The Tomorrow Fund, a local non-profit organization that helps children with cancer, will hold its 10th annual Stroll on Sunday, April 29, at Garden City Center in Cranston. A committee of volunteers and parents of local children with cancer organize the stroll, which will begin at 10 a.m.

For Cranston resident Jessica Polke and her son, Isaiah, The Tomorrow Fund has been a blessing. Eight-year-old Isaiah was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 3 years old.

“Isaiah is a funny, happy, outgoing kid who, if you looked at him, would never know how he struggled to stay with us,” said Polke. “Two days after he was diagnosed he was rushed to the intensive care unit due to his lungs filling up because the blood transfusion they gave him. I guess you can say he is allergic to blood and it has to be washed and premeditated if he ever needed it again. After that it was hospital stay after hospital stay due to infections and his blood counts getting too low.”

Today, Isaiah has been in remission since 2010 and will participate in this year’s stroll.

“I would like to first say that without The Tomorrow Fund I don't know where I and my family would be. The emotional support and the financial support were beyond my expectations,” said Polke. “While my son was in the hospital I was not able to work, they helped me with my rent so my kids could have a home and my gas bill so they had heat; and it didn't stop there. At Christmas time they made sure the kids have a Christmas to remember.”

The Tomorrow Fund Stroll is the organization’s second largest fundraising event. All proceeds from the event are used to support their mission of providing financial and emotional support to children with cancer and their families.

“As far as emotional support, there were times I didn't think we could make it, my son health-wise, me emotion-wise,” said Polke. “They always made sure there was someone there to talk to and everyone knows not only the patient’s name but the whole families’ name. There are parents’ nights out to talk to other parents and what they are going through. There are groups for the siblings to talk to other kids on how they feel. The support is endless.”

Children, adults and families are welcome to collect pledges and “stroll” on behalf of The Tomorrow Fund. A minimum donation of $20 per walker or team member is required.

Walkers can register by mail prior to Monday, April 23 or in-person the day of the stroll. Check-in and registration begins at 8:45 a.m. “Tomorrow Fund Stroll” t-shirts will be distributed on a first-come first-serve basis. Trophies will be awarded to the team and individual raising the most money.

The stroll begins at 10 a.m., and participants can walk as few or as many laps around the shopping center as they wish. Refreshments and entertainment, including clowns, face painters and music will follow the stroll.

“Last year we had over 3,000 people and raised over $105,000. Since this is the 10th year of our stroll, we want to beat last year’s total,” said Kathy Connolly, development director at The Tomorrow Fund.

The Tomorrow Fund provides support to children treated in The Tomorrow Fund Clinic located in the Edwin Forman Pediatric Hematology Oncology Center at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. From the time of diagnosis throughout the entire course of treatment, The Tomorrow Fund is there providing daily monetary stipends for in-patient families; hospital parking passes for the duration of treatment; financial aid for home expenses such as heat, utilities and rent; bone marrow transplant expenses and more.

In addition to financial aid, they fund programs that help lift the burden of parenting a child with cancer including coping, teen and bereavement support groups, parent consultants, community education and medical research.

Of the children and teenagers who develop cancer in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut, over 90 percent are treated in The Tomorrow Fund Clinic at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. At this time, more than 90 children from birth to 18 are in active treatment.

For more information or to receive a registration and pledge form, call The Tomorrow Fund at 444-8811 or visit www.tomorrowfund.org.