The Children's Tumor Foundation
10/20/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/20/2025 10:14
Carrying Penny’s Light: Honoring Penny’s Flight
Carrying Penny's Light: Honoring Penny's Flight
October 20, 2025Featured, Featured EU, Special Events
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When you meet families in the NF community, you're struck again and again by their courage, resilience, and determination to turn love into action. Few embody that spirit more than Kate and Chad Doerge and Penny's Flight Foundation, who will be recognized at this year's National Gala for the extraordinary impact they've made in just under three years.
Four people pose together outdoors in front of a large pink hot air balloon with a butterfly design, with green trees and a white tent in the background.Doerge Family
Penny's Legacy
Penny's Flight Foundation was launched in 2022 to celebrate the life of Penny Doerge, who lived with NF since infancy and inspired everyone around her with her joy, humor, and artistic spirit. Though Penny passed away at just 16 years old, her courage and light continue to guide the work of the Foundation that bears her name.
"Through Penny's story and bright light, the Foundation aims to expand knowledge around NF, while inspiring others to find beauty in imperfection, positivity in the face of challenge, and faith over fear," her family shared.
Accelerating Research and Patient Care
Since its founding, Penny's Flight Foundation has raised more than $5.5 million to drive NF research and patient programs. Among its initiatives:
Supporting the Children's Tumor Foundation's skeletal stem cell research, tackling rare bone conditions like congenital pseudarthrosis that Penny herself experienced.
Joining the Children's Tumor Foundation Summit as a Keynote speaker to emphasize the importance of awareness and collaboration in the NF and greater community.
Funding a $1.1 million research project at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, exploring the relationship between immune cells, nerve cells, and NF-related tumor cells - work that may lead to new therapeutic approaches for NF and even other cancers.
In October 2024 and 2025, Penny's Flight hosted a groundbreaking three-day "think tank" at the Banbury Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, bringing together 30 leading experts to tackle the cognitive and behavioral challenges associated with NF1.
Establishing and supporting the Penny Doerge Adaptive Academy at the Hospital for Special Surgery, which offers adaptive sports and arts programming for children from skiing and surfing to painting and ballet.
Launched 100+ High School and College PFF Chapters across the country. These student-led groups are actively raising awareness, hosting events and sharing Penny's story in- person and on social media platforms.
Partnerships and collaborations with international fashion brands Veronica Beard, Roller Rabbit, Lilly Pulitzer, LoveShackFancy, J. McLaughlin, and Manolo Blahnik to raise awareness and raise critical funds
Honoring Penny's Flight at the Gala
At the 2025 National Gala, CTF will honor Kate and Chad Doerge and the Penny's Flight Foundation for transforming Penny's courage into action and for carrying forward her light as a beacon of hope. Their work embodies the Gala's purpose: to celebrate resilience, accelerate research, and bring us closer to a world without NF.
The Children's Tumor Foundation published this content on October 20, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 20, 2025 at 16:14 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]