Information: www.teamsummer.org.
Summer Dale was the cancer kid who surprised other cancer kids with sometimes lavish but always fun gifts. The Sandy Springs teenager died in November 2012 but the gifts keep on coming. That’s because Lacey, who Summer surprised with a gift, surprised Haley with one, who surprised Kayla, and on and on. Summer was 15 when she was diagnosed with a form of cancer so rare that her doctors coined it “Summer’s Sarcoma.” During her yearlong battle with the disease, she started Team Summer, a nonprofit that raises money with the expressed mission of surprising a kid with cancer with a gift that brings a smile. Summer’s mother, Lynne Dale of Atlanta, talks about her daughter’s legacy, which is truly a gift to those who knew the teenager and those she continues to touch.
Q: How did cancer change your daughter?
A: Before Summer got sick she was your pretty typical self-absorbed 15-year-old. After she was first diagnosed, she didn't want anything to do with other kids with cancer. Then her life changed pretty dramatically — she couldn't go to school any more and she was very sick a lot of the time. She realized the only kids who could understand what she was going through were other kids with cancer. It took this devastating disease to make her see and understand the suffering of others.
Q: How has Team Summer continued on?
A: Summer was always the gift giver. After we lost her, we went back to the kids that she had given gifts to and said, "You are a member of Team Summer. Are there any kids you want to give gifts to?" This whole little miracle happened. Giving has them thinking about somebody other than themselves.
Q: Why is that important?
A: Kids with cancer live and dwell in this medical world of pain and hurt. They are surrounded by adults constantly telling them what to do next. You take these kids whose lives can be so dark and difficult and say, "You have the power to make another kid happy, to help a kid get through this." They really get so excited about giving a gift.
Q: Can you talk about the gifts?
A: We average one or two a month and they vary from all-terrain vehicles to modeling sessions to iPads to horseback riding lessons. The last two gifts have been puppies. A Team Summer gift is all about making a kid happy. Summer hated surprises but she mandated that every gift be a surprise. We try to keep the adults out of this as much as possible. We do work with parents to make sure they are good with whatever we are doing.
Q: Where does the money for the gifts come from?
A: The nonprofit raises the funds. We are very blessed. We have never done a fundraiser. People have done fundraisers for us. We continue to get donations from complete strangers through our PayPal pay site.
Q: Are you surprised Team Summer is still going strong?
A: I would be surprised if it stopped. Summer hit upon something really lacking in the pediatric cancer community — that kids need each other. That is what this organization is all about.
Q: Is this a way for you to stay connected to Summer?
A: I feel her presence every time I do anything with Team Summer. I feel like she is sitting on my shoulder and I hear her voice giving me guidance.
Q: Is the voice that of a snarky teenager?
A: So snarky. She was this lovely, graceful, beautiful girl, especially bald. There wasn't a pretentious bone in her body. She was also irreverent and had an incredible sense of humor. She was really something.
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