In March 2020, Mairead and David Finn lost their daughter Vivienne to an inoperable brain tumor known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). She was 11 years old. To honor her life, Vivienne’s brother Connor organized the 2024 Holiday Fundraiser for 10 – 18-year-old patients at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital (YNHCH). Through their efforts, the Finn family eclipsed their $25,000 fundraising goal, bringing in $27,550, as well as an array of gifts from an Amazon wish list.
YNHCH will use the proceeds to enhance the pediatric oncology patient experience for children admitted to the hospital. The fundraiser is a continuation of the Luke McQuillan Fundraiser which began in 2017 after Luke’s own battle with cancer at the age of eight. Vivienne was one of the children positively impacted by Luke’s donations. She received a pair of headphones, and she liked to listen to music during her chemotherapy treatments.
A Greenwich High School graduate and now a busy college student, Luke passed the torch to Connor and the Finn family in 2023, who are now carrying on the tradition of giving gifts to children with life-threatening diseases. In the Finn families’ first year, they raised nearly $35,000…