1 6 • GCU TODAY
Life was too short for McKenzie Monks
.
A born performer, youngest child of Denise and Richard
Monks and part of a mutual admiration society with her two
older siblings, McKenzie was diagnosed with kidney cancer
at age 3. Despite aggressive treatments, she died before she
could get to kindergarten.
“She went through so much and her life was taken far
too soon,” said sister Mandy Monks, a student at Grand
Canyon University. “The lessons she taught us — to always
be grateful for your blessings and tell the people you love
— changed our entire outlook on life. We wanted to do
something to have her name live on.”
Ten years ago, the family started the McKenzie Monks
Foundation, which has donated $1 million to open the
Kenzie Center in Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s (PCH)
Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and has given 2,000
wheeled suitcases filled with age- and gender-appropriate
toys and comfort items to children diagnosed with cancer
there. Called Kenzie Kases, the suitcases are patterned after
McKenzie’s pink Hello Kitty bag that she took to the hospital
for every treatment.
The Monks plan to join an estimated 4,500 people on
GCU’s main campus for the fifth annual GCU Foundation
Run to Fight Children’s Cancer this Saturday. In its first
four years, the event raised
nearly $275,000 to benefit
PCH and the Children’s
Cancer Network (CCN),
a nonprofit organization
that helps Arizona families
battling childhood cancer.
The fundraising goal this
year is $150,000.
“The run has helped
to increase awareness
Healing
from the
Heartbreak
How a sister,
a mom and a
survivor deal with
childhood cancer
GCU student Mandy
Monks (left) and her sister,
Michelle, have kept alive
their little sister’s spirit
through Kenzie Kases.
McKenzie was diagnosed
with cancer at age 3 and
died less than two years
later, in 2003.
photo by
darryl webb
B Y J A N I E M A G R U D E R
