A Young Entrepreneur, A Cause to Cure All Cancers

Sage Berting, age 7, doesn’t have any family members or friends who are suffering from cancer. But she wanted to raise money for the disease that claims so many lives. She put her request—to do drawings of dogs, cats, and other animals for a nominal fee—on Facebook, and she received nearly 40 orders for her original drawings. In the end, Sage made more than $400, all to support the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and its research on immunotherapy for all cancers.

CRI asked Tiffany, Sage’s mom, to put her heartwarming and humbling story into writing.

My 7-year-old daughter, Sage Berting, decided she wanted to “raise money for cancer” by selling her drawings of dogs and other animals. I posted her request to my private Facebook page of just my friends and family and she received orders from about 40 people commissioning original drawings of their pets and other things. Sage requested that all of her “customers” donate online or by giving her a cash donation to CRI. Because of Sage’s artwork, our family and friends donated at least $368 online. There are at least four additional donations to which I do not know the amount. Sage donated $130 from the cash donations she received, and the additional $238+ were made online individually by the family and friends who received original drawings by Sage.

I have since made the album of her artwork public to share beyond my family and friends. It can be found here. While Sage has decided to no longer accept orders for more artwork, she is continuing to encourage others to donate to CRI. Sage does not have anyone in her family or immediate circle of friends who is suffering from cancer. She just simply wanted to do something to make a difference. She wanted to raise money for cancer research and specified that she wanted support all cancers, not any one particular type. This is the reason I chose CRI as the organization I trusted to benefit from her hard work.

This simple idea dreamt up by a 7-year-old girl from Cincinnati, OH grew into a fantastic project. Several acquaintances and friends of friends reached out to Sage and shared their personal stories. She made virtual friendships with people she has never met. One acquaintance sent her a video message thanking her for her work. She shared that her husband recently battled cancer, and she gladly donated $40 online as well as mailed Sage a book of Charlie Brown postage stamps for her to use to mail her artwork to her donors. Another friend of a friend shared Sage’s artwork on her special needs dog’s Facebook fan page and mailed Sage a handmade pillowcase along with her donation of $10.

I am extremely proud of what Sage accomplished and I hope donations will continue to come in because of the awareness Sage has started.

Support cancer immunotherapy research

Thank you for all of the work you are doing in cancer research. I sincerely hope Sage’s humble contribution can make a difference.