Community helps to clean up children's cancer center following Hurricane Milton

TAMPA, Fla — For the past 50 years, the Children's Cancer Center in Tampa has been providing emotional, educational, and financial support for families battling pediatric cancer. Now, the non-profit is looking for a little support after Hurricane Milton devastated it with flooding.

"We had at least two to three inches of water throughout the entire bottom floor of the center and so with that obviously its damaged all of our cabinetry, all of the furniture, pretty much our entire first floor," said CEO and Executive Director Patty O'Leary.

O'Leary said 2024 was supposed to be a celebration. They had just finished a major renovation, all part of their 50th anniversary.

"You walk into a facility that brings so much joy and hope to families and to see so much despair and devastation there are toys floating in standing water," said O'Leary.

On Thursday, staff, volunteers, and families came together to start the cleanup.

"We know that this isn't the first time we've been faced with tragedy, if we haven't learned anything from these kids and families about being resilient and coming back stronger," said O'Leary.

Volunteers like Ali Elsayed were eager to grab a squeegee.

"Even though its catastrophic here everyone has the positive attitude, lets join hand to hand and rebuild this," said Elsayed.

Brittney Rudolph has worked at the center for the past 10 years, its like her second home.

"I'm holding back tears because it's our beautiful library and so many beautiful memories are made here," said Elsayed.

The Children's Cancer Center serves about 5,000 children and family members across Tampa Bay, including 11-year-old Makilah Smiley and her mom Candra.

"Its pretty devastating, my heart definitely goes out to them having to recover after this storm, cause they help so many families in need," said Candra.

The music room, art room, playground, and library could all be closed for months, but the Children's Cancer Center says the services it provides will continue.

"Between our board members and business partners they've reached out to us and offered space for us to offer some of our support groups so we've had an outpouring of support from the community which enables us to keep all 30 of our programs going," said O'Leary.