Sharing her daughter’s impressive legacy

Elizabeth Scott, the vice president of development for Alex's Lemonade Stand, spoke on Thursday at the School of Business about the foundation for childhood cancer fund started by her daughter Alex.

The talk was presented by the UConn Honors program and the Global Leadership Commission.

Scott traveled from Philadelphia to UConn, where she graduated college, to speak about her daughter's nonprofit organization and share her story of courage and hardship with the audience.

Scott had felt that something was wrong with Alex when she was just a baby. After taking her to the doctor many times, the doctor told Scott that Alex was just an unhappy child and there was no reason to bring her in anymore.

Still feeling that there was something wrong, Scott and her husband took Alex to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford where she was diagnosed with pediatric cancer just before her first birthday.

Alex underwent 14 hours of surgery on her first birthday to remove a tumor from her spine that had atrophied the muscles in her legs. A complication with the surgery left her paralyzed from the chest down and the doctors said that it was unlikely that she would ever be able to walk.

But the way that Alex approached life was an inspiration to her mother. Despite physical therapy five days a week and two and a half years of chemotherapy treatments, Alex was a happy child and approached her life as best she could.

At three years old, the tumors appeared in Alex again and Scott traveled with her daughter and her husband to New York City to have a surgeon remove them.

But, the tumors had grown back within two weeks and spread to Alex's bone marrow. The hospital instructed Scott to take Alex home and let her live her remaining years without having to stay in a hospital.

Scott would not give up, and traveled with Alex to Philadelphia for a treatment that targeted the cancer, considered experimental at the time. This treatment was not a cure but did help with the pain.

Alex, who had just turned four, came out of the treatment all smiles and started talking about a lemonade stand. Her mother dismissed her at first but Alex persisted, saying she wanted to give the money to doctors to help children with cancer and ended up raising $2,000 in her first day.

The Scott's moved to Philadelphia to be closer to Alex's physicians and there Alex ran another lemonade stand, raising $12,000. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story on the lemonade stand and soon, the national media picked up the story.

By the end of 2003, Alex had raised $100,000 and by early 2004 set herself the goal of raising $1 million.

Alex was sought out by the media and went on Oprah and the Today Show where the episodes ran within 24 hours of each other. Alex was very close to her goal when Volvo called and told Scott that they would make up the difference of money so Alex could reach $1 million.

Eight days later, Alex died. She was eight years old. But the lemonade stand continued on. Scott and her husband began running the foundation with a board of directors and a paid staff.

The foundation has raised over $30 million and funds more than 100 cutting-edge research projects. More than 20,000 lemonade stands have raised money for the foundation, and corporate sponsors such as Volvo continue to give generously. In addition, the foundation runs a travel program to assist families who need to travel for their children's treatment.

"It's incredible to see the growth [of the foundation]…we feel very fortunate that Alex has led us to this place," said Scott.

The talk ended with Scott showing a short film, featuring footage of Alex because, as Scott said, it was important for her to tell her own story.

"I cried in the middle. I thought it was very powerful," said Natalie Gaudette, a 2nd-semester sociology and psychology double major.

"I'd known about Alex's Lemonade Stand but I'd never heard the story first hand…it's very inspirational as far as dreaming big and getting there," said Jake Baril, a 2nd-semester biomedical engineering major.

"People should make an effort to get involved with a cause whatever it may be," Scott added as parting advice.