Layla Korte is pictured holding her infant brother Boston.
Photo submitted by the Korte family.
FORT JENNINGS — A lengthy hospital stay inspired Layla Korte to start her own charity at only 9 years old.
The Fort Jennings child spent a month at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for chemotherapy when doctors diagnosed her with leukemia at 7 years old.
Layla lost her hair, but she found comfort through family card games, painting her nails and doing her makeup.
She’s now raising money to donate games, gifts, wigs and blankets to newly diagnosed pediatric cancer patients through her charity, Layla’s Cancer Care Club.
“I’m trying to make it so they aren’t bored and sad while they’re in the hospital,” Layla said.
Parents Tiffany and Anthony Korte incorporated the 501c3 nonprofit on Layla’s behalf.
The Kortes incorporated a similar nonprofit, Boston’s Brigade, named for their son Boston, 2, who was born without the bottom right ventricle of his heart.
The couple found ample financial support through pediatric cancer foundations to cope with Layla’s diagnosis, but few resources exist for parents of children with congenital heart defects, Tiffany said.
“We said, almost as soon as Layla was diagnosed, when this is all over we wanted to start a charity to help heart families,” Tiffany recalled.
Now that Layla is months away from remission and Boston is home to finish key developmental milestones before his next heart surgery, the couple are ready to extend support to other families in similar scenarios.
They held their first fundraiser, a gun raffle, for Layla’s Cancer Club in September for pediatric cancer awareness month, and created an Amazon wish list consisting of games, hair kits and other items selected by Layla to donate to pediatric cancer patients. The list includes toiletries, restaurant and grocery gift cards for parents of children with congenital heart defects.
“A lot of times these kids are hospitalized at the last minute,” Tiffany said. “You don’t know it’s coming, and you don’t have bathroom essentials.”
Eventually, the couple hope to raise enough money to help families pay their mortgage, utilities and other bills while their children are in the hospital, Tiffany said.
The Kortes spent nearly seven months in Cincinnati while Boston and Layla were in the hospital.
“I don’t know how we would have continued paying our house payment or car loan,” if it hadn’t been for the support of friends, family, neighbors and strangers who provided financial aid, Tiffany said. But other families may not have the same support network as the Korte family, given the unusual nature of their children’s dual diagnoses.
“We want to be the helping hand that we got,” Tiffany said.
