About Mitch’s Mission
Mitch’s Mission is a non-profit corporation that raises funds to pay for children with cancer or blood diseases to attend summer camp. All the children are patients at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute. The Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute holds the camp for two weeks every year at Camp Joy located north of Cincinnati. One hundred patients and a sibling get to experience the joys of summer camp, no matter how medically fragile they might be.
Mitch’s Mission grew out of Mitch Stone’s brain cancer diagnosis in February 2009 when he was 11 years old.
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- Mitch with Travis Kelce on the field in 2009
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- Mitch on the field in 2009.
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- Mitch on the field in 2009.
After brain surgery and 32 doses of radiation, Mitch was “adopted” by the University of Cincinnati Bearcat Football Team through a foundation that matches pediatric brain cancer patients with athletic teams. As Mitch underwent his chemo treatments and long stays at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, a special bond between the team and Mitch was formed. The team was inspired by their “little brother” and ended the season with a 12-0 record and a trip to the Sugar Bowl, and Mitch was cancer free. The relationship between Mitch and the Bearcats continued for many years as they teamed up at Playdate with the Bearcats to raise funds to send kids with cancer to camp.
Mitch went on to attend UC and was a Kolodzik Business Scholar. He was involved in many campus organizations and events, including the UC Dance Marathon, a fundraiser for pediatric cancer research. Mitch graduated with honors in May of 2020.
Mitch died in his sleep in January of 2021 as a result of a seizure brought about by the brain surgery he had 12 years earlier. His passing was mourned by many— all remembering him as kind, genuine, resilient and funny. Mitch’s legacy of serving others lives on through his mission to ‘send a kid with cancer to camp’.
Mitch leading Down the Drive for the UC student section as a college freshman.