A mother lost her 24 year old son to Cancer just two years ago. And now she wants to help other young adults who are battling the disease. She's started a charity called Pennies for Heaven. But that's not all. Mindi Flowers-Daisy wasn't going to stop at just establishing a non profit organization. This Friday she'll be embarking on a 155 mile walk from her sons gravestone to the place he received treatment in Ann Arbor.
The Hickory Bluff Cemetery in St. Joseph Michigan is where Mindi Flowers-Daisy now has to go to visit her son Kory. "his personality was just fantastic, fun loving," said Flowers-Daisy. He was diagnosed with leukemia/lymphoma in 2007. After a three year fight Kory passed away in 2010. "He unfortunately didn't get to live long enough," said Flowers-Daisy.
But Kory has inspired his mother to help others battling the disease. Flowers-Daisy said, "when you're worried your stressed, when you're stressed your body can't heal. I want to take some of the worry away so people can heal." More specifically she wants to take the financial worry away.
A hardship of cancer treatment that she knows all too well. "We were into our second million dollars. I depleted most everything of what I had," said Flowers-Daisy.
She's just started a charity to help young adults pay for their cancer treatments. It's called Pennies from Heaven. It got its name one night when Flowers-Daisy was getting ready for bed. "I went to pick my dog up one night and put him on my bed and I had my pajamas on with no pockets and when I picked him up and put him on the bed I heard a coin drop. I'm looking around like where did it come from? Didn't come from the dog and I have no pockets. I just figured Kory kinda tossed me a penny. A penny from heaven."
But it's going to take a whole lot of pennies to help others pay for their treatments. So Flowers-Daisy is walking 155 miles to kick start her fundraising. She'll start at the cemetery where Kory rests now and end at the hospital where he received his treatment. She has five pages of directions printed out for her journey. And she'll get it all done in less than a week. She'll reach her destination on October 10th, the same day Kory was diagnosed just five years ago. "If my son can go through what he went through then I need to go through this just because it is gonna be difficult," said Flowers Daisy.
She starts her walk between 9 and 10 a.m. Friday morning at the Hickory Bluff Cemetery in St. Joseph, Michigan. She's also welcoming anyone who wants to join her.
