Two-year-old Avery Christiansen was diagnosed with a golf-ball-sized brain tumor when she was 11 months old. She was immediately admitted to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., where doctors were able to remove the tumor.

Avery was then referred to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., for more evaluation.

Avery, along with her parents Jenn and Jeremy Christiansen, from Shawnee, were the special guests at Up ‘til Dawn’s annual letter-writing party on Tuesday night in the Kansas Union Ballroom.

“We did treatment at St. Jude’s for about six months, with four months on a high-dose chemo therapy regiment,” Jenn said. “All of her medicine was paid for. All of our accommodations and groceries were taken care of. That’s the great thing about St. Jude’s for the families that go there: you don’t have to worry about money. It’s just absolutely amazing what they have been able to do for us.”

Unfortunately, Avery relapsed last year in August and she is fighting her ongoing battle with cancer at St. Jude’s, making fundraising events such as Up ‘til Dawn all the more important.

More than 100 students attended the event to help raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Last year, about $17,000 was raised by participants, who were asked to address 50 letters containing gift forms to their friends and family members encouraging them to donate to St. Jude’s and its mission in fighting pediatric cancer.

“I think it’s just really important that all these kids get the help they need,” said Lauren Cuthan, a freshman from Wichita, as she filled out a letter to her parents. “The more money that is received from these letters, the more children diagnosed with cancer will get a chance for survival.”

About 250 college campuses nationwide participate in the Up ‘til Dawn charity for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital each year. St. Jude’s is one of the foremost leaders in pediatric cancer treatment and research in the world. According to its website, the survival rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer, has increased 90 percent since the hospital’s creation in 1962. All accepted patients, despite their financial or insurance situations, are admitted and treated free of cost.

Follow Avery’s story at AveryAnneChristiansen.blogspot.com.

— Edited by Mike Lavieri