Submitted photos
Sisters Madi and Marissa along with their mother Annette eat ice cream for breakfast next to a framed photo of Malia.
What began as one Forest Lake family’s effort to honor the daughter they lost to cancer at age 9 has turned into a worldwide phenomenon dedicated to all children with cancer. Feb. 18 has been deemed “Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day” in honor of the spunky spirit of Scandia Elementary student Malia Peterson, who died in 2010 after a 14-month battle with kidney cancer. The event was first celebrated in 2013.
“We wanted to honor our daughter on her birthday, but we weren’t emotionally ready for an actual party,” Annette Peterson, Malia’s mother, said. “We came up with the idea of an online party where we would ask close friends and family to photograph themselves eating ice cream for breakfast and upload it to our Facebook event page for Malia.”
Malia Peterson, who died from cancer at age 9, inspired an effort to eat ice cream for breakfast on Feb. 18 in support of all kids with cancer.
Peterson said the fun photos they received throughout the day encouraged them and helped with the grieving process. She said that it was nice to see so many people honoring her daughter and remembering her in such a positive way.
A year passed, and the online party planning was beginning again. Someone mentioned that maybe the event should become a national holiday and be opened up to a wider audience so that other families of children with cancer could be encouraged in the same way Malia’s family was.
“We made a Facebook page and we started sending out some online fliers about the event,” Peterson said. “We had no idea how well it would go over, but we wanted to put it out there to support all kids with cancer.”
Much to Peterson’s shock, three days after the page was made, more than 1,600 people had checked in from 12 different countries, including 55 families of kids with cancer.
“We were blown away by the response, but it only served to encourage us more,” Peterson said. “We started receiving thank you’s from all over the world. People were going on about how much they appreciated the support for and the recognition of their children. The photos kept coming in, and we found it to be a great way to not only honor Malia, but to honor all kids with cancer.”
This year, the family has chosen to give special honors to Malia and eight other children who are either “resting,” having died from cancer, “fighting” to beat the disease or “celebrating” a victory over it. People are encouraged to eat ice cream for breakfast and upload a photo of themselves to www.facebook.com/eaticecreamforbreakfast or to Twitter using the hashtag #icecreamforbreakfast or #kidsgetcancertoo.
One unexpected side effect of the effort to honor Malia is that some groups have used the ice cream event as a jumping off point to create their own celebrations. Peterson said that one group in New Zealand has rented a venue and scheduled a fundraiser for Feb. 18.
“We just feel so blessed that we have been able to reach out to so many people through our daughter,” she said. “The way this effort has grown is a really great thing and we hope to see it continue to get bigger every year. The support for the families and the kids dealing with cancer is what this is all about.”