All it took was an old keyboard.
The moment Alyssa Alvin began to play it, a smile lit up her face. The 14-year-old was in a hospital room, fighting a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but the gift of that keyboard—found by the hospital’s child life staff—reminded her that music and art and life were still beautiful.
Over the next four years, said Alyssa’s mother, Yolanda Alvin, Alyssa continued to spread joy with her love of music and her newfound love of art. During treatments and hospitalizations, Alyssa often drew, painted or created collages—and she would regularly share supplies with other children undergoing treatment. “She even said once, ‘Mom, I want you to give art materials to other children,’” said Yolanda, who is a senior project manager at Exelon.
Alyssa passed away in July 2014, just days shy of her 19th birthday. Yolanda describes those days as “grief—and heaviness of loss.” But with her husband, George, “We just decided we had to convert that sadness into bringing joy for other children who were going through their own journey—and not just children, but the entire family.”
Today, the Alyssa Alvin Foundation for Hope (www.alyssaalvinfoundationforhope.org) offers two programs for young people ages 10 to 21 who are undergoing cancer or another life-threatening illness: the choice of one of five art kits, focused on acrylics, watercolors, journaling, drawing or coloring, so children can explore their interest in art; or a grant for up to $250 to provide a child with an instrument or other music-related materials.
The foundation has sent art kits and music supplies to children all over the world, from India and South Africa to Spain and South America and across the U.S., and it continues to actively seek donations to help support its cause of bringing beauty to the lives of children and families. In the past five years, it has distributed thousands of art kits alone.
“Alyssa has taught me so much. She was so positive despite her sickness. I would cry, and she would say, ‘Why are you crying? I’m the one who is sick. Focus on the living part,’” said Yolanda. “She was so strong—her willingness to help others to focus on living. What she could do while she was living, she did through her piano and violin playing and the art she created. These are universal to make us feel better. What a beautiful thing.”