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Cool Kids Campaign Tutors Young Students With Cancer

TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) -- Giving special children the help they need.

After two years of planning, Andrea Fujii explains the Cool Kids Campaign is ready to tutor young students living with cancer.

The Cool Kids Campaign is set to open the door to learning.

About 600 children are diagnosed with cancer in Maryland, and many of them struggle in school. So the Cool Kids Campaign offers one-on-one tutoring.

"They really do fall behind.  The chemo causes a lot of neurocognitive delays, so even when they're in school it's much harder for them to process the information," said Sharon Perfetti, Cool Kids Campaign.

With the help of nearly $100,000 in donations, the new Towson location already offers cancer-related social programs like teen movie nights.

The organization started six years ago providing care packages to sick children nationwide.  Quality tutoring is the next step.

"We have about two or three kids that are signed up, ready to come in.   The volunteer aspect has been tremendous," said Perfetti.

Dozens of tutors have already signed up, like Holly Ziegler.

"I hope to make it fun for them and I hope that they can come in and be eager to learn," she said.

It makes it easier to learn in newly decorated spaces. One of the tutoring rooms is dedicated to a 13-year-old named MacKenzie who participated with the Cool Kids and died of brain cancer last year.

The Cool Kids Campaign will begin seeing their first students in a couple of weeks.

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