Vandenberg is now the executive director of the organization and praises the chapters of Kids Without Cancer on college campuses, including MSU.

“Once you get knee-deep in it, it forever changes you,” Vandenberg said. “You can’t help but be touched and it puts life and your world in perspective.”

The nonprofit organization started in 1981 when a number of concerned parents touched by cancer decided they wanted to make a difference and find ways to fund research.

Now, the organization has raised more than $4 million, according to their website.

Being able to work with other parents who can sympathize with her and who have been in her shoes has been a highlight for Vandenberg.

“I come into contact with so many people who are going through the same thing and just being able to share, to empathize, listen, I give my heart out to a lot of people,” Vandenberg said.

College students are getting involved as well.

A chapter of the organization was created at MSU in 2013, and after the original board graduated, the position of president was passed to nutritional sciences senior Hannah Miller.

The group holds general meetings once a month where they discuss fundraisers, volunteering opportunities, social events and their relations with other cancer-fighting clubs on campus.

They will be hosting a number of bar, restaurant and social fundraisers this semester, including a hayride event and a Pistons game.

Miller’s sister’s close friend lost a brother to pediatric cancer, and she said she saw how that affected her family. She has also spoken to families through the organization who have been affected by the disease.

“The whole big organization allows us to meet with a lot of adults that have lost children to pediatric cancer, so that’s been really cool to hear their stories and become closer to them and learn about ways that I can help them just by spreading word of what pediatric cancer is all about,” Miller said.