HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - The Riley Rose Foundation started a program to donate custom art carts for children battling cancer in memory of their daughter.
Riley’s Art Carts were delivered to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, and they were filled with markers, crayons, glitter and paint for patients to use for creative projects.
Riley Rose Sherman was diagnosed with cancer in 2016, which left her paralyzed.
Her parents, Rick and Kristin Sherman started the foundation in 2019 after their daughter passed away.
“Our daughter Riley Rose was diagnosed with metastatic neuroblastoma,” said Mrs. Sherman, “We spent a lot of time in the hospital room because she’s immunocompromised, so she couldn’t access the playroom, she couldn’t access the toys and the visitor area and the therapy dogs, so we’d run out to Target and buy art supplies. She loved doing art.”
Between treatments, craft projects gave their daughter an outlet to just be a kid, a feeling she wanted the other young patients to experience.
“She would say, ‘Can we give some to my friends?'” said Mrs. Sherman, “and that evolved into ‘Mom, we should get a little cart, and we could walk around with the supplies and make sure everyone has the stuff that they need.'”
The Shermans partnered with The Learning Experience, an early education program, which will help keep the carts stocked with supplies year-round.
“She just had such a big heart. She passed away in April of 2018, and she never got to see her legacy come alive,” said Mrs. Sherman.
Their daughter’s legacy lives on through the foundation that honors her life.
Riley’s Art Carts have already reached hundreds of young cancer patients at hospitals in Texas and California.
“I know she sees this. I know she sees us and sees the work that we do,” said Mrs. Sherman. “She would be ecstatic knowing that her dream is coming true.”
The Shermans would like to see Riley’s Art Carts in every children’s hospital across America.
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