This has not been an easy year for Joey and his family. In July, he was diagnosed with retinblastoma, a type of cancer which starts in the retina of the eye and can spread to other parts of the body, and he had to jump right into treatment. His world (and his family's) has been rocked with medical bills piling up and other household bills to pay. 

"We live in New Jersey but I feel like we're in Philadelphia more than we are home these days," said Joey's mom, Chrissy, who has been making regular trips to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at the Wills Eye Institute. "When we go in for treatment each month, we have to be there for four consecutive days, and then we have to go other times. Just yesterday, we went in for a blood transfusion because his numbers were low. He has one more round of this treatment but we probably have another year to go overall."

His family just received a grocery store gift card from Casey Cares through our Hammy's Heart Program, which helps support our neediest families when critical illness strikes. All of our families are facing enormous challenges as they take care of critically ill children, but for some, the expenses are so big that they have to figure out how to cover costs of medical bills and food --- a situation no family should ever have to face. Hammy's Heart, which was started in memory of a Casey Cares child named Abraham (better known as "Hammy") who battled a brain tumor, helps families like Joey's.

"He was just diagnosed, and someone from (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) put us in touch with Casey Cares," Chrissy said. "They started talking about all they do for families, like vacations, and we just can't do that yet because Joey is in the middle of his treatments. They told us about grocery gift cards and so we inquired about that. Those really help right now because we are paying for all of these medical bills but the normal bills don't go away and it's a relief to know we can go to the grocery store and pay for dinner."

"I work but I am paid per diem," said Chrissy, who has had to curtail some of her hours working at an urgent care center to help take care of Joey and take him to his own doctors' appointments. "When I don't work, I don't get paid." 

Casey Cares has stepped in, as we will for nearly 800 families throughout the Mid-Atlantic region this year, and tried to provide some smiles for Joey and his family during this difficult time.

When the gift card arrived, the family was overwhelmed. It was a little moment but it showed someone out there was thinking of them. 

"Wow! This is amazing," the family wrote us. "Thank you! We are so grateful to be a part of this foundation! The grocery gift card could be a huge help to our family. Our travel and medical expenses are adding up quickly. We tend to forget to budget in groceries, until we are hungry,"

In addition to the Hammy's Heart grocery store gift card, Casey Cares was able to send Joey something special for his birthday. He just turned 7 last week and received a special delivery - a gift card to Toys R Us - as part of our Birthday Blast Program. 

"He cannot wait to go shopping," Chrissy said. 

How can you help Joey and his family? 

Consider giving to Casey Cares this holiday season so we can provide some comfort through all of our programs and provide assistance for families facing significant financial challenges as well.