No Family Should Face
Leukemia Alone
For 36 years, Dawn was her families biggest supporter, the first call in almost any situation. She was eager to hear exciting news, ready to help through the hard times, and always good for parenting advice. She wanted nothing but the best for the people she loved.
Her family didn't understand how much courage and strength she had until they watched her battle cancer. Even in her final week, she was the one offering reassurance: "It will be okay, Michael."
What her family grieves most is the time she doesn't get, watching her bond with her granddaughters grow. She loved seeing Harper and her grandpa play together, laughing about what an unlikely duo they made.
The Dawn Casmer Foundation carries her name forward, so that fewer families lose those years.
She Fought Hard
Now We Fight For Her
Dawn was diagnosed with leukemia in 2023. She was 60. What her family learned in the months that followed about treatment, costs, and about how much still isn't known, is why this foundation exists.
Our Mission
Nobody Should Fight
Leukemia Alone
A leukemia diagnosis doesn't arrive alone. It comes with treatment schedules, hospital drives, missed work, and bills nobody planned for: on top of the fear.
The Dawn Casmer Foundation was built by people who lived through it.
We fund research at (institution) to help families cover the costs treatment doesn't, because progress against this disease happens two ways: in the lab, and in the everyday support that lets a family keep going.
We currently have a goal of $10,000 that will be used to....
The Numbers Behind The Fight
Leukemia is a blood cancer with no screening test and no way to prevent it. Here's what that looks like in the United States.
66,000+
Diagnosed Every Year
New leukemia cases in the U.S. annually, roughly one every eight minutes.
23,000+
Lives Lost Every Year
Leukemia remains one of the deadliest cancers by mortality rate.
#1
Most Common Childhood Cancer
About 1 in 4 childhood cancer diagnoses is leukemia.
66%
Five-Year Survival Rate
Up from under 30% a generation ago. Research is why that number moved.
Every one of those numbers is a person.
Dawn was one of them.
The Dawn Casmer Foundation exists so that fewer families have to live inside these statistics, funding research, patient support and standing with the people fighting right now.
A Little Help Can
Make A Big Change
To Inquire About Other Ways To Support
How A Small Town Fights Leukemia
6 Years & Counting
Every year, more than twenty cooks fire up their burners in Carpentersville and compete for bragging rights nobody lets go of.
The fire department and police roll in for the sound-off.
There's a bull ride, a bouncy house, ice cream, giveaways, and one very serious panel of judges.It looks like a block party.
It's a fundraiser and it's the reason this foundation can do what it does.
© 2026 The Dawn Casmer Foundation - All Rights Reserved
info@thedawncasmerfoundation.com
(847) 630-3132