Preschoolers Raise $10K for Classmate Fighting Brain Tumor

A group of preschoolers in Redding, California, made it their mission January 10 to help a classmate battling cancer.

When doctors discovered a tennis ball-sized tumor in 4-year-old Jasper Mazzocco’s brain, his friends decided to help out in a big way, according to NBC 2.

The Redding Cooperative Preschool students and their families organized a hot cocoa stand called Hot Cocoa for a Cure to raise money for Jasper’s family.

The event outside Trader Joe’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods raised over $10,000, according to Jasper’s preschool teacher, Jessica Stephens.

“It’s amazing, It’s wonderful to see how much people care for people they don’t know,” she said, adding, “There were stories throughout the day of people who came who were cancer survivors or who had lost children.”

A GoFundMe page set up for the Mazzocco family has also raised $34,558 of its $50,000 goal.

Wednesday, Jasper’s mom, Shelby, wrote an update on the page:

Monday night Jasper had a very special phone call with his Co op family. He said hello to his “teacher-fer-jennifer” and sang his Redding Co-op preschool song with the mommy’s and daddy’s who organized the most amazing acts of kindness I have ever seen. They shared with us that their hot cocoa stand inspired our community to raise over $10,000! Tears were shed and everyone laughed when Jasper told me to stop crying.

Shelby also noted that his surgery Monday went well.

“We have been watching him closely for signs of increased pressure and so far he is better than ever nuerologically [sic],” she wrote.

At the fundraiser last week, hundreds of people showed up to donate and offer well wishes to the Mazzocco family. Employees from a nearby Starbucks also helped run the hot cocoa stand and donated goodies and supplies from their store.

“It’s the most amazing indescribable thing to feel the power of all the love that this 4 year old inpires [sic],” Jasper’s mom said in an update Sunday.

“It means everything to us to know that we have the support we need to be by our baby’s side through his fight. Thank you to each and every one of you who has shown your love to our family in any way.”