Last summer, Michael Duffy III (Mike), age 15, opened a lemonade stand with the goal of raising $1,000 to help find a cure for leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that afflicted his father. Mike was completely committed to this endeavor — from researching the Internet to finding a 10-gallon water dispenser from which to mix and serve the lemonade to making the sign with his mom advertising his initiative. After shopping for lemons, cups, straws and lemonade mix, Mike was ready to go. He set up his stand outside a food market in his hometown of Duxbury, Mass. After only four days of operating his lemonade stand Mike raised $1,250.
Mike then decided that he wanted to present his check personally to Massachusetts General Hospital President Peter Slavin, MD, and the doctors who saved his father’s life. On Oct. 13, 2011, Mike met with Dr. Slavin, as well as Cancer Center physicians Tom DeLaney, MD, and Sam Yoon, MD, who treated his father, and presented his donation. Mike’s father has been cancer-free since December 2010, and, through the efforts of young people like Mike, others may be spared from this devastating disease.
