TAMPA, Fla. — Land O’Lakes parents grieving the loss of their 10-year-old son are honoring him during CureFest for Childhood Cancer.

Bay area organizations are part of the effort in Washington, D.C. that aims to raise awareness about pediatric cancer and the need to prioritize funding focusing on children. CureFest is held Sept. 20-22 and includes workshops and bereavement support for families.

Leslie and Michael Fox are donating a pair of shoes to CureFest in honor of their son Mason.

“Mason loved his shoes,” said Michael Fox, Mason’s father. “We actually buried him in his brand-new purple air Jordans. He loved purple, it was his favorite color.”

Mason was the oldest of four boys and was diagnosed with leukemia in April 2023. The 10-year-old passed away in February.

To help them grieve, the Foxes are joining other families fighting childhood cancer by donating shoes in memory of their child.

“We picked them out to represent Mason because he loved the Tampa Bay Lightning,” said Mason’s mother, Leslie. “He’s been going to games since he was like six months old.”
 
The shoes commemorate children who have died from pediatric cancer.

Mason’s pair will be part of 1,800 pairs of empty shoes that make up the memorial near the Washington Monument. The shoes represent the number of children who die from cancer every year.

The 1Voice Foundation, based in Tampa, leads the event and provides support to local families impacted by pediatric cancer.

“Every pair of shoes represents a life, somebody who enjoyed being with their family and they were taken too soon,” said Michael. “It’s a place where all the childhood cancer community comes together as like one big voice to get awareness out to the general public and government officials that childhood cancer research needs to be a priority.”
 
The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation reports childhood cancer gets 4% of federal funding for research.

“So, hopefully it will hit them on some personal level and make them realize that they can do something more,” said Micheal of reaching legislators.

The mourning parents honoring their son, hoping to also make a difference for future families fighting pediatric cancer.

“It still doesn’t seem real, it’s been six months and I still feel like I’m going to wake up, that it was just a nightmare,” said Leslie.

The Fox family says programs and support from organizations like CureFest, 1Voice and The Ryan Callahan Foundation have helped them so much, they want to give back.

Leslie and Michael founded the Smile Like Mason Fox Foundation to help support such organizations.