Kat Manzella and Kayte Oliver made a promise they intend to keep and step one took place Sunday.
Manzella
and Oliver created the non-profit organization Kisses4Kate as a way to
help the Thornton family move into a new home so they could all be
together while 5-year-old Kate Thornton battled leukemia. In the days
leading up to Kate’s death on Sept. 5, the duo worked frantically,
making all the necessary arrangements to ensure the Thorntons would be
moved in and together under one roof. The Thornton’s Thomasville home
was ill-equipped for Kate’s many medical needs and the family spent
much of the last year apart.
But that was only the start of
their journey. The two also pledged that Kisses4Kate would continue
helping children who are battling deadly diseases in an effort to keep
Kate’s memory alive. With a few weeks of healing behind them, Manzella
and Oliver have focused their attention on Christopher Lemonds, an
11-year-old boy from High Point who is diagnosed with osteogenic
sarcoma, a common type of bone cancer.
“Maybe that was the
purpose of [Kate’s] life is that we are now going to help other
children like her,” Manzella said. “I wasn’t even aware of the severity
of children who are suffering with these diseases and the toll the
treatments take on not only them but their families.”
Kisses4Kate
made the announcement on Sunday at Immaculate Heart of Mary in High
Point and symbolized the organization’s commitment to Lemonds with a
butterfly release ceremony. Melissa Lemonds, Christopher’s mother, is a
single mom with two other children, and Manzella said Kisses4Kate is
there to help her any way possible.
“Christopher has had
surgeries to remove tumors and is undergoing chemotherapy.” said
Manzella. “He is our new Kate’s Kids and is actually our first. If we
can make it better for [Melissa] and help her, that’s a relief for her.
We can provide spi ritual support, financial support, and that’s where
we want to go with this.”
While Oliver and Manzella are still
both grieving over the loss of Kate, they felt the time was right to
reach out to another family in need. They had reservations about
rushing back into a situation that would require so much emotional
energy this soon. But after talking to Melissa Lemonds, it became clear
to them both that this was the family they needed to help.
“When
I was speaking to Melissa and she was telling me what Chris is going
through, I ran through the gambit of emotions,” Manzella said. “A part
of me wanted to hang up the phone, feeling like it’s too soon. But that
part of me that said it was too soon gave me the strength to say ‘if
not me than who? Who’s going to help her?’ I think about Kate and her
saying ‘put your big girl panties on and deal with it’ and that’s what
I have to remember.”
Having done this once already, Oliver
knows the process is difficult and requires a lot time and patience. In
the end, she feels that everything just has a way of working out, and
this endeavor will be no different. The most important thing is
reaching out a helping hand to another family that needs it.
“I
don’t believe any of this happened by chance,” Oliver said. “There are
too many things that have happened that confirm to us over and over
again that God wanted this. We just feel like through God all things
are possible. We want to be the voice of these families. They need to
concentrate on getting their children well, so let’s focus on helping
them in other areas that they don’t have the time to focus on.”
Manzella
said Kisses4Kate will provide whatever support is necessary to the Lemonds, whether it be financially or simply mowing their yard.
Christopher was released from Brenner’s Children’s Hospital on Sunday
but will be going back on Wednesday for another round of chemotherapy
treatments.
For more information, visit Kisses4Kate.org.
Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be reached at 888-3578, or duke@tvilletimes.com.
