Help Ruby & Maya Fight Leukemia

Maya & Ruby need our help battling childhood leukemia.

Hi everyone. My name is Kia, and I’ve created this fundraiser on behalf of my dear friend Ruby and her 9-year-old daughter, Maya.

This past week, Maya and her parents were informed that Maya’s leukemia had relapsed. She was admitted to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, and will be starting chemo soon.

If you don’t know Maya and Ruby, here’s a little backstory. Maya is 9, and loves Squishmallows, chemistry, and playing with her two dogs, Clio and Roman. Maya is a gifted artist, plays several instruments, and loves to make dragon puppets, which she shares on her YouTube channel (supervised by her mom). She speaks French fluently, and is currently learning Mandarin. She is a funny, brilliant, creative, and extremely kind soul. Many people who know Maya comment on her wisdom, humor, and gentleness—she is definitely an old soul, and is an absolute delight to be around.

Maya with Clio

Ruby and Maya have an incredibly special bond and understand each other on a deep level, as anyone who has ever been around them can attest. Maya is beloved by all of Ruby’s friends, and is a favorite amongst Ruby’s coworkers at the award-winning French Quarter restaurant where Ruby works full-time. Like Ruby, Maya loves food and cooking. Maya loves getting dressed up and going out to eat with her mom, and they’re currently watching the new season of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares together, which Maya finds hilarious).

Maya was originally diagnosed with leukemia in 2018, at the age of 2. These early years of her life were spent fighting for her life in hospital, but in 2020 she beat cancer, and has been a healthy, happy, and hilarious kid ever since.

Maya during her first treatments

Maya is in good hands at Children’s Hospital, with amazing doctors and a great medical team. At this stage, we don’t know how long treatment may take, but we would like to give Ruby a financial buffer so she can devote as much time as possible to Maya.

Maya and her oncologist in 2020, when Maya got to ring the bell

I started this GoFundMe to help Ruby cover living expenses while Maya is sick. Fortunately, Maya has good health insurance, but we are hoping to cover some additional expenses for Ruby so that she can spend as much time as possible with her daughter during treatment. Time is one of our most valuable resources, especially when a loved one is unwell. Hopefully we can help ease some of the financial stress for Ruby during this very difficult time.

All funds will go directly to Ruby, and will be used to ease financial strain so that she can focus on Maya.

Please light a candle for Maya and/or keep her in your prayers - she is a tremendous kid, and I feel privileged to know her.