Young cancer survivor creates charity - New York News | NYC Breaking News
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Class has just let out and studio envy is bustling with a bevy of school girls, but today it's all about Andie. The girls are here to get their hair done--for a special cause.
Andie Ofsink, 11, was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, cancer of the soft tissue, in 2008.
"It taught me to be brave, it taught me not to be worried when there's something big happening, you could always get through it," she says.
Despite Andie's sunny outlook, her mom, Tara Ofsink, says it was an uphill battle.
"One foot in front of the other, you just got to wake up every day and follow the protocol and do what the doctors say and we got through it with flying colors," Tara says.
Ofsink says one of the things that kept Andie going during treatment was the prospect of starting her own charity: A Streak of Sunshine.
"The streaks of sunshine are little gold streaks that you put in your hair and like they represent happiness," a friend of Andie's says.
"Because childhood cancer is gold I decided to do a yellow because most girls' hair is a brown and I wanted it to stick out," Tara says.
Each streak is $10 and it is bonded to the hair with hot glue. One-hundred percent of the proceeds benefit the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
"I think it's a really good thing to do for make a wish and everyone supports it and there's so many people that get it," says Andie, who has been cancer free for 4 years.
A streak of sunshine has raised more than $10,000 and is available in more than 10 salons.
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