Photo by Ana Good.
Emily, Slade and Josh Anderson pose at the Grand Bohemian Hotel.
Later this month, Vestavia Hills resident Sophia Schefano and her father, Michael Schefano, will attend the St. Jude Field of Dreams event to celebrate Sophia’s 11th birthday and the hospital that helped her live to see it.
The celebration, set to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee, will come nearly 10 years after Sophia’s father heard the news no parent wants to hear: At just 2 months old, doctors diagnosed Sophia with retinoblastoma, a form of eye cancer. Though Sophia had been developing normally by all accounts, Schefano and the rest of the family grew uneasy every time they photographed baby Sophia. In every picture, Sophia’s left eye looked white. At Sophia’s grandmother’s suggestion, the family took Sophia to one of the top local eye doctors.
Within minutes, Sophia’s diagnosis was clear: Sophia’s eye looked white in pictures, doctors said, because the flash from the camera reflected off of the tumor in her eye.
Almost immediately, Sophia’s family made their way to St. Jude in Memphis, where doctors began treatment that included chemotherapy, radiation therapy and corrective surgery.
The May 7 fundraising event began as an idea that Schefano, the owner of Hollywood Imports in Vestavia Hills, had just over two years ago. It’s his way of giving back to the hospital that saved his daughter’s life. Sophia remains cancer-free.
“St. Jude just doesn’t have the feel of a hospital,” Schefano said. “There’s more to it than that. It puts not only the kids, but the parents at ease. They care.”
Sophia still makes regular trips to St. Jude for checkups, now on a yearly basis.
“We’ll always be St. Jude patients,” Schefano said.
It was on one of those recent visits to the hospital that Schefano first started taking steps to give back. His girlfriend, Molly Fielding, who has been part of Sophia’s life since she was three, reached out to St. Jude for ideas on how they could give back.
Fielding, who along with Schefano serves as an event chair, said the first St. Jude Field of Dreams event took more than a year to plan. The inaugural event, held at Regions Field, helped raise $101,094 to benefit the children’s research hospital through a silent auction and donations. More than 300 people attended the event, which Fielding said she hopes will only increase this year.
St. Jude Field of Dreams will be held Saturday, May 7, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Grand Bohemian Hotel ballroom in Mountain Brook. The event is sponsored by Merrill Lynch and will once again feature auction items including event tickets, travel packages, gift certificates and autographed memorabilia.
Mountain Brook’s Slade Anderson, who is also a patient at St. Jude, will also be honored at the event. After complaining of an earache over a Thanksgiving holiday, Slade, then 6 years old, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2012. Like Sophia’s family, the Andersons made their way to St. Jude to receive treatment. Slade finished his treatment June 9, 2015.
Cole Tanner, who was diagnosed with medulloblastoma when he was just a baby, will also be honored at the event. After receiving treatment at St. Jude, Tanner has been cancer free for several years.
Tickets are on sale for $125 per person or $200 per couple. Group tickets and sponsorship opportunities are also available.
Tickets to the May 7 event can be purchased at stjude.org/fieldofdreams.
