The Cesar Chavez/Green Oaks Academy school community in East Palo Alto are pulling together to support Dominic’s Drive.  Dominic is a second grade student at Green Oaks Academy who has not let his 5 year battle with cancer affect his positive attitude and desire to learn and have fun.  Dominic is loved by the students and staff, who want nothing more than for Dominic to live a healthy and happy life. With your support, we hope to reach our goal of $50,000 to support Dominic.

Dominic “the Brave” has been a dedicated and enthusiastic student at our school since Kindergarten. When talking with Dominic, he’ll tell you that he likes to play sports, watch football, and play video games.  Someday he’d like to be a professional athlete, in any sport, except golf, wrestling and boxing.  Dominic’s favorite places to visit are Great America and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  He loves going on all the rides, especially the log ride when the water comes splashing up.
Despite his great personality and unwavering ambition, Dominic’s life was forever changed when he was diagnosed with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a soft tissue cancer at 18 months old in 2010. He had surgery to remove a tumor from his chest wall and lymph node from right underarm. Afterwards he had 46 weeks of chemo and 6 weeks of radiation. Despite best efforts the cancer reoccurred in his lungs after one year. Dominic had to have a lung biopsy. He went through another 46 weeks of chemo. After being cancer free for 6 months, cancer reoccurred in his left underarm this time.  Dominic started chemo (35 weeks), for the third time, in 2013 a week after he started kindergarten. During the end of first grade a bump on Dominic's leg was discovered, the cancer was back.  He was admitted to the hospital immediately and he wasn’t able to finish the last few weeks of school.  Our young Dominic has spent nearly his entire life in and out the hospital, and sadly the family has numerous bills to cover with all of his medications and treatments. As you might imagine, whenever Dominic gets a fever it’s an automatic trip to the ER, and his health and wellbeing are always the number one priority.  Luckily the dedication of his family and his own perseverance allows Dominic to continue at Green Oaks Academy where he is an inspiration to us all with his positive attitude, creativity, and curiosity in all his learning experiences.

By donating to Dominic’s Drive, the family will have the peace of mind knowing Dominic’s medical expenses are covered, and give Dominic the quality of life he deserves.