Cancer-free Eagle Scout revamps Virginia Ronald McDonald House that helped his family

RICHMOND, Va. — A 17-year-old Spotsylvania Eagle Scout celebrated his cancer remission by giving back to the place that helped his family survive 3.5 years of leukemia treatment — leading two scout troops to revamp the Ronald McDonald House courtyard in Richmond as his Eagle Scout project.

Kai Popowski was diagnosed with leukemia in eighth grade and spent years traveling more than 60 miles from Spotsylvania to VCU hospital in Richmond for treatment. His family stayed at the Ronald McDonald House more than 100 times in just the first year alone. Kai finished his cancer treatments July 3 and is now in remission.

His mother, Annalee Popowski, said the Ronald McDonald House became a true home away from home.

"I've lost count, to be honest with you. I think the first year of treatment, collectively, all of us traveled back and forth 101 times just in the first year," Annalee said. "This truly was a home away from home for us and the ladies here, they made me feel like family. They made Kai feel like family. It is a magical place. It really is."

For his Eagle Scout project, Kai coordinated two scout troops to build planters, a trellis, and other improvements to transform the Ronald McDonald House backyard into a bright, welcoming space for families going through what his own family experienced.

His father, Jason Popowski, said scouting gave Kai a goal to focus on through his darkest days.

"Having that kind of beacon to continue to march towards, despite going through numerous days in the hospital feeling like yuck, it was something that you could keep focused on achieving," Jason said.

Jason said reaching Eagle Scout rank is a rare achievement.

"Only 4% of scouts that start scouting actually achieve Eagle," Jason said. "The scouting program is just wonderful — not only outdoor skills, but also leadership skills. The Eagle project is a culmination of all that."

He said the family made a decision early on that cancer would not define Kai's path.

"Four years ago when he got diagnosed, it wasn't about letting that dictate his outcome. We made a goal — we're still going to continue with scouting, we're still going to continue with school, we're going to still continue with other things in his life," Jason said.

Annalee said the journey was not easy to watch as a parent.

"For the past 3.5 years he's been doing cancer and Boy Scouts at the same time. I'm so proud of him. I'm so grateful for everybody and all the help and the support," Annalee said. "I just can't imagine how hard it was."

She recalled a moment when Kai was too sick to attend a scouting ceremony, so a fellow scout's mother came to his hospital room to promote him to the next rank.

"He was too sick to go to Boy Scouts and he was at a point where he had to rank up, and James' mom is part of the committee and she called him up while he was in the hospital and promoted him to the next rank," Annalee said. "It's hard to describe the love and the support that we received from so many people."

Annalee said seeing Kai give back to the place that helped his family is almost too much to process.

"I have a hard time wrapping my head around it. Here's Kai, just came off of chemotherapy, and he's here doing this," she said. "I'm so proud of him."

Kai said he hopes to return to maintain the courtyard for other families in the future.

Jason said the renovated space will mean something real to the families staying there.

"The folks that are staying here, the parents, the families are going through a lot of pain and suffering. To have something that is beautiful outside helps with easing that pain and that suffering," Jason said.