Pinnacle Health Group was proud to be one of the corporate sponsors for the 2023 All Heart Gunner Prom fundraising event for pediatric brain cancer families. Pinnacle Health Group chooses to give back in the communities where their employees live and/or where they have clients. This is a fundraiser Angela Farmer is passionate about supporting, and Pinnacle Health Group backed this cause with their support as well.
Background
On August 20,2017 Gunner Smith was taken to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. They found a large mass on the front left part of his brain. They were then taken by helicopter to Vanderbilt Children’s in Nashville. Immediately upon arrival they were met by a huge team of doctors who whisked Gunner away for a MRI. It was decided very quickly he would have surgery the following morning. The surgery went better than expected and the surgeon was able to remove ALL the tumor! Gunner than spent the next two weeks in the PICU. Unfortunately in May of 2021 Gunner lost his cancer battle.
Soon afterwards Brandon and Brittany began their journey to give back to other families that were struggling with similar issues, and they started the All Heart Gunner Foundation. They knew they were blessed and lucky to have so much support from family, friends, and community members that helped in every way imaginable, but they also saw firsthand that all families were not as lucky as they were to have an abundance of support. Starting the foundation was a way they could raise awareness and support to give back to others in similar situations.
Today
The main fundraising event is the All Heart Gunner Prom, and the inaugural event was held in the spring of 2022. Due to the overwhelming success, the Prom is now an annual event. The All Heart Prom is about bringing together friends, family, and the community to support a worthy cause, and the money raised goes directly to families dealing with pediatric cancer.
A Message from Angela
Angela has personally been friends with Brandon and Brittany since 2017, and she watched them go through the news of discovering their son’s diagnosis and how their family and Gunner personally handled it with the most positive outlook. They became inspirational to others in their hardest time. Even when it was not in the plan for Gunner to recover and heal from the cancer, they took the loss with an amazing measure of grace and the most positive attitude imaginable.
I find it incredible how so many wonderful people continue to go above and beyond in support of the All Heart Gunner Foundation. Brittany Brandon Smith are amazingly selfless in their continued fight against pediatric brain cancer on behalf of other families. It has been such a wonderful gift to watch them help families battling such a terrible disease, and I am continually blown away at how this community has shown up for them time and time again. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this effort and thankful for Pinnacle Health Group stepping up to be a partner in sponsoring the 2023 All Heart Gunner Prom.
Learn more about the All Heart Gunner Foundation
