Our Story

The Come Together Fund was founded by Braden Lopez and Alexa Moran in October 2020. In April of 2020, Braden was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, a type of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. With two months left in the school year, Braden was worried about completing his treatment as well as finishing off the academic semester strong. Although cancer never has good timing, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Braden’s classes could be completed online while undergoing treatment. As a pre-med student, Braden had a full summer of research and scribing jobs lined up, but however, due to cancer treatment, he had to forego these commitments, thus losing out on a whole summer of work and meaningful experience. College-age students with cancer fall into a unique category, where they are not pediatric patients, but not full-fledged adults. The combination of age, academics, and work experience problems curate a mix of issues that are overlooked by most cancer non-profits. After his own experience, Braden, with the help of Alexa, decided to take action. They knew that the college-age demographic of cancer patients was neglected, so the Come Together Fund is meant to provide financial and emotional support for cancer patients in college. With scholarships and support groups, the organization strives to make the lives of cancer patients easier, as the journey through cancer treatment can be straining and exhausting.