‘Their hearts are so beautiful’: community champions 8-year-old’s cancer fundraiser
Although Mia is undergoing chemotherapy, mom Briana Lunetta said she is still a happy-go-lucky, dancing light at the hospital. “We’ve actually been told by the charge nurse that you can sign up for what kids you want to have that day,” Lunetta said, “and there’s usually a battle on who gets to have Mia that day because everyone loves her.” Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia rocks her Wareham Police Department Mia Strong Shirt. Mia wants to be a police officer one day, and Wareham police officers are wearing Mia Strong pins to show solidarity and as “a symbol of strength,” according to previous Wareham Week reporting. Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia purchases a gift for a friend who needed treatment at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia attends the sixth floor’s carnival at the Children’s Hospital. Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia wears patches gifted by the Abington Police Department. The community has come together in different ways to show support for the young girl. “Community is so strong, and there is good in people. Things like this really bring out that good in people,” Lunetta said. Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia’s Dream House, filled with sponsors and raffle prizes. The raffle prize winners will be pulled by Mia in early September, when she is home in between her hospital treatments.
Although Mia is undergoing chemotherapy, mom Briana Lunetta said she is still a happy-go-lucky, dancing light at the hospital. “We’ve actually been told by the charge nurse that you can sign up for what kids you want to have that day,” Lunetta said, “and there’s usually a battle on who gets to have Mia that day because everyone loves her.” Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia rocks her Wareham Police Department Mia Strong Shirt. Mia wants to be a police officer one day, and Wareham police officers are wearing Mia Strong pins to show solidarity and as “a symbol of strength,” according to previous Wareham Week reporting. Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia purchases a gift for a friend who needed treatment at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia attends the sixth floor’s carnival at the Children’s Hospital. Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia wears patches gifted by the Abington Police Department. The community has come together in different ways to show support for the young girl. “Community is so strong, and there is good in people. Things like this really bring out that good in people,” Lunetta said. Photo source: Briana Lunetta
Mia’s Dream House, filled with sponsors and raffle prizes. The raffle prize winners will be pulled by Mia in early September, when she is home in between her hospital treatments.
There is a house in Wareham that is being built brick by brick—not by developers and contractors, but by the people of this town.
Eight-year-old Mia Johnson was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in June, sending her family’s lives “into a complete whirlwind,” said Briana Lunetta, Mia’s mom. However, since the beginning of her cancer journey, the town of Wareham has shown up and shown out for the young girl.
In June, students and police officers were wearing #MiaStrong pins and purple shirts in solidarity with Mia, while local businesses and individuals helped raise over $24,000 for the family’s GoFundMe, according to previous Wareham Week reporting.
Mia wants to be a police officer when she grows up, and Wareham Lt. Bryan Whalen said the #MiaStrong stickers on their cruisers and pins on their uniform are a “symbol of strength.” The town’s ongoing support has made an irrevocable mark on the Johnsons.
“She’s just so grateful that so many people love and care for her that don’t even know her,” Lunetta said.
Mia entered remission after her first round of chemotherapy at Boston’s Children’s Hospital in early July, which means she had no visible signs of cancer in tests or scans. She still needed to complete three more rounds of chemotherapy, however, and is currently nearing the end of her second round.
In order to help with costs from hospital stays, loss of income, meals and more, longtime family friend Angela Crosson organized a fundraiser. She took inspiration from her career as a real estate agent and designed Mia’s Dream House, an illustrated house colored by Mia and filled with the people and businesses of Wareham.
The house’s windows are raffle prizes donated by businesses and individuals, for which 350 tickets have been sold. Companies have also sponsored other parts of the house—roof, chimney, door, garage—reflected by their logo.
Wareham’s Home Depot is partnering with Roc Solid Foundation to build a surprise for Mia in September in her yard to enjoy when she is home in between her cancer treatments, showing “just showing how amazing our community is,” Lunetta said. Some of the money from the fundraiser will also go to adding personalized touches to the yard, making it more "magical" for Mia, Crosson said.
“Mia’s going to absolutely lose her mind—I know it,” Lunetta said. “She’s going to love it…Being able to give that to her is so fulfilling as a parent. I’m just so excited to see all the memories she’s going to make with it.”
The fundraiser has raised $4,230 so far, which will go directly to Mia’s family and treatment. Lunetta said nobody expected the traction the fundraiser achieved, and Croffon hopes to keep coordinating efforts like this for other families. She said she wants to create something special and "magical" based on the individual child.
“I’m just grateful that I was able to do this,” Crosson said. “I’ve never done something like this, and I’m honestly just so happy how big it’s gotten to where I’m in the process of creating a nonprofit to continue to do this for other kids.”
Lunetta said Mia’s kindness and empathy were one reason for the community support, where people who knew Mia were able to spread her story with other community members.
“People that knew her would tell us how kind and special and giving she was, how she wanted to be a friend to everybody,” Lunetta said. “[It spread] from people that actually knew her…to people who may have met her once or twice but somehow she still left an impression of kindness.”
Lunetta said she appreciates everything, from the financial support to prayers and well wishes for the family. She said those wanting to stay involved can visit Mia’s Caring Bridge for health updates or Mia’s Dream House to offer direct support.
“We cannot thank anyone enough for the love and the support,” she said. “From the people that are friends and family to the people we’ve met a handful of times to people we’ve never met, their hearts are so beautiful…The silver lining out of some really dark things is that really beautiful things can grow out of that.”
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