About the Little Heroes Designers
Since the beginning of Little Adventures, charity work has been important to us and we have loved working with individuals, families and organizations such as the Princess Alexa Foundation, Smiles for Central America and Candlelighters of New York. After working with these great organizations, we decided we wanted to give more and from that desire the Little Heroes Designer Program was born.
Each year Little Adventures chooses a child designer who helps us design a dress with one purpose, to help bring awareness to childhood cancer. The proceeds from the sales of the dress up help cover the cost of medical bills for the family, and eventually go to other charitable organizations the family supports.
There are so many young warriors that need our help. The challenge is in how to best help when there is so much need. We decided to do just one thing. That one thing that we do best is dress up. With this one thing, and the support of our customers, we hope to help kids in need. If our Little Hero program only helped one child it would be worth it, but we know it can help so many more.
PLEASE HELP SUPPORT THESE LITTLE WARRIORS BY PURCHASING ONE OF OUR LITTLE HERO DRESS UPS
Meet The Designers
When Giovanna was eight and a half months old, her mother noticed that her belly was swollen and hard. After an ultrasound was performed on little Giovanna, it was confirmed that she had a large tumor that filled her entire abdomen. Her parents would learn that she also had tumors in her liver. Bone marrow biopsies showed disease in her bones as well.
Giovanna was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma. They were informed that the tumor would need to be removed with surgery. First however, they would need to try to shrink the tumor size with multiple rounds of chemotherapy. Tests would then determine the efficacy of the chemo The family waited anxiously for Giovanna’s scan results. It worked!
The tumor was 73% reduced! They would now need to allow her little body to recover enough to endure the dangerous surgery. In January 2017, Dr. LaQuaglia performed the life-saving surgery. After a 15 hour-long surgery, the main tumor was able to be completely removed. The tumors in her liver remain but are closely monitored. Giovanna has also had a birthmark on her arm that was found later and diagnosed as Mastocytosis. The many things that her body has been exposed to likely caused a benign birthmark to develop into mastocytosis. The birthmark also is continually monitored.
Giovanna designed this dress herself! She loves all the colors and so a rainbow color theme was chosen. She wanted it short enough that she could play in it. She also wanted it to twirl so that she could dance. We wanted it to have as much personality as she has…. so, we made it sparkle! When you purchase you are helping Giovanna with her ongoing testing and care.
Support Princess Giovanna and treatment of childhood cancer by purchasing her dress here.
Princess Hallie
One day owner, Jenny Harrison, came across a post about a two year old girl named Hallie; a sassy, bouncy haired two year old battling cancer. After reading her story and learning more about her and her family, Hallie was chosen as the next Little Hero. Read on to find out more about her!
"One morning a lump was discovered in Hallies tummy. An ultrasound showed a large tumor. She was rushed to Primary Children’s hospital, where she was diagnosed with high risk, Stage 3 Neuroblastoma Cancer. After several rounds of intense chemotherapy, the tumor was removed along with her entire kidney. To ensure no cancer cells were left behind, she then endured a bone marrow transplant, radiation, and antibody therapy. This next phase in her cancer journey is very hopeful. We are amazed at her resilience through it all. She has a brave, magical soul, filled with joy and strength! Hallie is a true princess!"
-Hallie's Mom
Support Princess Hallie and treatment of childhood cancer by purchasing her dress here.
Warrior Princess Zoie
Zoie was a healthy and thriving 3 year old little girl who loved pre-school, playing soccer, dancing, and tumbling. Last winter, a lump was found on her neck that was thought to be from a virus. Five Days later, Zoie was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma. Her tumor was three times the size of her heart, it began overtaking her chest cavity, was starting to compress her airways, and heart. Blessedly, she responded quickly to treatment and the tumor was inactive and broken apart just 6 weeks later. However, Zoie has another year and a half left of treatment where she will continue to undergo intensive chemotherapy treatments to give her the best chance at remaining cancer-free. She is a big spirit in a little body and continues to amaze everyone with just how strong and brave she really is!
She truly is a warrior princess!
Support Princess Zoie and treatment of childhood cancer by purchasing her dress here.
Princess Ava
Ava sat down with our design team to create a sketch of what she wanted her dress to look like. With a room filled with every color of the rainbow, the possibilities were endless. There was no question when it came to Ava's favorite colors, she knew just what she wanted...teal and peach!
The details were important to Ava...
- flowers - represent life & are one of her favorite things
- hearts - represent the love Ava has for her friends
- gold trim - represent childhood cancer and how precious and priceless children are
- stripes - because stripes are unique & fun just like Ava!
The next step was to digitally create the dress and Ava's job was to make sure that everything was done just right. Ava loves flowers and she wanted her dress to have a matching flower headband that children who have been through cancer treatments could wear comfortably. She chose an extra soft elastic headband and special flowers to create the perfect look. Our design team worked their magic, lovingly creating Ava's dream dress. After completing the prototype, arrangements were made for Ava to come see her dress. Everyone at Little Adventures was excited to see Ava’s reaction and we were all excited that she loved it! Ava's greatest hope is that other children will love her dress so she can help fight cancer.
Support Princess Ava and treatment of childhood cancer by purchasing her dress here.
