Team Summer gifts

In October of 2011, Summer had just begun her sophomore year of high school in Atlanta, GA, when a persistent pain near her hip led to the discovery of a large tumor. Diagnosed as a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma cancer, chemotherapy began immediately, and Summer's world was never the same again.

At first, she did not want to have anything to do with other kids with cancer. When she went into the AFLAC cancer wing of Children's Health Care of Atlanta, she kept her head down and did not talk to anyone. At the same time, she was separated from her high school friends. Cancer had thrust her into a scary medical world full of pain and fear, surrounded only by adults. She felt isolated and alone.

Shortly after that, long-time family friends Haley and Tonya Kilpatrick brought Summer a gift -- a batch of purple (Summer's favorite color) wristbands that said "Team Summer" on them. They told Summer that they had lots of them and they were going to sell them for $5 each, with half of the money going to help pay for her medical expenses, and the other half to a worthy cause of Summer's choosing.

Sarah was fascinated with Summer's iPhone and asked to borrow it to play her favorite game, Angry Birds. Summer learned that Sarah had a two-hour commute each way to and from chemo treatments -- with no electronics to keep her busy in the car. So Summer decided to use some of the money she was in charge of to buy Sarah an iPod Touch. A gift from one kid with cancer to another, and Team Summer was born.

Today, Team Summer is a thriving network of kids helping kids, giving gifts of friendship that connect them to each other and light the way through some of the darkest days of their lives.