‘Princess Kiley’s Me & My Doll Experience’ will take place on both Feb. 14 and Feb. 21, and Kiley’s family is hoping the public’s support will provide funds targeted to the rare cancer that has affected their daughter and other children.

By Ronni Newton

Kiley Sullivan was diagnosed with a rare pediatric cancer in April 2014, just two weeks after she celebrated her fifth birthday, and now in addition to focusing their efforts on their daughter’s treatment, Kiley’s family and friends are hoping to raise money to research Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma and other minimally-funded rare childhood cancers.

Kiley’s mom, Emily Sullivan, said that funds raised at the “Princess Kiley’s Me & My Doll Experience” will all be donated to the Children’s Cancer Development Institute. “It’s one of the only places dedicated to this research,” Emily said.

She said that research into pediatric cancers gets just 4 percent of traditionally-available funding, and rare cancer, like the subtype of rhabdomyosarcoma Kiley has, get a tiny fraction, perhaps less than .1 percent, of research funding.

“When Kiley was diagnosed my husband and I were looking at the research, but there’s nothing really to base decisions off of. There aren’t enough doctors, or money,” Emily said. Usually when you donate to cancer research you don’t really know exactly what your money will do, but in this case it’s going directly to fund the work of Dr. Charles Keller and his team at Children’s Cancer Development Institute, she said.

The upcoming Princess Kiley fundraiser will be held at the Sullivan’s former home, 85 Wardwell Rd., in West Hartford. The family recently moved into a different West Hartford home, but sometimes return to the vacant home to give Kiley a change of scenery when chemotherapy treatments require her to stay out of public places. Kiley loves to play with her American Girl dolls, and set them up all over the former house.

Then Emily got an idea to hold a fundraiser, to collect donations for a visit to the little “doll museum” that the Sullivans had created. “Then we got the idea for a bakesale, and then … it’s great,” Emily said.

There is no fee to attend, but there will be a donation bin at the entrance. Most of the dolls that will be on display at the “Princess Kiley Me & My Doll Experience” are American Girls, but items for sale are a variety of brands, all of which are sized to fit 18″ dolls. Emily said there are homemade items that have been donated, books, crafts, and more. There are also doll items including clothing, furniture, shoes, and more that are being sold on a consignment basis. There will be a bake sale.

The part of the event that Kiley is most excited about is the “interactive school” for dolls that will be held in the home’s lower level during the event. “You can have your doll play and be a student,” Emily said. “There is doll-sized everything, and we have dolls to borrow if someone doesn’t have one,” she said. High school students and teachers are helping run the “school.”

Emily said that the fundraiser will also include a raffle, as well as a silent auction that people can bid on at the event as well as online. She is hoping to have 10 higher-valued items to offer at the silent auction, like the trip to South Beach that someone has already donated.

“We tried to plan the event so Kiley will be able to go to it. That’s why we did two days,” Emily said. Based on Kiley’s current treatment schedule, Emily said she should definitely be able to attend on the 14th, and she will be very happy to spend time with her friends at the “Me & My Doll Experience.”

“Team Kiley” t-shirts will also be sold for $20 each. Unlike other funds raised at the event, proceeds from sale of the shirts, available at the “Me & My Doll Experience” and online at http://www.booster.com/teamkiley, will be used directly to support Kiley’s treatment and recovery.

“Kiley right now is doing great. She just finished her first round of a new chemotherapy last week, and right now she’s doing well,” said Emily.

Kiley’s recent scans have been clear. “People think it’s over, but with this type of disease, clear scans are scary. It means you can’t find it, you don’t know where it is. You’re trying to fight microscopic cells without knowing where they are. In 90 percent of cases, the cancer comes back within 2 to 6 months after treatment ends, and then it’s unbeatable,” Emily said.

“This research is so important because they are working on something that Kiley would be able to take after her protocols are complete,” Sullivan said. “The funding is so important because this treatment isn’t really a cure, it’s prolonging life. Families go through the protocol, and they wait for it to come back and then it’s over. We need something else,” said Emily.

Princess Kiley’s Me & My Doll Experience is scheduled from noon-4 p.m. on both Saturday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 21, at 85 Wardwell Rd., West Hartford. Anyone with doll items, especially furniture, to sell on consignment or donate, should contact either Emily Sullivan at [email protected] or Gwen Churney at [email protected]. They are still accepting auction items from businesses as well.

The Sullivans would love to get an idea about how many people plan to attend, and RSVPs can be directed to those email addresses as well. To volunteer, click here.

“The community has been wonderful about supporting our family. I can’t say enough about that,” Emily said. A fundraiser held last spring helped offset the family’s medical bills. “This one is different, it’s for research,” said Emily.

“It will help someone, hopefully Kiley,” she said.

For more information about Kiley’s treatment and recovery, click here to visit the “Princess Kiley” Facebook community.