Good Cookies
Cancer warrior Ber vanderMeer, 13, and his sister, Lizzie, 10 (Photo courtesy Amber vanderMeer)
You may not know it to look at him, but Ber vanderMeer is a fighter.
The Midlothian resident is 13, but he’s already undergone radiation treatment, chemotherapy, surgery and immunotherapy and received a vaccine treatment for neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer that can occur anywhere in the sympathetic nervous system and most commonly effects infants and younger children.
Ber was diagnosed with a Stage 4 neuroblastoma in 2007, just days after he celebrated his fourth birthday. The odds against him initially were long, says his mother, Amber: about a 30 percent of survival after five years. She and her husband, Steve, pushed for cutting-edge treatment for Ber.
“You keep hoping that there is another option out there,” she says.
The effort has paid off: Today, Ber shows no evidence of the disease. He’s thriving, and he’s just started seventh grade.
The vaccine treatment for Ber was partially funded courtesy of a national nonprofit called Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a group that raises awareness of pediatric cancers and raises money for pediatric cancer research and for development of safer, more effective treatments.
Amber vanderMeer is staying busy this weekend serving as the metro Richmond lead for the nonprofit’s annual cookie sale.
“I want to do everything and anything I can to help other kids,” she says.
The eighth annual event begins with a bake sale downtown at the James Center Plaza from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today. Most sales will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The national nonprofit was founded by Gretchen Holt Witt, a former Richmond resident. In 2007, her 2-year-old son Liam was diagnosed with cancer. Liam was 6 when he died of the disease in 2011.
Amber vanderMeer says she learned about Cookies while Ber was receiving treatment. She got to know Gretchen Holt Witt as the boys were going through radiation treatment at the same time, and their daughters would play together while their sons were in treatment.
VanderMeer got involved in the Richmond effort and has been taking part each year. About $40,000 was raised in metro Richmond through the campaign last year. The national effort has provided more than $450,000 over seven years to pediatric cancer researchers. About 85 percent of the money raised by Cookies for Kids’ Cancer goes to researchers.
The effort is also getting a boost from businesses. Nationally, proceeds will be matched by OXO, up to $100,000. In the metro area, some retailers in Carytown and Westhampton are donating 10 percent of their proceeds on Saturday to the nonprofit.
Jaqueline’s Gourmet Cookies of Salem, Massachusetts, has provided more than 20,000 cookies for sale in Richmond.
Here’s a sampling of bake sale sites for Saturday. Cookies will be sold from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. unless noted below:
- ACAC Fitness Center, 11621 Robious Road (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
- Bon Air Elementary, 8701 Polk St.
- Dogma, 3501 W. Cary St.
- Ellwood Thompson’s, 4 N. Thompson St.
- Five Below at Short Pump, 11331 W. Broad St.
- Great Big Greenhouse, 2051 Huguenot Road
- Kroger, 3001 Polo Parkway (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
- Kroger, Rutland Commons, 9351 Atlee Road, Mechanicsville
- Kroger, 9000 Staples Mill Road (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
- Kroger, Stonebridge, 7000 Tim Price Way
- Libbie Market, 400 Libbie Ave. (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
- Lowe’s 1512 W. Koger Center Drive
- Mango Salon, 123 Libbie Ave.
- Once Upon a Vine, 4009 MacArthur Ave.
- Padow’s 1009 E. Main St.
- Paper Plus, 5804 Grove Ave.
- Pleasants Hardware, 423 Ridge Road
- Sara Campbell, 306 Libbie Ave.
- Sen Organic, 2901 W. Cary St.
- Sweet Frog, 3137 W. Cary St.
- The Shops at 5807, 5807 Patterson Ave.
- Walmart, 900 Walmart Way, Midlothian
If you can’t make a bake sale, cookies and other items may be purchased online.
