RICHMOND, Va. β When 10-year-old Sawyer Perkins passed away in 2020 after battling brain cancer, her family wanted to honor her by helping others.
In the midst of their grief, they launched Sawyer's Warriors, a nonprofit organization with the sole mission to support families who have lost a child to cancer.
Sawyer's Warriors provides emergency financial assistance, funeral assistance and personalized memorial items. They work to help grieving families well after the funeral is over.
The nonprofit also chooses a family who recently lost a loved one and sends that family on a grief retreat or vacation to a place of their choice, covering the entire trip cost.
This year's recipient is the family of a fellow patient who fought her battle alongside Sawyer.
"This gives them time to grieve for their child they lost, and to reflect and also to create new joyful memories, which is so important for their other children that are still living," Sawyer's mom Jamie Perkins said. "Just gives them that time and space to just be a family together and make those new memories."
It's an extra level of love Sawyer's older sister Madison Perkins says can make a huge difference when grieving and is grateful to be part of the Sawyer's Warriors team.
"I know the grief and the hardship and the things that go along with it, and I know the loss after the funeral too. So it's really important that we step in and fill that gap to help other families," Madison said.
Jamie said they are hoping to increase the families they're able to send on a grief retreat and are always in need of donations and sponsorship.
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