The Story:

On October 10th, 2018 2 year old Jackson Corbeau was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. A normally healthy, happy and spirited two year old – the diagnosis not only came as a shock to the family, but to everyone who knew The Corbeau’s. Just two days after treatment a port was surgically placed in Jackson’s chest and on October 12th he received his first chemo treatment.

Jackson completed just over 3 years of treatment in December of 2021 and is now a thriving, extremely active, 8 year old who loves playing goalie for his ice hockey team and racing his go-kart .

The Corbeau’s were blessed with what they like to refer to as ‘the best of the worst situation’ – they had an unbelievable support system with family and friends who helped them in incredible ways throughout Jackson’s 3+ years of treatment and beyond, their medical insurance covered nearly all of Jackson’s medical expenses and as small business owners they were able arrange their schedules to easily accommodate Jackson’s treatment schedule.

Through their time at Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital and Maine Children’s Cancer Program in Scarborough, where Jackson received a majority of his treatments, the Corbeau’s met so many families faced with many challenges as they travel a journey that no parent or child should ever have to endure. Many families face financial hardships due to the cost of medical insurance, co-pays and deductibles, Maine Children’s Cancer Program in Scarborough treats most of the childhood cancer patients in Maine – often requiring families to drive extremely long distances or commit to overnight stays in order to receive treatment, along with so many other challenges that come with a diagnosis like childhood cancer. 

Being small business owners in Southern Maine for more than 15 years Matt and Beth knew they had a long reach throughout their community, but they didn’t realize quite how long. Within the first week of Jackson’s diagnosis they had raised over $10,000 to be donated to The Children’s Oncology Group who had developed Jackson’s treatment protocol – all through one single Facebook post announcing Jackson’s diagnosis. It was at that point they knew they needed to start raising money to help support families here in Maine being faced with Childhood Cancer – so, Waddles for A Cause was born.