2025 Recipients
This page contains stories of recipients this calendar year who have received KARE Funds . Please feel free to read the stories to understand the positive impact donor funds are having on so many families meeting the mission of the Foundation. THANK YOU DONORS!!!
Some families request anonymity and the KARE Foundation honors their wishes.
Meet the O’Quinn Family
The KARE Foundation continually reviews social media posts, GoFundMe pages, and other avenues to find recipients to receive funds. Our introduction to Hensen O’Quinn was through a Facebook group for another young boy, Dakota, who had recently passed from brain cancer. Dakota’s group Facebook page posted for followers to send prayers for Hensen in the fight for his life with brain cancer. We started following Hensen’s Facebook group page and knew this sweet boy and his family should be recipients for KARE funds.
In is important to note there is an amazing community of parents with young children fighting brain cancer supporting other families going through the same horrible experience. This is a “club” no one ever wants to be part of, but they are all supporting each other during their children’s battle with the disease.
Dustin and Samatha O’Quinn live in southwestern VA with their 2 daughters, Eden (8) and Trinity (9), and now 4-year-old son Hensen. Hensen started getting sick on September 11th of 2023, which his parents thought was a stomach virus he couldn’t get over. Symptoms got progressively worse. They rushed him to the ER on December 11th and Doctors found the tumor around 2 a.m. on December 12th. He had emergency surgery later that morning on December 12th and on December 17th, Dustin and Samatha received the most devastating news parents could hear about their child, Hensen had a rare cancerous brain tumor on the choroid plexus. This type of tumor develops on the part of the brain that produces cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and is most common in children. This day was the beginning of the dreadful journey the O’Quinn family has endured since Hensen’s cancer diagnosis.
Hensen was transferred to a Children’s hospital in Tennessee to spend several months for treatments, which required his parents to leave their jobs and daughters. Thankfully, the O’Quinn’s have family near their home in VA who were able to care for their daughter’s during this time. Hensen’s treatments were brutal on his young body and since being initially released, he has returned many times for setbacks in his health and additional treatments. For those visits, the family brings their camper to Tennessee to have an affordable place to stay since travel expenses have been significant!! Thankfully, when possible, their family has been able to take his sisters to the hospital to see Hensen during his treatments. These visits always brighten Hensen’s spirit since he just adores his big sisters.
It is hard to imagine how these families cope and stay strong seeing their sweet babies go through the horrible treatments to fight these cancers. HOPE and PRAYER are key! Hensen’s journey in this fight continues to require multiple treatments, so please keep this family in your prayers and hope for Hensen’s full recovery from this dreadful cancer!
The KARE Foundation is grateful our paths crossed with the O’Quinn family so we could provide some financial relief. Paul is always guiding us on our journey as a foundation to find these recipients. Our donors make the foundations’ ability to support these families a reality! As Paul would say, “YOU GOT THIS HENSEN!!!
Thank you donors and blessings all!
Meet the Joyner Family
There are so many ways the KARE Foundation is introduced to our recipients and this story starts with Cindy Kuhn contacting the Foundation about a 15-year-old son of a friend who was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive type of brain cancer, medulloblastoma with MYC amplification, that typically develops in the cerebellum.
For those who have followed the KARE Foundation’s journey, Cindy is a friend of the Dostie family from Paul’s hometown in CT, but she now lives in NC. Unfortunately, Cindy’s son Trey was diagnosed with Glioblastoma around the same time as Paul. Both were being treated at Duke in NC and Paul and Trey were healing buddies in their cancer journeys. Even more unfortunate, both Paul and Trey did not beat the cancer and passed away within months of each other. It is painful to even remember this time when writing the story.
In February 2022, Parker Joyner, an active 12-year-old, began experiencing severe headaches and nausea. Parker’s parents Kevin and Renee took him to the ER and after testing, they received the devastating news he had a very serious and aggressive cancerous brain tumor. Parker had surgery to remove the tumor in the hospital in Greenville, NC. However, the hospital did not have the right treatment options to continue to help Parker in his fight with this cancer.
The Joyner’s live in NC but were sent to St. Jude’s in TN for proton radiation and chemotherapy treatments. This required the family to pick up their roots for several months to be in St. Jude’s during his treatments until he was well enough to return home and continue treatments at the hospital closer to their home. For about a year, the tumor was at bay and Parker was feeling better enough to be a regular kid again… until recently… ☹
Back in Oct 2024, an MRI revealed new tumor growth. Parker will be starting a very aggressive treatment plan using the Gamma Knife procedure to fight this new tumor. Gamma Knife uses very precise beams of gamma rays to treat the tumor. Thankfully, this treatment does not require Parker to have another craniotomy and Parker’s treatments can be performed at the hospital closer to home. St. Jude’s will be consulting with the local care team when required in the next phase of his treatments.
As with all caregivers supporting their loved ones, the anxiety, financial and emotional stress is overwhelming. Parker also has a 16-year-old brother, Fischer, who has been by his side throughout his cancer journey. We are honored the KARE Foundation can help the Joyner family so they can focus on this next chapter in the fight against Parker’s cancer.
The KARE Foundation is grateful Cindy Kuhn reached out to introduce us to the Joyner family. We know Paul and Trey are up there helping to make these connections with us!! Please keep Parker and his family in your thoughts and prayers as he starts his treatments this month! We cannot do this without our generous donors!!
Blessings all!
Meet Dandre Davis
February is Heart Health Awareness month and financially helping people fight Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) heart disease, is an important mission for the KARE Foundation. HCM is a condition that thickens the heart muscle, most often in the septum, which separates the left and right sides of the heart. It's often caused by abnormal genes in the heart muscle and can be passed down through families. In the most severe cases, a heart transplant is the final option.
It is our honor this month to share the story of Dandre Davis, the son of Angela White-Davis who was a KARE recipient in January 2023. Her son Dandre is now 26 years-old and his health is impacted by serious symptoms of the disease. Symptoms include shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pain, lightheadedness, fatigue, etc. The symptoms can completely alter a person’s ability to function normally and the cost for treatments and medications is extremely expensive.
Dandre is about to turn 26 and will not be able to continue as a member on his parents’ medical insurance. His symptoms are severe enough to keep him from being able to take on full-time employment to acquire the insurance he needs. Dandre has been fighting HCM since the age of 15. His heart stopped the same year he received his pacemaker/defibrillator in 2014. Dandre is considered extremely high risk.
Dandre tries hard to live as normal a life as possible but suffers from many of the symptoms listed above. It is overwhelming for Dandre, as a young man, to think he may never be able to be on his own and fully care for himself like other young people his age. He is in the process of trying to secure disability insurance but currently, there is no resolution. Unfortunately, timing is an issue since he needs to have his pacemaker/defibrillator replaced and the device and surgery costs are extremely expensive!!!
To illustrate how this disease has impacted Angela, Dandre and their family, here is a list of family members impacted by the disease.
Her father Bernard passed at the age of 59.
Her brother Brian passed at the age of 23 as he was just at the beginning of his career after graduating from school.
Her other brother Jason was diagnosed with HCM and had an ICD/pacemaker implanted at the age of 38.
Angela had a full-term stillborn baby who died of an enlarged heart. They tried to do fetal surgery to save the baby before birth, but it was too late.
Angela’s youngest son Dandre was diagnosed at age 15 and received his ICD/pacemaker which saved his life a couple months after he had the device implanted. He “flatlined” due to his HCM but is alive today because of the ICD!
Her grandbaby has a heart murmur, but he is being closely monitored since HCM can present later in life.
For those who know Paul’s daughter Allie, she too is struggling with her HCM. She already has had 3 open heart surgeries and is now in the process of being listed for a transplant. Unfortunately, Allie had to leave her job a couple of months ago to move home since her symptoms were severe enough to impact her ability to retain a full-time job. She too is a young adult in her late 20s who only wants to live a normal life!
The HCM gene runs in Allie’s mother’s family. The family members they know had HCM include 2 cousins who passed in their teens from the disease, as well as 2 nephews who have HCM, the latest one is a baby boy born a couple months ago. ☹
As a young man, fighting the same challenges as his young daughter, Paul would be so proud to know the KARE Foundation, honoring his legacy, is helping Dandre in his fight with HCM!!!
Thank you, donors, for being the backbone of this organization! Blessings all!
Meet Maddie Calhoun and Family
It is hard to believe the Paul Dostie KARE Foundation’s next recipient is a 12-year-old girl, Maddie Calhoun, from my county in western MD, who had a brain tumor removed on November 22nd. I was notified about Maddie by the mother (Nicole) of a former recipient, Jordan Ashby, who is also from the community and fighting brain cancer. This is the 4th recipient of young children in the area with brain tumors, and it gives me pause that something bigger is going on in the area! All I can say is I am so glad I live in this community and the KARE Foundation has been able to help these beautiful children!!
Maddie is an active young girl who is passionate about cheerleading and a member of the local 4-H club. She started having issues and the Doctor’s believed the symptoms were from a concussion that happened over 2 months prior. The symptoms continued to worsen… Maddie was so sick, in pain, and just wanted to go back to feeling well again. At that point the Doctor’s ordered a CT scan and the scan showed a large tumor on the back area of the brain. The news was devastating to the family. Surgery was then scheduled at WVU hospital and life as they knew it was suddenly turned upside down.
The surgery was successful to remove the tumor but due to the location of the tumor, Maddie developed posterior fossa syndrome. Posterior fossa syndrome (PFS) is a set of neurological symptoms that can occur after surgery to remove tumors from the brain's posterior fossa, or cerebellum. (back of the brain). Symptoms include reduced or absent speech, irritability, low muscle tone (hypotonia), unsteadiness and reduced coordination (ataxia) and the inability to coordinate voluntary movements. Unfortunately, Maddie will be required to have intensive inpatient rehabilitation and the best facility for this rehabilitation will be in Ohio, a long trip from their hometown in Maryland.
Maddie’s mom Felecia has not been able to work, and her husband Nick has been taking many hours off work to travel back and forth from the hospital and to care for their blended family with 4 other children (stepbrothers Brady 17 and Jonas 11 and siblings Wyatt 10 and Waverly 7). Maddie also has a baby half-sister who is 10 months old on her dad's side. The financial stress has taken a toll on the family and will continue to be a hardship with Maddie requiring to be in a hospital facility far away from home.
On an incredibly positive note, the pathology from the tumor revealed she has a grade 1 Astrocytoma, which has a very good prognosis for treatment and hopefully never returning!!! Her rehabilitation will be a long and arduous journey, but there is hope in the end for Maddie to get back to the things she loves!
As I have stated repeatedly, the KARE Foundation is so thankful to all our donors’ generous support, so we are able to make a difference in these family’s lives, fighting for their loved ones. THANK YOU!!!
Please pray Maddie’s rehabilitation goes quickly, all KARE recipients who are doing well continue to do well, and for those who have lost a loved one, they are comforted in their memories.
Happy holidays to all and Blessings for a healthy and joyful season!