Early Saturday morning, by the time some are pouring their first cup of coffee and kids are flipping through morning cartoons, Nellie De La Cruz, age 10, is making her way to deliver care packages to essential workers at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Long Beach to show appreciation for their work.
As the number of COVID-19 cases reaches 11,950 in the City of Long Beach, at the time of publication, De La Cruz strives to make a difference through acts of kindness.
This past Saturday, Sept. 26 marked the third visit De La Cruz made to St. Mary’s to complete her delivery of care packages, handing out 199 of them during her visit.
De La Cruz started the group Cancer Fighters in 2019, with one goal; to help others in times of need.
“My grandma passed away with pancreatic cancer, and my aunt Sheril is battling pancreatic cancer,” De La Cruz said in an interview with the Signal Tribune as to what her motivation was for starting Cancer Fighters.
For Capone Magallanes, who recently became a member of Cancer Fighters and was also present at Saturday’s event, cancer had also made an impact on his family. Helping others going through a similar experience led him to join the group.
“My uncle Art had colon cancer and my aunt Mary fought and survived breast cancer as with my cousin who fought and survived leukemia,” Magallanes said.
“It’s important for my son to join this,” Magallanes’ mother, Velina Velasquez said. “It’s a big deal for our family since we have a lot of cancer in our family. I am very proud of both of them for doing this, to show everyone else that they can do something. It’s a big difference and it can mean something in this world.”
Having witnessed the difficulties that come with a cancer diagnosis, both De La Cruz and Magallanes strive to remind cancer patients that they’re not alone.
“I wanted to do it because I wanted to let kids know that we’re fighting with them,” De La Cruz said with determination. “And if they fight it we’ll be there to help them fight it as well and we wanted to make kids smile.”
Cancer Fighters look to help not just cancer patients, but people going through other health conditions and De La Cruz is bringing some of that fight home.
Her sister was diagnosed with Kleefstra syndrome, a disorder whose characteristic features include developmental delay, limited or absent speech and weak muscle tone, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. To raise awareness, De La Cruz gave out balloons and goodie bags at an event Cancer Fighters hosted on Saturday, Sept. 19. In May, Cancer Fighters also hosted an event to raise awareness about rheumatoid arthritis, something her aunt is currently battling.
“They’re basically raising awareness on how they can help others,” Nellie De La Cruz, who shares a name with her daughter, said to the Signal Tribune. “Their goal is just to give the message, no matter how small you are, you can make a difference and it makes a big difference in the world.”
“To me, she inspires a lot of kids,” De La Cruz’s mother said. “So I’m very proud that she continues to go even though it’s a rocky start, members leaving, members joining, she always sticks to it and she’s like ‘this is what we’re going to go for.’”
De La Cruz began her altruistic journey by making and delivering 90 bracelets for children with cancer at Miller Children’s Hospital last year.
Nellie and Cancer Fighters went back to the children’s hospital for Christmas and donated over 100 gifts for children. Their last delivery was in March, as the pandemic was starting, to donate 94 Easter Baskets.
As the pandemic began taking hold, donations to the Cancer Fighters GoFundMe started growing and De La Cruz decided to start making care packages. Some of their deliveries include 50 packages to College Medical Center, and 200 packages to the Lakewood Sheriff’s Department, and the Long Beach Police Department South and West Patrol Divisions, according to posts on Instagram.
“Now they’re doing acts of kindness because during the pandemic it’s like people losing their jobs and more diseases,” De La Cruz’s mother said. “She said ‘If they are pushing forward, I’m pushing harder.’”
Claire Fieri, principal of Nieto Herrera Elementary School, the school De La Cruz attends, noted the student’s persistence while in-person school was still in session.
“As a fourth-grader, there’s all different kinds of things that happen everyday and she’s just consistently making bracelets every day,” Fieri said to the Signal Tribune. “So, I think for the adults around her, it reminds us to never give up.”
“She just goes for her goals,” Fieri said of De La Cruz’s consistent hard work and determination.
At only 10 years old, De La Cruz is already leaving a legacy at Nieto Herrera Elementary. She spoke to Fieri’s first-grade summer school class on how to make their neighborhoods a better place and how they can help others.
These efforts will only grow as Fieri is hoping to use De La Cruz’s leadership to positively impact the student population through a leadership organization that will give back on a regular basis.
