This August marks our 35th anniversary of providing support services to children with cancer and their families. Over those years, we have helped nearly 700 families and that number continues to grow. This year has been challenging as our nation and the world cope with the Covid-pandemic; this is no exception at Why Me. We have adapted and overcome adversities in ways that we never thought necessary pre-pandemic. We have delivered pantry and essential items to families, provided bags of “summer fun” to help bring a few extra smiles, helped pay bills, and taken our support groups virtual – because childhood cancer is isolating enough without a quarantined pandemic.  In June, we hosted a virtual trivia night and a drive-in movie night – both of which felt oddly “normal” in such unprecedented times. These are just a few examples of how we have continued to help lighten the load of our families in crisis. Throughout our 35-year history, we have persevered to put our best foot forward providing support and comfort to families battling childhood cancer – all with the help from our generous community.

During the early years of the organization, our founder and chairman of the board, Terry Shepherd, once said “If we could get by on love alone we would have no problems.” How true that statement is today, decades later. Since mid-March, all of our fundraisers through 2020 have been postponed or cancelled. This weighs heavily on us, as they are a large source of revenue for the organization. To replace this critical lost revenue we are launching this virtual 35th Anniversary Fundraiser to acknowledge and celebrate all that Why Me has been able to accomplish since 1985. Our community has helped sustain our mission over the last 35 years and we are once again asking you to stand up, through this pandemic, with us. Childhood cancer does not stop, nor do we.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation online please click the button below. Checks may also be mailed to us at:

Why Me, 35th anniversary
1152 Pleasant Street
Worcester, MA 01602

Thank you for believing in us; we are all in this together.

Patrick Subaru of Shrewsbury went above and beyond with the 2018 Share the Love event. Each winter participating Subaru dealerships across America “Share the Love” by donating a portion of sales to a local charity.  Why Me was chosen as one of two charities for Patrick Subaru support this year, raising a record $40,738.

“We were so excited to partner with Why Me & Sherry’s House for our annual Share the Love event, because they are a truly important and reputable charity.” said Michelle Bourget, Marketing Coordinator at Patrick Subaru.  “I personally didn’t realize how vast the volume of ways that Why Me helped families was, nor the amount of thoughtfulness they put into making sure that these children and their families are taken care of in as many ways as possible.”

In addition to the financial donation, staff of Patrick Subaru have been donating their time.  Service department staff came to the house to help with this year’s annual appeal.  While at Sherry’s House helping stuff our annual mass mailing they noticed that there was not a television in the game room and decided to donate one.  Their thought was that if this is a game room for teens there needed to be a television to play video games on or watch sports while playing pool.

Employees have been sprucing up the play room with new paper cranes and brightening the outside with colorful planted flowers. Bourget went on to say “Working with the staff at Why Me has been a true pleasure. They are thoughtful, kind and genuine. All of us at Patrick Subaru are looking forward to a continued friendship with these wonderful people!”

We are thankful for the support we have received from Patrick Subaru, they continue to go the extra mile for Why Me.