We are honored to announce Alex’s Army has awarded Collegiate scholarships to 3 beautiful and inspirational athletes who have each battled cancer: Evelyn “Evie” Cranston, Faith McKinney and Tara Sankner each received a $3,000 scholarship towards their college expenses.
About the Scholarship Recipients:
Evelyn Cranston is a St. John’s College HS student and soccer player who was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer at the age of 14.
Evie is a light to be around and has a way of bringing out the best in others. While she didn’t see her diagnosis as a blessing at the time, Evie says this about her diagnosis, “In a way, I have become grateful for my experience with cancer – it has helped me evolve into the person I am today and will continue to be a part of how I grow into the person I want to be.”
Faith McKinney was diagnosed with Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans (DFSP) which is a very raretype of soft tissue sarcoma at the age of 12.
Faith is a gymnast at Battlefield HS where she also maintains a 4.3 GPA. Five years prior to her own diagnosis, Faith had starting participating and volunteering in a gymnastics fundraiser called “Flip for the Fight”. She loved helping others any way she could and found that participating in her favorite sport to support charity was a win-win! When Faith was diagnosed fighting cancer became even more personal and she saw first-hand what other kids and teens fighting cancer go through. “This situation continues to challenge my mental toughness but also strengthens my ability to deal with adversity and address it with a positive attitude.”
Tara Sankner is a Chantilly HS softball player. Tara was diagnosed with an Astrocytoma Grade 2 Brain Tumor at the age of 8.
Tara spent a lot of her childhood in and out of hospitals. “I didn’t have many sleepovers as “normal” kids because I was in and out of the hospital throughout my childhood. However I was always comforted by a group of other cancer patients facing similar circumstances where our futures were often a mystery. Faced with the uncertainty of life, I decided at an early age that I was going to not only finish High School and be the first in my family to attend college, but I am going to embrace life and help others through life in law enforcement or social services.” Tara will graduate from Chantilly HS this spring and has committed to Old Dominion University in the fall with a major in Criminology.