Nikki Ferraro, a student at James Madison University (JMU), is the brains behind the non-profit organization Bite Me Cancer. She also formed the “Bite Me Cancer” Relay for Life team for the Vienna, VA Relay event for the American Cancer Society.
Ferraro, who was diagnosed with a rare form of thyroid cancer in the spring of her junior year at Chantilly High School, spoke with WashingtonExec about her new favorite word, how life has been since she last chatted with us, her “Bite Me Cancer” kick-off event, fundraising efforts, a new video, and more.
WashingtonExec: How is your medical situation since doing our last interview in February 2012?
Nikki Ferraro: “Stable” has become my new favorite word. The scans have continued to show stable results, which means that nothing new has grown and also some small suspicious spots found at diagnosis haven’t grown either. I have been getting scans every 6 months at Johns Hopkins, so June 2012 and December 2012 were the last ones. The scans have included 3 MRIs and 1 ct-scan each time. Not so fun! I also have blood work done about every 3 months.
WashingtonExec: You are now a sophomore at James Madison University. How has your experience been going?
Nikki Ferraro: I love being at JMU! I’m having a great time. In the spring of 2012, I was accepted into Delta Sigma Pi, a great business fraternity.
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Recently, I applied to JMU for Bite Me Cancer to be a sanctioned club at JMU, and JMU approved the application! So, now I’m very excited to get started on the new Bite Me Cancer club.”
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There are many students who want to participate, so hopefully some activities will start happening sometime in 2013.
WashingtonExec: You just had a Bite Me Cancer kick-off event. What are the goals and activities for 2013 that were presented?
Nikki Ferraro: We had a wonderful event, and I’m so grateful for everyone who attended and helped us. We are continuing the campaign to raise research funds so that Bite Me Cancer can sponsor one of the $50,000 2-year research grants that are reviewed and approved by the American Thyroid Association. We raised $20,000 in 2012, and I just know we can raise the remaining $30,000 this year. Thyroid cancer is the fastest increasing cancer in the United States for both women and men, so we are passionate about helping in the battle against thyroid cancer.
We also are continuing to support and inspire teens with all cancers. Our teen support bags have been distributed to a number of organizations, and we are looking forward to passing out even more this year. Some of the organizations who are distributing our bags are INOVA Fairfax Oncology, Life with Cancer, NIH, Special Love and also Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh as well as the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund (Tom is the coach of the NY Giants and financially supports families who have children with cancer).
WashingtonExec: What are some of the fundraising efforts that are going on?
Nikki Ferraro: We had a great campaign in the fall for 9 weeks when Paisano’s Pizza donated $2 of every large pizza on Tuesdays in all their stores. That campaign raised over $12,000 for thyroid cancer research! Fouad Qreitem, the CEO of Paisano’s, is going to set up another campaign this spring which is very exciting.
For 2013, we also have some events being planned. On April 6, there are 2 companies who have offered to have a fundraiser – in the morning will be a 5K and health fair at International Country Club in Chantilly, VA, for their members and guests. That evening, Nicole Miller at Tysons Galleria, will hold a reception and shopping experience where a portion of sales will go to Bite Me Cancer.
Our 2nd annual Take a Swing at Cancer event will take place on June 9, 5:30pm to 8:30pm, at the Dulles Golf Center and Sports Park. We had a great time with our first one that was held last August, and we are really looking forward to making it bigger and better in 2013. We will be looking for sponsors and many attendees.
WashingtonExec: You recently also released a video called “Thyroid cancer: NOT the good cancer.” Can you tell us why you put that together?
Nikki Ferraro: We had been hearing more about how many doctors and others refer to thyroid cancer as the “good cancer.” When the co-host of Dancing with the Stars was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 3-4 months ago, she even said her doctor called it the “good cancer.” It angered and frustrated a lot of thyroid cancer survivors, so we wanted to help spread the word about the challenges.
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The video is something I produced that shows clips from a number of thyroid cancer survivors sharing their issues and feelings. We’ve gotten great feedback on it. Some people have even offered to get involved with Bite Me Cancer, and they have said they shared the video with family, friends and doctors.”
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WashingtonExec: Where can someone view the video?
Nikki Ferraro: We have a new YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/bitemecancerorg. You will see the new video there as well as the videos of the presentations made at the kick-off event and videos from other events.
WashingtonExec: Do you still need people to get involved with Bite Me Cancer?
Nikki Ferraro: Yes! We have openings on our board of directors and our committees (PR/Marketing, Fundraising, Teen Support, and Finance/Legal). We are always happy to have people volunteer for an event or contribute to an activity or make a donation. You can contact us at info@bitemecancer.org or call our office at 703.709.2539.
