Two Alex's, One Dream

by A. Lewis

Alex Anderson of Margate, New Jersey raised $10,000 for the VHL Family Alliance on his Lemonade Stand. He was motivated and joined by other exceptional and inspirational children.

Alex, 10, is fighting cancer not only for himself but also in memory of Alexandra Scott, who passed away in 2004, age 8. At age 4 Alexandra opened a lemonade stand in her front yard with the goal of raising money to find a cure for all kids with cancer. Her story moved people all around the world to make donations. After she died the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was established to continue her efforts.

On June 10, 2006, Alex joined with the family of Alexandra to host his own official Alex’s Lemonade Stand; “Two Alex’s, One Dream”. Alex looks to Alexandra as his role model, commenting “we both do the same thing and she was so successful, I want to be that successful and help that many people.” Alex is well on his way to achieving his vision, with this year’s proceeds being donated through the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to fund a VHL research project.

It wasn’t only Alex’s very own original lemonade recipe that lured people from all over Margate. The event was made even more magical with the accompanying heavy blues music of child prodigy Patrick Droney & Bleak City. Patrick, 14, was awarded the 2006 Robert Johnson Star Award for most promising blues musician. Patrick hasn’t let stardom and playing with the likes of James Brown go to his head; instead he uses his talents to raise money for philanthropic endeavors.

Patrick has much in common with the two Alex’s -- entrepreneurial talents, a passion for raising money for charity and a childhood disease, von Willebrand disease, a bleeding and clotting disorder. Perhaps the positive attitude of these three leading lights is summed up by Alex when he says of VHL “You’ve got one life to live; you may as well make it good no matter what situation you’re in.”

After a rocky road of misdiagnosis, Alex was diagnosed with VHL at age 4 and underwent a life-saving 14 hour brain surgery to remove a tumor. Since then he has had 11 tumors removed from his eyes. However, Alex’s prognosis is good and with regular screenings he is able to lead a fairly normal life.

Aside from all his fundraising Alex enjoys playing X-Box, swimming, cycling and hanging out with his friends -- only after finishing his homework, though! Alex is looking forward to a trip to Lego Land this summer. He is especially interested in investing in a Death Star to add to his legendary Lego collection. Apparently the 2,500 piece Ark Fighter that he built alone in 5 hours just wasn’t enough!

The mastermind behind the publicity for the Lemonade Stand shouldn’t be forgotten though. Karen Anderson, Alex’s mother, is the Chapter Chair for New Jersey and is full of good ideas. To publicize the event, fliers were put around schools in three districts. It was in the newspaper and on local radio. Karen also wrote letters to significant community figures at the City Hall. The result was that the Fire Chief got back to her and the fire station became the venue. All the hard work certainly paid off and Alex and Karen aim to raise over $10,000 next year.

To learn more about von Hippel-Lindau disease and the VHL Family Alliance, see http://www.vhl.org For more information about Alex Anderson, visit vhl.org/AlexAnderson.

As printed in the VHL Family Forum 14:2, August/September 2006. For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, editor@vhl.org. Further information is available from the VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org.