Bite Me Cancer was formed as a nonprofit foundation in September 2010, by Nikki Ferraro, who was 17-years old at the time. Nikki was diagnosed with a rare form of thyroid cancer in April 2010 when she was a junior at Chantilly HS in Virginia. Nikki was determined to lead a Relay for Life team just two weeks after her diagnosis. She named the team Bite Me Cancer and experienced immediate success. When Nikki decided to create a foundation a few months later, she wanted to continue the legacy of her team name and thus her foundation became the Bite Me Cancer Foundation.
Nikki and Bite Me Cancer has 2 primary goals. (1) To support teenagers battling all cancers. Nikki understands that teens have unique needs when dealing with cancer, and pediatric and adult programs don’t usually address teenagers’ needs. She developed a Teen Support Bag with teen-specific items that Bite Me Cancer distributes to hospitals across the country for their teen cancer patients. As of 2/2021, almost 8,400 teens with cancer have received a bag in over 140 hospitals so far. (2) To directly fund thyroid cancer research grants. Nikki also wanted her foundation to raise awareness and research funds for thyroid cancer as it is one of the fastest growing cancer in the United States. There are many variations of thyroid cancer, and some have poor treatment options. Bite Me Cancer has funded 8 grants so far with donations in 2021 going towards its 9th grant.
