BUSINESS
Zoe and Leo, a 5-year-old chocolate Lab and trained therapy dog for the Arizona Cancer Foundation for Children, hug. (Sara Waterman Photography/Submitted Photo)
‘Nothing Can Prepare You for Those Words’ Airpark nonprofit foundation supports families battling childhood cancer By Jordan Houston
C
hrisie Funari’s passion for helping families affected by childhood cancer is personal. Her daughter Ava was only 18 months old when she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of pediatric cancer. Ava spent the next roughly four years undergoing harsh treatments that caused her teeth to disintegrate, her hair to fall
10 / SCOTTSDALE AIRPARK NEWS / MAY 2022
out and her kidneys to fail. Two days after telling her mother she didn’t want to “feel like this anymore,” Ava died. She was 5 years old. Funari vowed from that moment to channel her grief, as well as her frustrations, into supporting other families in similar situations. She founded the Arizona Cancer Foundation for Children, which aids 300 families per year with free financial, social and emotional assistance.
