The Misericordia University community was recently shocked by the news of Maddie Gross’s cancer diagnosis. A community assistant in Macdowell Hall, a member of the Dance Team and the president of the P.H.R.E.E (Promoting Healthy Relationships through Education and Empowerment) club, Maddie is known as a bright student and a hard worker. Majoring in Medical Imaging and Sonography, Maddie was a junior when her illness struck.
Often, one could find her behind the counter at Chick-fil-a, putting in long hours for our team. When the news finally broke, the staff at Campus Life and Chick-fil-a decided it was time to give back.
“Donna Walker approached me about coordinating something for Maddie, and she asked if it would be a good idea to help coordinate a fundraiser for Superbowl Sunday,” says Dana Pavlick of Campus Life. Donna Walker was close with Maddie and works in the post office. “I said ‘absolutely’ We got it up and running within a week.”.
The fundraiser included an option of small nugget trays and cookie bags, in addition to accepting monetary donations. Students could compile orders up to three weeks in advance, and receive their food just before the big game.
Dana was pleased to announce that the fundraiser was a success. “We sold 50 trays of nuggets and 38 bags of cookies, and folks in the community were generous enough, even if they didn’t want that, we did get so many monetary donations as well, which was really beautiful.”
She takes pride in the campus community: “It’s in the spirit of Misericordia, that’s what we do best. We rally behind our people. When something like this happens, it’s in our spirit to be there for one another. That’s why I love my job.”
Dana Pavlick is the faculty advisor for PHREE and works closely with Maddie. With permission, she was generous to give the Highlander an update on one of our own.
“She’s a trooper, she’s continuing to be in really good spirits. She has a long way to go, but her spirits are high, and she is more than appreciative of everything that the community has done for her so far, and continues to do for her, and she really feels the love from us. We keep in touch every week or so, and she always emails the leadership team at PHREE with all her ideas, and the team has really stepped up to help out. We try to keep her in the loop as much as possible.”
The PHREE team and Campus life hopes students will keep an eye out for future events. “Being sick is expensive, and we just want to support her any way we can. The Dance team is working on an apparel initiative for her; I’m sure folks will begin to see things in regards to that. I also know that Donna is going to be doing another basket raffle soon. Folks are popping out of the woodworks to show up for her, and that is really, really cool to see. There’s more to come.”
Students can also look out for the Cougars for Consent week, held the week of April 22nd, and for informational tables promoting healthy alcohol use and good choices. All Misericordia University faculty and students are encouraged to wear teal to promote awareness during the week.
In addition to her community here at Misericordia, Maddie also has a loving community at home. “Between both communities, she has a lot of people rooting for her.”