LI-Based 'Maggie's Mission' Raises More Than $2M For Pediatric Cancer

HUNTINGTON, NY — A Long Island woman turned her tragedy into a way to help other families.

Donna DeSousa-Schmidt is the co-founder of "Maggie's Mission," a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to supporting children who undergo pediatric cancer, like her daughter Maggie, who died in 2017.

"Maggie's Mission" was started as a dying wish from her daughter to see that other kids don't have to suffer from cancer.

"She was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering in the city [on] the pediatric cancer floor and witnessed a lot of suffering," DeSousa-Schmidt told Patch.

DeSousa and her family created "Maggie's Mission" four months after her death and they raised more than $2 million.

"It's just amazing to be able to give back to the pediatric cancer community," she said.

One of their biggest fundraisers on the calendar is the annual gala commemorating Maggie's life. This year's event — Seven in Heaven Angelversary— takes place on May 31 at the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport.

They held the first gala in Montauk, "which is a place Maggie loved," DeSousa-Schmidt said.

That initial event brought in more than $140,000. You can buy tickets online or text SeveninHeaven to 41444 for information.

DeSousa-Schmidt said money raised by "Maggie's Mission" targets specific needs.

"Funding research was our main goal," she said. "We help families and we also feed Ronald McDonald House monthly meals in New York City, where we were once guests."

Watch the full Patch Weekly Spotlight interview with DeSousa-Schmidt below.