PARK RIDGE, N.J.—Her legacy of giving—of time, money and love to help kids with cancer—lives on.
In February 2019, resident Dominique Franco, 21, passed away while at the University of Rhode Island, leaving hundreds of family, friends and acquaintances in pain and mourning the untimely end of a young woman’s life.
Her funeral Mass, at Our Lady Mother of the Church in Woodcliff Lake, drew nearly 1,000 mourners, including her sorority sisters from the University of Rhode Island.
Prior to her passing, Franco, a junior at URI studying nursing, had been selflessly dedicated to holding fundraisers—she organized her first one at age 7—that contributed thousands of dollars to cancer research at Hackensack Meridian Health’s Tomorrows Children’s Fund and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
Part of her motivation was loss she and her family suffered over the years: at 1 she lost her grandfathers to cancer. The disease took her great-grandmother when she was 4. Her uncle succumbed to it when she was 12.
Moreover, a cousin was stabbed to death in 2014, the same year another of her grandparents died of cancer.
Now the Franco family has launched a nonprofit foundation, Dominique Franco’s St. Jude’s Journey, which continues to receive donations from everyone and every organization that Dominique reached out and touched before her untimely passing.
Michael Franco, Dominique’s father, told Pascack Press that the foundation is reaching out to Pascack Valley and Northern Valley residents and businesses to seek help and donations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“We know a lot of people but we don’t know everybody. I wanted to let everyone know that they can get involved with this and that every contribution to St. Jude helps Dominique continue on her journey to help kids with cancer,” Franco said.
He said many friends, acquaintances, and caring individuals continue raising funds for cancer research and treatment in Dominique’s name and have been donating to the foundation.
Dominique Franco’s St. Jude’s Journey helps St. Jude’s to continue its efforts to provide free treatment services for children and families hard-pressed to afford the exorbitant cost of cancer care.
“I know we’re doing the right thing here,” he told us. “I’m not going to stop until I hit $1 million for cancer research.”
Dominique raised funds against children’s cancer for nearly 15 consecutive years, he said.
He added, “I’d like everybody to know what kind of great hospital exists there in Memphis. We know that hundreds of donors are joining us on the journey and they have all helped Dominique get there.”
According to Franco, more than $150,000 in donations from assorted fundraisers has gone to St. Jude’s via Dominique Franco’s St. Jude’s Journey.
He said the hospital recently added her name to plaques dedicating the children’s wing and a toy room in her honor.
Having her name grace facilities that her fundraising helped effect marks a milestone on Dominique’s “journey,” he added.
He said recently that he and 20 family and friends visited St. Jude’s for the dedication ceremony and came away more impressed than ever with St. Jude’s commitment to its young patients and their families.
Franco explained, “What we’re doing right now by donating, helping all those kids that are suffering and really struggling to stay alive, is what we need to do for Dominique.”
He noted that recent patron and business donations gathered from cans left in Park Ridge and Woodcliff Lake raised $5,000. All of it, he, said, went straight by check to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“That’s what my daughter did every single year: She got out and spoke to people, begged for money, and made checks out to the cancer research hospitals,” Franco said.
He said students at Park Ridge High School got involved with a “giving tree” and donated dozens of iTunes and other gift cards.
Upcoming events to help raise funds for cancer research in Dominique’s name include a golf tournament and a 2020 holiday tree lighting, Franco said.
Donations can be made to St. Jude Children Research Hospital in Dominique’s name by noting the number 11565130 on checks.
Other individuals and local organizations continue to step up and hold fundraisers to donate proceeds for the nonprofit charity to send to St. Jude, Franco said.
For information about donating or getting involved with Dominique Franco’s St. Jude’s Journey, call Franco at (201) 280-1438 or write him at mfranco@biohitech.com.
