Nicki was a happy teenager pursuing her dream of singing, dancing and acting at the Douglas Anderson School of The Arts, when in the tenth grade she started to get sick.  She spent months seeing various doctors and specialists, trying to determine the reason for her illness.  Four days after Nicki's seventeenth birthday, a CAT scan revealed a stage four glioblastoma multiforme.  She courageously battled her disease, fighting through two brain surgeries, two years of chemotherapy, radiation, steroids, and many more pills and procedures all aimed at saving her life.  Even though treatment was unsuccessful for Nicki, she never stopped smiling.  After three years, she lost her battle against cancer;  she died at the age of nineteen.

 Nicki lost her ability to speak and write and also became blind in one eye.  But she had ask for a Camera for Christmas and it became her constant companion throughout her final year on this earth.  She photographed everything she loved especially outdoors;  plants, animals, insects, and landscapes.  Through the special gift of a camera she was able to capture the beauty of this world before she passed on to the next.  When Nicki left us, she left behind her images, her smile and her final wish to help others with cancer.  To honor Nicki's memory, we want to provide teenagers and young adults living with cancer the opportunity to enjoy life while undergoing difficult, and often painful, treatment for their disease.

We hope that the joy Nicki experienced on this earth will make you smile, and that you will choose to share your joy with others!