Little Eric's Foundation and the Gold Ribbons

In June 2011 an MRI found a mass in the brain of a boy named Eric Speicher Jr. He was diagnosed with a grade three anaplastic ependymoma. He fought it for thirty months and died on 23 December 2013, aged 14.

His parents, Eric and Jessica Speicher, started Little Eric’s Foundation in May 2014.

What the foundation does

It is a 501(c)(3) funding pediatric brain and childhood cancer research, raising awareness, and helping families who are in the middle of treatment right now. That last part is the one people underestimate. A childhood cancer diagnosis is also a financial event, arriving at a household that was not planning for it, and the practical help matters enormously.

The foundation is based in the Pittston area and runs fundraising events through the year. If you have seen gold ribbons around Greater Pittston in September, that is them. Gold is the colour for childhood cancer awareness.

Why we donate to it

J&J’s gives signed memorabilia to organisations that can turn it into money. Little Eric’s is one of them.

The mechanism is simple. A foundation running a raffle or an auction needs prizes people genuinely want. A signed jersey or a framed photograph raises more than a gift basket does, and it costs the foundation nothing to acquire. We would rather an item did that job than sat on a shelf here waiting for a buyer.

Jen Roberts has made giving back a standing part of how J&J’s operates, whether that is a cash donation or memorabilia for someone else’s fundraiser. Little Eric’s, the Wyoming Valley Challenger Baseball League and the Christopher Ryan Bone Memorial Golf Tournament are the ones that come up most.

If you are running a fundraiser

We are a small business and cannot say yes to everything. We do try to say yes to things happening in the Wyoming Valley. If you are organising something and a piece of signed memorabilia would help it raise more, tell us what you are doing.

You can support Little Eric’s Foundation directly at littleericsfoundation.org.