Orange will be the color on Sunday as the Logan Miracle Foundation is set to host its third annual motorcade against childhood cancer.
Logan Cruz, who lost his battle to acute lymphocytic leukemia in January 2022, legacy lives on as his mother, Anais Cruz, continues to bring awareness to childhood cancer through the Logan Miracle Foundation.
Cruz hopes that participants wear orange and feel free to decorate their vehicles in orange. “The more people see orange it is a great way to gravitate them to be curious to find out why all this orange. People who do not know about the orange, they are going to wonder why, and they will come across the Logan Miracle Foundation page,” she said.
The goal Cruz said is to bring awareness as there is a big lack of information of what childhood cancer is, leukemia, and what bone marrow transplant looks like. “This is because it is not a thing that is common in our community,” Cruz said. Cruz also confessed that she did not know what a bone marrow transplant was until her son needed one. “I always said that I wish I knew, or I would have signed up from the age of eighteen,” she said.
“If people know about it, then people are going to want to be a part of a great cause, they are going to sign up to be a donor. The more information I feed them, the more information I show them that the Black community lacks donors. It’s as simple as donating blood. The more people understand the knowledge behind it, I think people are going to want to be a part of it,” said Cruz.
Cruz said that one of the biggest misconceptions is that leukemia is hereditary. “It doesn’t trickle down from your great, great, great grandmother. It is basically based on our own immune system that mutates and causes our immune system to go out of whack and no longer be able to detect cancer cells.”
When Cruz became exposed to that world of leukemia, she was surprised to learn how many kids are diagnosed and how many are passing, “I was very surprised. It’s you being a part of a great cause to find a cure,” Cruz said.
She hopes by bringing awareness this will allow the Virgin Islands community to be on a higher level of awareness. Her goal is to impact everyone of all ages.
“I want kids who are diagnosed with childhood cancer to understand they have this unmatched superpower because what they are going through is literally deadly. I don’t want these kids to feel like there’s something wrong with me. I want them to understand that I have a superpower and I am special. The love they see around them I want them to know they are not looked at as though something is wrong with them, they are looked at as heroes because that is what they are. Adults sometimes cannot handle the chemo they go through,” Cruz said.
For her work in bringing awareness some of Cruz’s accomplishments include being honored by the Houston Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for raising $10,000 and Logan’s Angels organizing 60,000 in funding. Logan Cruz also has an official day, May 13, “Logan Cruz Superhero Day.”
To donate to the Logan Miracle Foundation, contact the foundation at 832-258-4748 (call or text). Families that may need support can also contact that number or email theloganmiraclefoundation13@gmail.com.
