Mother's Bandage Drive Eases Pain for Kids With Cancer

An mother of a first-grader with Acute Lymphoblatic Leukemia successfully—and anonymously—ran a bandage drive to help her son and other children with the disease.

Derrith Spitzer, whose son, Ben, attends the school, had been in charge of the Band-Aid drive, but did not want to reveal her identity throughout the process.

“I wanted the initiative to focus on children helping other children in need…regardless if they knew them.” she said.

Spitzer collected more than 900 boxes of Band-Aids, which totaled more than 23,000 bandages.

Her son has been treated for Acute Lymphoblatic Leukemia for the past year-and-a-half at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

“These two wonderful organizations have helped our family tremendously, but I learned that they do not have funds for the children's Band-Aids, which are a huge deal to a child with cancer," Spitzer said. "It is seen as a 'reward' for a job well done when receiving chemotherapy and getting their port accessed regularly."

She collected a variety of different wacky-colored, cartoon-themed Band-Aids for the drive. The most popular one collected was Spongebob Squarepants.

“We wanted to help and give back, even if in a small way," Spitzer said. "The nurses and doctors work so hard and a small thing like this means a lot to them.”

Spitzer was pleased with the reaction from the school.

“Amsterdam School jumped on board immediately to help and even assisted with the marketing ideas and follow through to make sure we had a fantastic response," she said.

The and the also participated in the drive.