Esplanade women to host fundraiser to support 10-year-old girl with cancer

What started as five Esplanade residents working together to host social party fundraisers is now focused on supporting a family that includes a 10-year-old girl fighting cancer.

Esplanade’s Kathy Drobny, Natalie Lambert, Anita Boeh, Lisa Caruso and Lynda Solimine formed Party with a Purpose a year ago to promote events that pair social gatherings with charitable causes. 

The ladies hosted a bocce ball fundraiser for the Humane Society of Manatee County in January and a small house party for the Food Bank of Manatee over the summer.

Their next mission is hosting a cocktail party Oct. 16 to support Ava Luciano, a 10-year-old Sarasota girl, with the raised funds going through the nonprofit Love McKinley that supports families with children who have pediatric cancer. 

At the ladies-only cocktail party, Drobny hopes for at least 100 attendees. At $75 per person, Drobny said "every penny" will go to the Luciano family.

Although the cocktail party only is open to Esplanade residents, Drobny said people can support Ava Luciano, the 10-year-old Sarasota girl who will be benefiting from the fundraiser, by donating on the Love McKinley website. 

Luciano was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2015. In February, Luciano relapsed and has returned home after receiving treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

So far, she’s in the clear, but it will be six months before she can have scans conducted to tell her she’s still in remission. 

The five Esplanade residents discovered Love McKinley through Boeh, who is friends with the nonprofit’s founder, Mill Creek’s Karen Moore. Moore’s daughter McKinley was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at 2 years old in 2015. She now is healthy.

In 2016, Moore started the nonprofit to support other families in the Tampa Bay area as well as support programs, research and treatment at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. 

Upon hearing Moore and her daughter’s story, the Esplanade women wanted to help. 

Drobny said she knows what the Luciano family is going through as she is a cancer survivor herself. Drobny had a double mastectomy in 2007 after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis. She went through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and is cancer free.

“I came out the other end with a very positive outlook on life,” Drobny said. “We understand that it’s not just the person (with cancer), it’s the whole family that’s impacted when you’re being treated for cancer.”

The spouses of Boeh and Solimine also are cancer survivors, making their desire to support Luciano and Love McKinley all the more personal. 

“I’m just so thankful to be able to have a little part in this,” Drobny said.

Drobny said although she’s a cancer survivor, she can’t imagine what life is like for families with children battling cancer. 

“When your child is going through this, your home is totally disrupted, so for us to be able to help out with paying for whatever the money goes to is heartwarming for us. It really is,” she said.

The ability to help a local family adds to the meaning, Drobny said. She said it was important to the women that the family be from the area because they wanted to give back locally. She hopes to meet the Luciano family some day.