Maddie’s Promise Keeps Young Girl’s Desire to Help Others Alive

Fundraisers coming up: Maddie's Promise keeps young girl's desire to help others alive

September 17, 2019 by Carol Britton Meyer

Maddie McCoy's family and friends are keeping alive her promise to help others by fundraising for rare childhood cancer research.

Maddie, 11, passed away from a rare childhood cancer last May. She is best remembered for her smiling face,  generosity, kindness, and courage in the face of a major medical challenge. She was also an accomplished student, gymnast, and Galway Rovers Club soccer player and an inspiration to all those around her.

Maddie was a self-taught artist who loved to ski, swim, and spend time with her family on Cape Cod. She was dearly loved by her parents, Ann and Stephen McCoy, her sisters, Grace and Lucy, and everyone she met.

"Maddie was always strong, smart, athletic, and kind and had that quiet Maddie confidence from the time she was a baby," Ann McCoy told the Hingham Anchor. "She was also sweet."

Family friend Romina Magner noted that Maddie, "was just confident about who she was."

When Maddie was first diagnosed, her mother said she was stunned. "She was strong, healthy, and beautiful. We never saw it coming."

Maddie and her sisters had a close relationship -- often confiding in each other. "Even when she was sick, she would help Lucy with her homework, and Maddie was always braiding their hair," she said.

On the playing field and during gymnastics competitions, her mother recalls her being "competitive but nice about it. Soccer came naturally to her, but she had to work harder with gymnastics at first and kept at it until she got it right."

Even when she was unable to participate in sports, Maddie attended anyway to help  motivate her team members and cheer them on.

Maddie's Promise was launched last spring in memory of a caring young girl who never lost hope and inspired others with her bravery and kindness. "Maddie’s Promise is more than a tribute to a beautiful, and beautifully-strong, 11-year-old girl gone too soon; it’s a rally cry to push rare childhood cancer research forward — creating tangible, life-saving treatments along the way," is how the purpose of this website is explained.

Maddie continued attending Plymouth River School in-between treatments at Children's Hospital and Dana Farber in Boston and always turned in her homework, even when she was in the hospital. During those drives Maddie noticed the homeless people on the streets and asked why they were there and where they slept and ate their meals.

She decided to do something to help and up until the time of her passing, Maddie was making bracelets and bookmarks that she planned to sell to raise money for homeless shelters and those struggling with cancer.

Her many friends worked with Maddie on painting rocks, braiding bracelets, and other art projects and helped Maddie develop a book of plans containing the promise and details about setting up stands to sell these items to raise money to help the homeless.

While Maddie never got to sell these creations at one of their stands, her sisters and friends took on her promise, raising thousands of dollars selling handmade art, crafts, and lemonade and continue to do so in her memory.

Some of Maddie's friends delivered baskets filled with toothpaste, shampoo, and other personal care items to homeless shelters, shopping for the items themselves, among other activities.

Members of the Hingham High girls and boys varsity soccer teams stopped by the McCoy house just before Labor Day for a work party to paint rocks, seashells, and sand dollars and to make other fun items to be sold at upcoming stands and events.

Members of the community are invited to attend two fundraising efforts. On Friday, Sept. 27, Cycle Town in Hingham is hosting a fundraising ride.

On Friday, Oct. 4, all fundraising from a Hingham varsity soccer double header will be donated to Maddie's Promise. The boys team will play Plymouth South at 4:30 p.m. and the girls team will play Plymouth South at 6:30 p.m. at Hingham High School.

Maddie's art -- puppies, flowers, illustrated inspirational messages ("Be the change in life"; "Everyone can use a little sunlight"; and "Dog is God spelled backwards"), and much more  will be sold at the games. There will also be Bertucci's Pizza and other concession offerings. Event organizers say Maddie was the ultimate Hingham athletics fan and would have loved a night like this.

Everyone is encouraged to wear something purple (Maddie's favorite color) to school that day and to the game. A limited-edition purple t-shirt will be sold before the event -- you may place an order at orders@maddiespromise.org. There's a suggested donation of $18.  The t-shirts bear  the Maddie's Promise logo and the word "Hingham" on the front and "Maddie's Promise" on the back with a "1" -- her soccer team number -- and the words "Be the Change/Find the Cure."

"This is just the beginning," her mother said. There will be bigger events in the future, including a gala at the end of the year.

"Maddie is the driving force behind all of this," Magner said.

Her mother explained more about "the promise": "Maddie had so much promise and made a promise to help others, and our promise back to her is to keep her promise," she said.

Along those lines, behind the scenes her parents and other supporters are identifying more promising rare cancer research in need of funding.  Some of the fundraising proceeds will continue to help the homeless.

"About 350 children a year get the disease Maddie had," her mother said. "No drug has ever been developed and an investment made in research [to help find a cure] for rare children's cancers," Ann McCoy said. "They're all rare."

Meanwhile, she can't express enough appreciation for the support shown to her family by the community, including Plymouth River School, Su Escuela, Galway Rovers, and Head Over Heels Gymnastics. "Maddie loved them all."

For more information or to make a donation, visit maddiespromise.org, which will soon be an official non-profit