At 12 years old, Zach is a natural born athlete. His favorite sports are soccer and baseball. When he’s not on the field, Zach loves playing MLB The Show or other games on his Nintendo Switch. At school, Zach is excellent at math and a wonderful friend – a skill he even brings home to support his older brother, Max.

Zach’s brother was 6 years old when he was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Today, Max is 14 and just reached a milestone of five years off treatment!

While Zach’s family celebrates his brother’s survivorship, they remember that treatment was a very difficult season in their lives. When Zach looks back, he feels proud knowing that he was always there for Max. Even when Max had bad days or when his medication put him in a bad mood, Zach always did his best to show compassion and support towards his brother.

For their family, it helped to try to maintain a sense of normalcy when life felt pretty uncertain. Things like school, sports and other activities served as a healthy distraction for Zach at such a young age. Not only that but acknowledging Zach for his bravery and support as a sibling helped validate his experience. His grandparents even gave him a trophy for being such a great brother.

During Max’s treatment, Zach got involved in some local childhood cancer organizations to meet other siblings like him. It was a big help knowing that there were other kids out there who knew how he felt.

Since then, Zach and Max have gotten more involved in Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF). Together, they organize and run a family lemonade stand each year – taking pride in getting their friends and neighbors to get involved with the fundraiser. They always feel so accomplished at the end of the day while counting up all the money they raised.

This October, Zach and his family held their eighth lemonade stand to show their support for all the childhood cancer families like theirs!