‘Their Child Is Never Forgotten’: Huntington Tree To Glow Gold To Honor Children Lost To Cancer

HUNTINGTON, NY — The Daniela Conte Foundation will join the Town of Huntington for its annual Gold Tree Lighting Ceremony on Sept. 1 at 5 p.m. at Huntington Town Hall. The event, which is open to the public, marks the beginning of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and continues a local tradition that began in 2020.

The foundation provides the gold lights and bows used on the tree. Names displayed on those bows honor children across the community who have fought cancer, while also keeping their stories part of the community.

Dix Hills resident Katia Conte wants families affected by childhood cancer to see more than lights. Conte's daughter Daniela died from cancer at age 8 in March 2020. Remembrance is at the center of the ceremony.

“Their child is never forgotten,” she said of families who have lost children.

The tree will remain illuminated throughout September, allowing families to return to Town Hall during the month rather than limiting the tribute to one evening.

The ceremony will include families affected by childhood cancer, representatives from other foundations and Huntington officials. Conte said the foundation also receives a proclamation each year.

A Promise To Daniela

Daniela Conte was the oldest daughter of Anthony and Katia Conte. Daniela was 5 years old and had recently started kindergarten when she developed severe stomach pain in October 2016. Doctors eventually diagnosed her with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, with tumors found in her hepatic portal vein that had metastasized to her liver.

The diagnosis began nearly four years of chemotherapy, radiation and other procedures. There were periods when scans showed no evidence of disease, followed by repeated recurrences that sent Daniela back into treatment. The hospital became a second home to the family.

Katia had left a roughly 20-year corporate career to become a stay-at-home mother shortly before Daniela’s diagnosis. She and Anthony were raising four children, including twin boys who had recently turned 1.

“We had moved into a brand new home in 2016, and that’s when Daniela was in kindergarten — a month in," Conte said. "That’s when we were told she was diagnosed.”

The diagnosis turned daily family life into a rotation between the hospital, Anthony’s job in New York City and the needs of Daniela’s three younger siblings.

“You’re starting kindergarten, a month later you’re in the hospital, and all your hair has fallen out,” Conte recalled. “How do you explain that?”

She said even leaving Daniela’s hospital room for short periods could carry enormous guilt.

“Mommy, don’t leave me,” Conte recalled her saying. “It’s hard. What do you say to a five-year-old?”

Daniela underwent chemotherapy, radiation and other procedures as doctors repeatedly attempted to control her disease. At the end, Conte said, her daughter was frightened but continued showing the personality her family knew.

“I remember her as a feisty, feisty little girl,” Conte said.

Daniela died on March 2, 2020. Within days, the COVID-19 pandemic transformed life across New York and eventually led to widespread shutdowns and social-distancing restrictions. The Conte family had just buried Daniela and was suddenly confined at home while grieving her death.

Katia said it was during that period that the family returned to something they had promised their daughter.

Daniela had wanted to help other children going through treatment.

“She was the one who had said … one of her wishes was to help other children that were going through it in the hospital, because the hospital was our second home for four years,” Conte recalled.

The Daniela Conte Foundation was established in 2020 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on raising childhood cancer awareness, providing financial assistance to families and funding childhood cancer research, with a particular interest in embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.

Katia said the family initially put together a website and tried to determine what they could realistically accomplish while social-distancing restrictions remained in place.

In 2021, the foundation organized a virtual 5K. Conte said the event raised more than $80,000.

“People just kept donating, and it just kind of exploded from there,” she said.

“No, I would have never imagined,” Conte said of the foundation’s growth. “We’re all still grassroots. We’re still 100 percent volunteers.”

Helping Families Keep Their Lights On

Today, the foundation financially assists more than 200 families, according to Conte, and has partnerships with nine pediatric hospitals throughout the New York tri-state area.

Conte said immediate financial support has become one of the foundation’s primary focuses because cancer treatment creates financial pressures that extend far beyond medical bills.

When a child becomes seriously ill, she said, a household relying on two incomes can suddenly be reduced to one because a parent may need to stop working to remain at the child’s bedside.

“Our main focus now is getting the support to these families immediately,” Conte said. “Whether it’s paying their mortgage or their rent because they’re going to be evicted the next day, keeping their lights on — trying to fill up your gas tank to take your child to treatment, we provide grants to these families.”

Her advice to parents confronting a diagnosis is something she now wishes she had told herself more often during Daniela’s treatment.

“Do not be afraid to ask for help,” Conte said. “There are people out there who are willing to step up.”

The Gold Tree Begins

As the foundation grew, Conte realized many people did not know that September was Childhood Cancer Awareness Month or that gold was its awareness color.

When she visited schools, she noticed that children readily associated October and pink with breast cancer awareness. Gold did not have the same immediate recognition.

Conte believed childhood cancer needed greater visibility in her own community.

In 2020, she contacted the Town of Huntington. The tree at Town Hall became the answer.

The first ceremony occurred during the pandemic, when attendees were still navigating masks and social distancing.

Conte said the ceremony is especially important for parents whose children died because it gives families a place where their children’s names remain visible. The tree carries a related message for children still undergoing treatment and their families.

“We got your back. We can support you,” Conte said. “We walked in your journey, and now we’re here to support you, and we know what it’s like.”

‘Kids Helping Kids’

The effort to raise awareness has also expanded to the Daniela Conte Foundation’s Gold Shoelace campaign, which involves more than 60 schools, according to Conte. The organization hopes to expand it into colleges.

The campaign was designed to give students a straightforward way to participate in Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Participating athletes replace their ordinary shoelaces with gold laces during September. The campaign has spread through sports including football, soccer, volleyball and gymnastics.

Conte said operating the organization requires substantial time, persistent fundraising and people who believe in its purpose.

“It’s a lot of hours, but you really have to have a really good, strong board behind it that believes in the cause and the mission and wants to help,” Conte said. “This has now become my life.”

Research And The Search For Better Treatments

Alongside financial assistance and awareness programs, the Daniela Conte Foundation helps fund childhood cancer research, with particular interest in embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.

Conte said one of the challenges of pediatric cancer research is the number of different cancer types and subtypes, each of which may respond differently to treatment.

Some childhood cancers receive relatively little research attention, she said, leaving private foundations and other nonprofit organizations trying to raise money that can be directed to researchers.

Conte said the objective is not solely to find cures, but to support the development of treatments that are less punishing for children. She witnessed the physical toll of prolonged treatment on Daniela.

“She went through everything,” Conte said. “At the very end, she just couldn’t hold on. The treatments are not only harsh, but they’re very long. It can be two years, a year, depending on the treatment of the child.”

Daniela Beyond Cancer

As the foundation’s reach grows, Katia imagines her daughter pushing her forward.

“She would say, ‘You go, Mom,’” Conte said. “‘Go out there and share my story. … Go out there and help more families, bring the awareness out.’”

She also imagines Daniela reminding her not to let the work consume her.

“I think that she would tell me to go out there and do what I can and the best I can, and not stress so much,” Conte said.

The Gold Tree Lighting Ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. Sept. 1 at Huntington Town Hall, and the tree will remain illuminated through the end of September.