Nathan Mumford and his friends line up the presents donated by the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland and long-time Glenville football coach Ted Ginn Sr.—gifts that instantly help brighten the eyes of a few sick children at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital.
"There you go, Merry Christmas," he says.
The gesture is so much more than that for Mumford, a three-time cancer survivor and once a patient himself at the hospital.
"The thing that I tell everybody is, when you're going through cancer as a kid your main goal isn't to beat that cancer, it's just to be normal and have fun and be joyful and that's what we try to bring," he said.
Anxious looks were replaced by smiles while monitors and IV drips were traded in for light sabers.
"Seeing a smile on the kids' faces when you know they're not feeling well and it really warms the hearts of the family members too knowing that people care," said Lisa Perry, child life specialist.
People like Mumford, who watched his mother die of breast cancer, are now determined to make sure area kids with their own battles know they aren't alone.
"It just puts a smile on my heart," he told newsnet5.com. "It just brings so much joy and you know as we say, caring is love and just showing these kids and parents we do care is just spreading love."
The Karen E. Mumford Cancer foundation started here in Cleveland in 2007. It helps provide financial assistance and debt relief to cancer patients and their families.
