Here is a picture of my beautiful daughter Sara. She just turned 8 years old a few weeks ago. She is 6 months older than Noah.

Sara Reinbolt, daughter of Amy Reinbolt, Board of Directors

I have been acquaintance, colleague, and friend of the Larkins for 15 years or maybe more… Let’s just say we have always seemed to swim in the same Orlando pond. Amber in particular has been someone I have always admired and been close to professionally. But as years have passed I’ve been blessed to get closer to the Larkins on a personal level.

So, let’s jump to October 29th 2009. Phone rings, Hello, it’s Amy, “It’s Janelle. … I just wanted to let you know Amber and Dennis are at Arnold Palmer and Noah is having surgery right now to have a brain tumor removed.” This is where I stop breathing and in ways I feel like I haven’t started again.

Noah.

He’s a child of God, he is everyone’s child. But most important he is Amber and Dennis’s son and Landin’s brother.

In no way can you hear and accept anyone’s child having surgery to remove a very large tumor, and then learning the cancer has spread.

No child should ever have this happen. No parent should never have to endure this scenario and yet the Larkin’s faced this and Noah has had to fight for his life.

I am a producer and work for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts in communications. Communication is my game and one I am good at. Noah’s Light gives me the opportunity to bring my profession and passion together.

There are hundreds of children in Florida alone, that are suffering from brain cancer, and there needs to be treatments that are easier and that can be had by any family.

This COULD be a sad story. Noah, his illness, so many other kids and theirs, but when I look at it all, I see OPPORTUNITY. There ARE great doctors and researchers out there (and in our own state!) that really can change current treatments and diagnosis. Just in case you didn’t hear me, let me repeat, there ARE great doctors and researchers out there that really can change current treatments and diagnosis. Yes, it’s true. But guess what… they need funding. Because with healthcare funding restraints there aren’t a lot of funds for research and for some reason there are more and more children getting diagnosed with brain cancer each year. Plus if not enough kids are getting sick it’s not worth doing anything about. Why?

Here is where Noah’s Light Foundation comes in. We need to find funding for research for saving kids and making treatments less detrimental. It’s not impossible and it’s not that hard. Because Noah should not die. I don’t want my Sara to die. I don’t want any of these sweet children to die. We can stop this and we can ease the pain along the way.

I hope you support us in this fight, because it is for OUR Noah, it is for OUR children, and we can change their fate. We really can save them.

My blessings to you and yours,

Amy

Amy Reinbolt, Board of Directors

We are so glad to have such an amazing and talented person supporting us.  Check back as we introduce more of Noah’s Light’s Board of Directors. Visit our website to find out more information and ways to help. You can also follow us on Twitter and connect with us on Facebook!

Amy Reinbolt, a Board member of Noah’s Light (and an amazing friend to the Larkin’s), wrote a letter to the Orlando Magic, which resulted in Noah being invited to the game as a VIP guest with courtside seats. A huge THANK YOU to the Orlando Magic. Thank you for making dreams come true!

Visit our website to find out more information and ways to help. You can also follow us on Twitter and connect with us on Facebook!

We would like to officially introduce Shelley Rodgers as the Program Director for Noah's Light Foundation.  Shelley has years of non-profit experience and we cannot wait to see what she has in store for the organization.  Her contribution to Noah's Light is no doubt altruistic and very much appreciated.  Below is a message from Shelley herself:

I would like to formally introduce myself! My name is Shelley Rodgers and I joined the Noah’s Light Foundation family in the beginning of May as Program Director. I made the transition from Habitat for Humanity and could not be more excited to take this next step of my career with Noah’s Light Foundation.

When I first met Amber Larkin, I was immediately impressed with her for many reasons. It was clear that she was a very successful businesswoman, a hard worker, a very loving mother, and someone with a great deal of passion for this cause. I saw that with her involvement and drive, Noah’s Light Foundation could be nothing short of successful in spreading awareness of pediatric cancers and ultimately working towards a cure.  The mission of this organization is so powerful, and more importantly, so necessary.

I must admit, before meeting the Larkin family, I was fairly uninformed when it came to pediatric brain and spinal cord cancers. While it is something I had heard of, I didn’t realize the reality being faced by the affected children and their families. The incidence of this cancer is growing rapidly every year and not enough is being done to stop it.  It is our mission to shine light on this issue and make people more aware of the lack of resources being committed to finding a cure.  This lack of resources is an outrage and a tragedy, and I, along with the Larkin family and Noah’s Light, am committed to changing it.

Upon meeting Noah, I immediately thought to myself “Wow, what an amazing little boy!”  He has been incredibly tough and gracious throughout his fight against one of the most unimaginable hardships that a child could ever face, and he is truly inspiring. It is people like Noah, Dennis, and Amber who will change the world. I am grateful to them that I get to be a part of it.

From everyone at Noah’s Light Foundation, thank you for all of your support! We can win this fight!

Everyone here at Noah’s Light is definitely looking forward to all that Shelley has planned. Visit our website to find out more information and ways to help. You can also follow us on Twitter and connect with us on Facebook!

Name: Noah Larkin

Birthday: September 19th

Age: 6

Siblings: Landin

Favorite Fruit: Kiwi because its green and fuzzy brown.

Favorite Vegetable: Carrots. I like that they are crunchy. I also like when they are cooked because I can squeeze them on my tongue and put them on the roof of my mouth.

Vegetable you never want to eat again? Brussels Sprouts. They are way too big for my cheeks.

Favorite TV Show: SpongeBob Square Pants! He’s really funny and my mom used to never let me watch it. But I don’t love SpongeBob more than my mom.

Favorite Cartoon Character: SpongeBob!

Favorite Movie: Star Wars because they fight. I like the battles with light sabers. Darth Sidious (the Emperor) is my favorite.

Favorite Song: John Williams - The Imperial March from Star Wars.

If you could be any super hero, who would you be? I want to be super villain Darth Sidious - because he has lightening force.

Favorite subject in school? Geometry because I like the shapes.

Favorite thing to do with mom? I love to hug her

Favorite thing to do with dad? Go to Lowe's because I like to fix stuff and help install smoke alarms so there are no fires in our house.

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A bug killer and help people in Iraq by killing the camel spider, the world’s biggest spider.

What do you want when you grow up? To marry my wife Dylan and have two daughters and one son.  Dylan will want to name both of our daughters Vivienne but I want to name our son Squirty. I also want to go to work with my mom everyday.

If a genie could grant your three wishes, what would they be?

1). To install a security system with lasers in my room to keep Landin out.

2). To go to Dubai and go to the worlds tallest building and lookout at the whole world.

3). I wish I could see my mom every single day right when she wakes up.

There you have it folks, Noah Larkin in his own words.  Please visit our site to learn more about Noah and his friends, their battles with childhood cancer and the various ways you can help. If you want to spotlight a child that is suffering from childhood cancer, contact us
and let us know. Keep checking back as we have so much in store!  In the meantime, follow us on Twitter and connect with us on Facebook!

P.S. Don't forget to check out the pics of Noah during his interview below!

Additional Links:

Amber's Blog

Dennis on Twitter

Amber on Twitter

Noah sitting down for his first interview. 

Noah pondering a very tough question...

Noah with Moni, our Social Media Manager

Noah getting animated when talking about Star Wars

Our organization was founded by Dennis and Amber Larkin after their son Noah was diagnosed with medullablastoma in late 2009.  

We hope this blog will provide a place for parents, children, family and friends to share, connect, fundraise and donate. With the common goal of raising funds and awareness, we hope to eradicate pediatric brain and spinal tumors.

Browse our site and feel free to drop us a line and connect with us on Twitter and Facebook!

We have a lot in the works so stay tuned....