Game Changers: Hayley Friedman Morrison + Eli Sunshine Fund
Eli, who passed away at just 9 years old after a battle with Ewing sarcoma, was extraordinary. “He would have turned ten last February,” Morrison says. “He was the happiest child—funny, witty, full of energy, and constantly on the move. Even at nursery school, they nicknamed him ‘the mayor.’”
Eli’s diagnosis introduced Morrison to the harsh realities of pediatric cancer. “The funding for pediatric cancer is abysmal,” she explains. “There hasn’t been a new drug for pediatric cancers in over 40 years. Families go bankrupt trying to keep their kids alive. It’s an archaic system, and I want to change that.”
Throughout treatment, Eli’s compassion was unmatched. “At Memorial Sloan Kettering [MSK], he was very aware of other kids and families who didn’t have the same support. He would ask me to bring chocolates or stuffed animals for other patients.
Though his life was short, Eli packed a lifetime of love into his years. He loved basketball, chess, drawing, painting, and cooking with his older brother, Harry. “An Eli hug was all in—he enveloped you with his whole heart,” Morrison recalls.
Driven by Eli’s spirit, Morrison founded the Eli Sunshine Fund, raising over $1 million to fund clinical trials and research for Ewing sarcoma and oth- er pediatric cancers. The fund also brings moments of joy to children in treatment. “Eli spent three birthdays at MSK, and now we throw birthday parties for kids there,” Morrison says.Morrison’s work is deeply personal, a continuation of the kindness and generosity Eli embodied. “I always say, if he were here, we’d be doing this together,” she reflects. “He had such a good heart, and it’s a loss for the world that he isn’t here to share it.”
She is now focused on expanding the Eli Sunshine Fund through partner- ships and collaborations. “I am very fortunate to have close relationships in the worlds of fashion and media from growing up in NYC and from my previous career in journalism, and we are talking to some cool brands to partner with in the future to take ESF to the next level. The fashion world has always been so inclusive and welcoming in shining a spotlight on important causes, and childhood cancer is one that needs and deserves to be amplified.”
Morrison hopes to launch a campaign with designers and retailers for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September, a time signified by the color gold. “We want to make the gold ribbon instantly recognizable as a symbol of hope for childhood cancer.”
To continue fundraising, Morrison is planning the second annual benefit this fall, a cocktail event to expand outreach and welcome corporate sponsors. Additionally, several brands have offered to donate a portion of their proceeds to the foundation.
Transitioning the Eli Sunshine Fund into a formal foundation, Morrison is determined to “ght for awareness and change. “I don’t want other parents to hear the words, ‘There’s nothing more we can do.’ In an ideal world, we’d be able to tell these kids that they’ll be okay.”
Morrison laments that “at the end of the day, these diseases will not be cured by big pharmaceutical companies. It’s people like me, people who loved someone like Eli, who have to keep screaming until someone listens.
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