Our Recipients

Our 2024 Uncle Sid's Kid recipient is Kylie Sainz. 

Kylie is a 17-year-old girl who was born with Down Syndrome. In most situations, Kylie was like any other typical teenager. She loved to dance in her room, enjoyed making TikTok’s, being with friends at school and was even a cheerleader. 

That all changed in the spring time of her junior year of high school. Kylie was beginning to get sick all the time. After weeks of sickness, Kylie was too weak to go to school. A blood test revealed that Kylie had leukemia.

 Kylie's parents were devastated upon hearing the news that their baby will have to endure a long journey on the road to recovery. With many obstacles on her cancer journey. she tries to keep a smile.  It hasn’t been easy for her, but she takes it one day at a time. 

Scares That Care is proud to offer $10,000 to the Sainz family towards Kylie's treatment.

 Meet Jack Roberts, our  2024 burn survivor recipient for “Scares That Care.

On March 16, one-year-old Jack Roberts pulled the cord on a clothes  steamer, and boiling water poured all over his neck, shoulder, arm, and  chest. He was immediately rushed to the hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, where  he was given pain medication  and then transported to a burn center in Augusta, Georgia. They diagnosed  him with second-degree burns and scheduled him for an operation the  following morning. He underwent a surgical debridement to remove damaged  tissue and was administered an allograft, a combination  of cadaver skin and stem cells. 

To minimize permanent scarring, he needs six daily lotion  treatments and massages and has to avoid direct sunlight for up to a  year. He will also maintain routine appointments at the burn center in  Georgia until completely released from care. Throughout the  entire ordeal, Jack has remained strong and never lost his smile.

Although Jack is healing nicely, the bills are starting to come due.  Scares That Care is proud to offer $10,000 towards Jack's treatment.

Our 2023 Uncle Sid's Kid recipient is Lucius Whatley. 

Lucius was taken to the emergency room February 28th, 2023. He was taken by helicopter to Wolfsons Children's Hospital.  Lucius spent seven days in the ICU. There, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma, with a tumor in his  chest cavity more than 1/3 the size of his chest. He will be doing 5 rounds of chemo and likely radiation. 

Lucius loves video games, skateboarding, animals, is witty and a little  sassy, but most of all he’s a kid trying to live a normal life doing  normal kid things while trying to battle through both the good days and  the bad days.

His family is  struggling - physically, emotionally, and financially, and we are giving his family $10,000 towards his care. 

Our 2023 Burn Victim Recipient is the Mid-Atlantic Burn Camp.

From their website: "The mission of the Mid-Atlantic Burn Camp Fund is to assist young burn  survivors from the Mid-Atlantic region and their families in their  adjustment to injury by providing an annual therapeutic residential  summer camp and other year-round activities that support their physical,  psychological, and social needs." 

 After catching Covid-19, Jordan Mestres was taking a shower to try and feel better, when he passed out. This caused him to accidentally turn the hot water to a scalding 155 degrees. This caused severe burn injuries. Although he is doing better, there’s still a long way to go. But now he has us. Please welcome Jordan to the Scares That Care family! 

Our 2022 Breast Cancer gift recipient - Dawn Fugate - was utterly shocked and surprised to find out that she had been nominated by our Board of Directors. She didn’t know of her nomination until our Holiday dinner and dance. Additionally, she was even MORE surprised to find out that instead of waiting until the end of 2022 to receive her check - she received it that very same night! Pictured with her sister Donna Thew, her disease has progressed to the point where her voice box needed to be removed. Still a long way to go, but the help from you has been invaluable!

Tre, the first Uncle Sid's Kid for 2021, was born at 23 weeks premature and wound up spending 252 days in the NICU. He is currently trach/ventilator dependent, and also has a feeding tube. If that’s not enough for this little warrior to go through, he was recently diagnosed with stage 3 liver cancer, and is currently receiving chemotherapy to assist in shrinking the tumor inside his little liver.

Efrain Negron Jr., and his family lost everything in a fire. We are happy and proud to introduce you to Efrain and the entire Negron family, our "I Helped Kane" burn survivor recipient!

As COVID-19 raged on, we shifted the annual charity weekend online and invited Natalya's Mom to the event to talk about her and Uncle Sid's Kid Natalya's challenges with Brian Keene and Joe Ripple.  What she didn't know is her check presentation was ready too! 

A simple request to meet for a family dinner to share updates turns into a check presentation opportunity for Patricia from Volunteer Scott Perry as part of the I Helped Kane program. 

As David was undergoing treatments for his wounds, Joe, along with Kane Hodder by phone as part of the "I Helped Kane" program, visited to deliver the recipient check to him an his wife.  This will go a long way in paying some of the expenses due to the injuries he sustained. 

Christine was invited to be a judge at the STC Charity Weekend 6 costume contest. During the show, she was presented with her check as the attendees cheered on! 

Sawyer is being treated for Anaplastic Ependymoma. She has had two brain surgeries as a result, and is receiving care at St. Jude. Travel back and forth alone is hard.  Sawyer and her family received a check to aid in her recovery, assist with travel for medical visits, and provide some positive things for her.  

“My name is Hope and I am a Navy Veteran, single mother of two and a Stage IV invasive lobular carcinoma metastatic breast cancer Warrior.

The daily struggle of knowing I have, “Terminal Cancer” is enough of an emotional struggle. I enjoy the good days and smile through the bad days. I find my strength in my family and friends and put my trust in GOD’S hands and stay positive. Appreciating every day that GOD gives me. There’s Always Hope!”

Hope passed into the light on 10/21/2019

 “When you have a child with a rare disease, your world turns upside down. It’s a type of culture shock, really. Suddenly, after we found out Jane was sick, we were learning new lingo and navigating a foreign and terrifying world. Just when we thought we might be able to come up for air and reorient our family, the bills started rolling in.

We were being crushed by this new life, and then the Scares that Care family reached out and took the weight for us; lifted it right off our shoulders. Because of the efforts of STC, we have been able to get Jane to Boston TWICE! We can afford the specialty medicine to boost her immune system. And best of all?

We can focus on making memories with Jane and filling her life with as much happiness as possible in the time we have with her.

Thanks and Love! Katie (Jane’s Mom)”

“The impact of Bertrand Castille being selected as one of the recipients of Scares That Care $10,000 gift is THAT IT LIFTED HIS SPIRIT!

After being in a coma for 7 weeks, having numerous skin graft surgeries, being in constant pain and losing his independence, Bert felt he had no reason to smile. However after receiving such an amazing gift, it placed a smile on Bert’s face that we had not seen in almost a year. Additionally, with losing close to 30 pounds, Bert was able to purchase new clothes, necessities for his 2 children, and a car to get him to and from appointments. (Unfortunately, he is still unable to drive at this time due to the inability to use his hands and arms).

Nevertheless words will never, ever be able to express our gratitude for your kindness towards Bert during this very difficult time.”

Sincerely, Helen Fusilier (Bertrand’s Aunt)”

She suffers from SMA – Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type 1. This disease affects the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord, taking away the ability to walk, eat, or eventually breathe. 

While playing one day, his shirt caught fire by accident. Before anyone could get to him, he took off running – which compounded the situation. He received 3rd degree burns to 50% of his body (neck, chin, back, upper arms, right hip and groin area and chest, which was the most severely burned).

“We are first time parents really just trying to do our best. We have got help through the generosity of family, friends, even strangers. All the help is appreciated, but it’s just not enough, unfortunately. So, I am asking that you please consider us for your 2015 Gift Giving recipients. We can definitely use and would immensely appreciate the help! We thank you so much.” 

Young Mr. Austin Schilling and his family were the October, 2015 recipient. 

 Raygan was the 2013 Sick Child recipient.

 Draven and his family were the first sponsored Sick Child Recipient from Scares That Care! after we formalized to a 501(c)(3) and started working towards the annual goal to help three families annually.

While Draven is no longer with us, he and the many others we helped afterwards, will always be in our hearts. We are thankful we could be part of all of these journeys.  

 We presented this donation directly to the Kennedy Krieger Institute after a 2 year long campaign.  

Before the Charity Weekend, $5 Donation Days and so many other events we do today, this was the first major campaign of Scares That Care!