Morgan Adams Foundation Funding Hope

The Morgan Adams Foundation. Funding Research. Funding Hope.

Stink Bug Project

Allison Winn is a nine-year-old who lives in Denver, Colorado. While in first grade, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor which was successfully removed in its entirety on April 6, 2007. The brain tumor, a highly malignant medullablastoma, is very treatable and has a 80-90 percent survival rate in children. Allison endured six weeks of radiation and nine chemotherapy treatments that began on her seventh golden birthday (May 7, 2007) and ended in June 2008. In September 2008, after treatment was over, her family adopted a bichon frise, Coco, that had been rescued and trained by Colorado Correctional Industries Prison Trained K-9 Companion Program. Coco became an important member of the family and Allison realized that it would have been nice to have Coco when she was home recovering from her treatments.

Allison returned to school and Brownies with the renewed vigor of a survivor, determined to help other kids going through the pain and loneliness of cancer treatment. She conceived the Stink Bug Project in the summer of 2009 after she went to a camp at the Denver Dumb Friends League that emphasized the importance of caring for dogs and how dogs make humans feel better. She decided to bake homemade dog biscuits and lemonade and sold them to friends and family and at a table near her house through the summer. By the end of the summer, she had raised $1500. On October 20, 2009, Allison got her wish when Krysta Hubbard, a two year old left partially blind by a brain tumor, became the first child to benefit from Allison's Stink Bug Project. Now, supported by a network of family and friends, Colorado Correctional Industries K-9 Companion Program, area hospitals, and the Bill Roberts K-8 School (Denver Public Schools), Allison is continuing her efforts at baking dog biscuits and helping more families stricken with childhood cancer.

Allison drew a picture of a Stink Bug to represent chemo. In May 2009, when treatments were over, she declared "Bye Bye Stink Bug!"

Stink Bug Project

Read about Allison in the Denver Post:

Watch when Krysta met Lucky Bug:

Make a donation today:

The Stink Bug Project is a project of the Morgan Adams Foundation