2023 Recipients

Elliott Trump

Elliot was a healthy, active 4 year old boy. He was full of life, adventure and love for his family. He could often be found outside digging in the dirt, hauling wood, climbing bushes and trees, collecting "'treasures" of sticks, rocks, acorns etc. He was extremely strong and athletic and used that strength to take advantage of anything that could be climbed, scaled or jumped off of. He loved riding his bike, hiking and playing any sport that included a ball. He loved being at home with his family, helping Daddy with projects and yard maintenance, working in the kitchen with Mommy, playing with his little sister and brother. He enjoyed snuggling, reading, camping out, campfires and family movie nights. He loved celebrating birthdays and Christmas, planning for them every month of the year.

In November 2022 Elliot started experiencing occasional episodes of vomiting. As the month went on these episodes became more frequent and were associated with headaches and lethargy. After a trip to the pediatrician he was referred to a neurologist at CHOP. Less than a week later an MRI was done and revealed a brain tumor. Two days later he had surgery to remove the tumor, which pathology would later show to be medulloblastoma, a very aggressive brain cancer. He was given a less than 50% chance for cure. Two weeks later he was released from CHOP to recover at home and care was transferred to Hershey because of proximity to home. He was able to celebrate his 5* birthday and Christmas with his family and by the beginning of January was starting to become active again, even hitting baseballs in the backyard. However, by the middle of January his initial symptoms began to return and worsen. Fears were confirmed when an MRI at Hershey reveled that the tumor had not only returned, but spread. As prognosis and treatment plans were laid out, we prayerfully considered what would be best for Elliot and his quality of life. We chose palliative care and returned home on February 2. to spend whatever time he had left together as a family. On February 27 Elliot took his last breath on earth and went to be with Jesus.

There are so many things that made Elliot the beautiful boy he was but the most important was his decision at age 5 to ask Jesus into his heart. At that moment he became a child of the King of Kings and held the promise of eternity in heaven with Jesus. This is the hope we cling to as we grieve the loss of this precious boy from our earthly family. We have the promise that one day we will be with him again. One day every tear will be wiped away and there will be no more pain, no more death, no more mourning. For now we pray that his life will continue to be a witness to the love, sovereignty and grace of God.

Troy Klein

Troy Warner Klein was born early at 33 weeks on June 5, 2022, to Michael Klein and Sarah Hillman. Soon after his birth, Troy began having seizures. He was sent to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he underwent many tests and procedures. At 3 weeks old, he was diagnosed with congenital nephrotic syndrome, which is a rare, genetic disease that causes the kidneys to lose protein. As a result, Troy loses all of his body’s protein, especially his albumin (anti-clotting proteins and immunoglobulins). 

At 7 weeks old, Troy was transferred to Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware, to be closer to home. He was hospitalized for the first eight months of his life. It was a very complicated hospital stay filled with infections, blood clots and constant albumin infusions. In addition, he faced other issues, including a movement disorder and auditory neuropathy hearing loss that they think is related to his syndrome. At times, we were unsure if Troy would make it.

The only cure for this syndrome is a kidney transplant. Troy was officially put on the transplant list on January 11, 2023; now we wait until he is big enough to undergo a transplant. 

At only 9 months of age, Troy has gone through more than most people have in a lifetime. But he continues to fight. His strength is an inspiration to all of us. Hopefully, he will be able to undergo his kidney transplant this year.   

Kristie Cliff

It was during our 25th-anniversary trip to Phoenix, in January 2022, that we knew something was wrong. Kristie suspected a gallbladder problem and went in for lab work shortly after we returned home. The nurse called her within hours and said she wasn’t sure what was going on, but Kristie needed to get to the ER right away.

Many hours and a few scans later, we heard the doctor explaining it wasn’t her gallbladder; instead, it looked like ovarian cancer. There are no words to describe your feelings when you get unexpected news like this. Further tests over the next week-and-a-half in the hospital revealed that the cancer had also metastasized in her lungs and other areas, giving us the final diagnosis of stage 4 ovarian cancer.

Over the next four months, Kristie was in and out of the hospital five times with painful stomach and bowel blockages. The average stay was at least a week in order to rest her stomach and slowly work her back onto solid foods before they would send us home.  

All this struggle with food and hospital stays led Kristie to lose a considerable amount of weight. With surgery scheduled in May 2022, they put her on daily TPN infusions (a white, liquid nutrition to help strengthen her enough for surgery). After hooking it up to her port, she would have to carry the TPN liquid and pump in a backpack and try not to catch the IV cord on anything as she moved throughout her day.

Our oncologist recommended we go to either Penn Medicine or Johns Hopkins for her surgery. She explained Kristie may need a Whipple procedure and Lancaster didn’t have the expertise.  

The surgery at Johns Hopkins was successful in that they were able to work around some tumors to stop future bowel obstructions by doing some bowel resections and an ostomy. However, the surgeons discovered far more cancer than they originally thought and decided that removing the large tumors with the Whipple procedure and having to leave the smaller, inoperable tumors behind, would cause more damage. Her recovery and quality of life would be far better this way, but it would leave us with a prognosis of no hope for a full recovery.

By January of 2023, she had had over 12 rounds of three chemos and could no longer take the more aggressive chemo without running the risk of severe allergic reaction.

In the beginning, Kristie tried to work part-time from home, but pain from the cancer and side effects from the chemo made it impossible to be consistent. Kristie went on her company's short-term disability and when that ran out, she made the difficult decision to apply for Social Security Disability.

In February of 2023, Kristie suffered a ministroke. Fortunately, there were no lasting side effects, but the doctors are looking for the cause. Other testing has the doctors looking for new medicines and clinical trials. She continues two other chemo treatments on a 3-week cycle.

We continually see God work and provide for our needs. Strength to continue. Supportive jobs. DoorDash gifts and Meal Train meals. Home repairs taken care of. Gas cards in the mailbox. And, of course, the love, support and prayers of so many people.

Stephanie Witman

I have been active all my life and enjoy being on the move. Whether it’s biking, hiking, yoga, walking or really anything with movement, I’m up for it.
In May 2022, after experiencing symptoms of reflux and aching in my mid-back – I thought was a bad bout of food poisoning – I sought medical help. In June 2022, after multiple scans, bloodwork and procedures, I was diagnosed with colon cancer that had metastasized to the liver.

This process has moved at a fast pace from the beginning. Due to the extent of liver lesions, surgery was not the first option. In July, I received one round of chemotherapy to shrink the mass in the colon and the multiple lesions in the liver. Surgery in October consisted of a liver resection. 
In November, I received another round of chemotherapy. Following this second round of chemo, more scans were needed to assess the degree of the colon mass. Unfortunately, it was determined that a spot was left behind on the liver.
In February 2023, I had a colon resection with three lymph nodes removed, as well as another partial liver resection to retrieve that lesion.

I will recover from the surgery with slow walks, rest and prayer. At my post-op visit, it will be determined whether or not I will need more chemotherapy.
Let’s just say that in this last year, my life has been active in other ways than I am accustomed. I remain faithful; I leave all of this in God’s hands. Through this entire process, I remain incredibly grateful for my family and friends, who have walked through this journey with me. I couldn’t have done it without them!

Jamaal Millisoc

Jamaal is a 41-year-old, outgoing, radiant man of God, and the father of Jasmine (11) and Jamaal Jr. (16).

He has a profound love for his freshly proposed-to fiancée, Melissa, and her adult children, Austin, Kaylin, Alexus and Josh. Among them, the kids have five girl babies who are very attached to “Maal-Maal.”

Jamaal spent years living in Italy as an Air Force brat and when in the U.S., he lived in North Dakota and Pennsylvania. The eldest of three boys, he considers the Welsh Mountains in the Gap area to be his hometown. He is an Army veteran, high school football coach and fire fighter.

Last year, while battling a fire, he experienced chest pains that sent him to the ER. A week later, he was diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive cancer, signet ring cell adenocarcinoma. He lost his full stomach after undergoing four rounds of chemo. He has since been diagnosed as terminally ill and carries the CDH1 gene mutation.

Brooke Walton

Brooke is a 9-year-old social butterfly who loves to sing and dance her way through life. After starting her third-grade year, a back-to-school cold turned into a very concerning voice change.

After a strep misdiagnosis, Brooke’s pediatrician ordered a STAT x-ray to rule out a mass. Unfortunately, that was exactly what they found.

On October 21, 2022, Brooke was sent straight from the pediatrician’s office to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where she underwent a laryngoscopy and biopsy the next day.

The tests revealed a malignant soft-tissue mass, which was later diagnosed as Burkitt lymphoma. The mass was occluding at least 90% of her airway.

Brooke would remain in a medically induced coma and undergo two rounds of chemo over the course of the next nine days. On December 26, Brooke was admitted for her fifth and final round of chemotherapy, because it was determined she was in complete remission.

Today, Brooke continues to recover from the effects of chemotherapy and remains hopeful that her cancer will not return.