ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Michelle Zenie Rounds knows full well what the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley’s facility expansion project will mean to families dealing with the dreaded disease.
Not simply because she’s the foundation’s executive director, but because of her son, Cole.
Now 27 and cancer free, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 3. Treatment and prayers and fight teamed up to shoo cancer away and gift the child a future.
“This expansion will give families a place to gather, talk, cry, heal."Michelle Zenie Rounds, PCFLV executive director
A quarter-century later, at the expansion groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, Rounds recalled the nightmare:
My son shouldn’t have to be dealing with this? Why did this happen? How much pain is he in?
And this: Will my son die?
Cancer leaves a mark. The worry never completely fades. Rounds wonders about recurrence, even all these years later.
And so, to be at the forefront of a $500,000, 1,000-square-foot building expansion that is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2026 is beyond special, she said.
“It’s been a journey to get to this point,” Rounds said. “One and a half years ago, we bought this building. It was the beginning of having a home for our pediatric cancer community.
“This expansion will give families a place to gather, talk, cry, heal. We hope this will be that place.”
Opportunity to expand programming
PCFLV serves 450 families dealing with cancer. It provides 25 family centered programs and services throughout all stages of the pediatric cancer journey with compassion and integrity.
Its initiatives and activities offer financial assistance, emotional support and social connection to ensure no family faces pediatric cancer alone.
The additional space will let PCFLV hold on-site many of its regular programs, such as Kids Konnect, Moms’ Night Out, Back-to-School Bash, its holiday party and various therapy sessions.
The addition also creates opportunities to expand programming and deepen support for Lehigh Valley families affected by pediatric cancer through emotional, social and financial assistance, officials said.
The project is being performed by Jerdon Construction, MKSD Architects and Keystone Consulting Engineers.
'A benefit to families'
Each year in the United States, 15,000 people younger than 20 are diagnosed with cancer, with most of the diagnoses being younger than 5.
The new addition will let PCFLV hold a series of social events and support therapy groups, including bereavement support and children-in-treatment support.
“This will be a place of community, hope and healing. And children here will be more than their diagnoses; they’ll just be kids.”PCFLV board President Nicole Thomas
“We can host families right here now; the space we have now is just office space,” PCFLV Marketing and Communications Coordinator Caley Bittner said.
"And it’ll eventually hopefully save us some money from not having to rent space to host them elsewhere. It will be such a benefit to the families.”
PCFLV board President Nicole Thomas said she views the new addition as considerably more than brick and mortar.
“This will be a place of community, hope and healing,” Thomas said. “And children here will be more than their diagnoses; they’ll just be kids.”
