In 2005 Freddy Scarf hoped to go to prom with his best friend Shiri Gumbiner, but his dream was never realized. At 16, Shiri lost her long battle to 0steosarcoma, malignant bone cancer.
To honor his friend’s beautiful spunky memory, Freddy started The Shiri Foundation/No Worries Now. The nonprofit is dedicated to raising money and awareness in the hope of one day finding a cure for osteosarcoma. In the meantime however, Freddy and the foundation are intent on bringing joy to the lives of children living with the cancer. Scarf told ABC News, “It’s just not fair for someone so young to have to endure and worry about their life.”
In 2007 and 2008, Freddy organized a special prom for cancer patients in Southern California. This year’s event was held in the San Francisco Bay area. Prom can be pretty intimidating for most kids, so if you’re a patient, it could be a particularly challenging night out.
For kids like 17-year-old Dorrian Lewis, the Bay Area special prom was like a dream come true. “I thought I was going to be the only one who didn’t get to go to prom and everybody at school was going to be “Oh, like I did this and I did that.” And then I get to go to my own prom with people who are more like me,” said Lewis.
Photo courtesy Freddy Scarf