cancer Nonprofit at 18 · Nonprofit Spotlight
The Two-Time Survivor Who Started a Childhood Cancer Nonprofit at 18
Leia Hunt grew up knowing more about cancer than Disney princesses. Then she turned that story into Leia's Kids, a nationwide lifeline for families in the fight.
Some guests you meet for the first time in the studio. Leia Hunt and I had known each other online for years before this conversation. She is the founder of Leia's Kids, she gave a TEDx talk before I gave mine, and when I was deciding whether to step on that stage myself, she was the person I called. So I already knew her heart. What I did not fully know until we sat down was the whole story behind the nonprofit, and it is one of the most moving I have shared in this series.
Leia's Kids serves families fighting pediatric cancer. It is headquartered right here in North Texas, but it serves families nationwide, from babies all the way up to young adults, ages 0 to 24, male and female, with any type of cancer diagnosis at any stage. To understand how it came to be, though, you have to start with Leia herself.
A diagnosis at two and a half years old
Leia is a two-time cancer survivor. She fought retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer that is most common in very young children, usually before age three. Her mom was the one who caught it. She kept noticing in photos that Leia's retina looked a different color, picture after picture, so she took her to the pediatrician. Eventually a specialist took one look, got up, quietly shut the door, and told her parents their little girl had a tumor wrapped around her left retina.
The family was living in Ohio. The very next day they were on a plane to Philadelphia, and Leia started treatment less than 24 hours later. What followed was about six rounds of chemotherapy and roughly 26 surgeries on that left eye. The cancer went away. Then it came back. After the relapse came radiation and a radioactive plaque on her eye, about seven days in isolation, and slowly the loss of all vision in that eye. As she put it, the treatment ended the relationship with the cancer, which is exactly what they wanted, but it also took her sight.
“I knew more about cancer terminology than Disney princesses.”
Here is the part that tells you everything about who Leia is. She does not frame any of this as a tragedy she survived. She frames it as the thing that gave her a life mission. Cancer, she says, gave her her purpose.
Founded on her 18th birthday
In high school, Leia went to her parents and said she wanted to do more. She wanted to be boots on the ground. She had walked the trench, sat in the waiting rooms, and watched her own family fight every battle imaginable, and she could not stop seeing other kids and other families going through the same thing. Her dad asked a simple question that changed everything: have you ever thought about starting your own nonprofit?
You have to be 18 to do that, so she waited. The night of her 18th birthday, she came home from track practice, sat down at the computer with her dad, and filed the IRS paperwork. Then she did the most Leia thing imaginable. She told no one. Still in high school, she would find kids in the newspaper, quietly show up at their spaghetti dinners and fundraisers, and hand the family a thousand dollars. I had cancer too, she would say. Here, this is for you. That is how Leia's Kids began.
4 Pillars of support for families |
0–24 Ages served, any diagnosis, any stage |
18 Age Leia was when she founded it |
4 Pillars of support for families | 0–24 Ages served, any diagnosis, any stage | 18 Age Leia was when she founded it |
The four pillars of Leia's Kids
Leia believes every family fighting cancer has different needs, so the organization is built around four pillars that meet people where they are.
The first is financial grants. Leia is firm that no parent should ever have to choose between sitting at their child's bedside and going to work to keep the lights on. The grants exist to cover the miscellaneous costs that pile up so that choice never has to be made.
“No mom or dad should have to choose between sitting next to their kid and going to work.”
The second is family dream parties. Leia is one of five siblings, so family runs deep for her, and she is adamant that siblings are fighting cancer too, just in a different way. They are the ones doing the dishes, babysitting, and being home alone while the world revolves around their sick brother or sister. So Leia's Kids gives the whole family a day to just be a family. Want to go to the zoo? The beach? Meet Disney princesses? They make it happen.
The third is mental health retreats, two to three a year, for teen girls ages 17 to 24. These are the conversations that fall through the cracks everywhere else: fertility after treatment, how to talk to your dad about losing your hair, walking into school bald, aging off your parents' insurance onto your own. The retreats hand young women a toolkit of wellness and, just as importantly, a sisterhood, so they can finally hear the two words that change everything. Me too.
The fourth pillar is advocacy, at both the state and federal level. Leia works with the White House on the Cancer Moonshot initiative and pushes for better insurance policies. She advocated for the Give Kids a Chance Act, legislation aimed at getting pharmaceutical companies to develop pediatric versions of the drugs they create for adults. That bill was signed into law in early 2026 as the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act. As Leia explains it, pediatric cancer receives less than 8 percent of funding and sits more than 50 years behind adult research, which is exactly why this work matters so much to her, alongside her primary focus on survivorship and the lifelong effects that come after cancer.
Meet Princess Marygold
Leia brought a book with her to the studio, and the story behind it got me. The kids she serves ask her the same heartbreaking question over and over. Why did I have cancer? Is God mad at me? Is my mom mad at me? Is it because I did not put my toys away? So Leia took that one question and built an answer for them.
She created Princess Marygold, the first-ever childhood cancer princess. Marygold was diagnosed as a little girl, and her whole mission is to bring joyful smiles to kids fighting cancer alongside her best friend, Peppermint the Pig. The genius of it is that kids already love princesses, so Leia gave them one who looks like them. Port scars, eye patches, a lost arm, no hair. A princess a child can see themselves in. The first book is Princess Marygold and the Royal Tea Party, there is now a coloring book, and a second book is on the way.
How to support Leia's Kids
If you know a family in the fight, that is the first ask. Leia's Kids would love to serve them and will send Princess Marygold books anywhere to reach a kiddo who needs one. Beyond that, here are the simplest ways to help.
You can donate online at leiaskids.org and follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, where the organization shares its families and its wins. One of the most useful ways to give is through their Amazon wishlist, which keeps supplies, gift cards, and small comforts flowing to kids and their siblings. And if you want something easy and repeatable, join $5 Friday. Every Friday, you swap your coffee for a $5 donation to Leia's Kids. Small, but it adds up fast.
There is also a big moment coming. Leia's Kids is hosting its first-ever gala on September 4th in Frisco, Texas. It is a royal ball, and Princess Marygold may just make an appearance with her royal friends. It is a chance to celebrate how far this organization has grown and to love on the warriors and families right here in our own backyard.
“I'm so thankful for my cancer, because my cancer gave me my purpose.”
Leia Hunt, Founder of Leia's Kids
Thank you, Leia, for trusting me with your story and for the relentless way you show up for these families. If you have ever wondered what it looks like to take the hardest thing that ever happened to you and turn it into hope for someone else, this is it.
Frequently asked questions about Leia's Kids
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Leia's Kids is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in North Texas that supports families fighting pediatric cancer nationwide. It serves children from birth to age 24, of any gender, with any type of cancer diagnosis at any stage, through financial grants, family dream parties, mental health retreats, and advocacy.
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Leia's Kids was founded by Leia Hunt, a two-time childhood cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare eye cancer, at two and a half years old, went through roughly 26 surgeries on her left eye plus chemotherapy and radiation, and lost vision in that eye. On her 18th birthday, while still in high school, she filed the paperwork to start the nonprofit.
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Financial grants so no parent has to choose between bedside time and a paycheck. Family dream parties that give the whole family, including siblings, a day to just be a family. Mental health retreats for teen girls ages 17 to 24. And advocacy at the state and federal level for pediatric cancer research and funding.
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Princess Marygold is the first-ever childhood cancer princess, a character Leia Hunt created to answer the question so many sick kids ask: why did I get cancer? Diagnosed as a little girl, she brings joyful smiles to children fighting cancer alongside her best friend, Peppermint the Pig, and lets kids see port scars, eye patches, and hair loss on a princess who looks like them. The first book is Princess Marygold and the Royal Tea Party, with a coloring book out and a second book on the way.
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You can refer a family to be served, donate online at leiaskids.org, give through the Amazon wishlist of supplies and gift cards, or join $5 Friday by swapping your coffee for a $5 donation. You can also follow Leia's Kids on social media and attend its first royal ball gala on September 4th in Frisco, Texas.
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$5 Friday is a weekly fundraiser from Leia's Kids. Every Friday, you replace your usual coffee with a $5 donation to support families fighting childhood cancer. It is a small, repeatable way to give that adds up over time.
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Leia's Kids is headquartered in North Texas but serves families nationwide. It supports children from birth to 24 years old, of any gender, with any type of pediatric cancer diagnosis at any stage.
Want to put hope in a fighting family's hands?
Head to leiaskids.org to donate, refer a family, shop the Amazon wishlist, or start your own $5 Friday. And if you are in North Texas, the royal ball on September 4th in Frisco is the place to be. These families are fighting the hardest battle imaginable, and Leia has built a way for the rest of us to fight alongside them.
XO, Sherry
Heart of the Hustle · A Nonprofit Spotlight series produced in Plano, TX
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