Harnessing The Power Of Community: Itzel Lopez ’11 BA, ’22 MBA

While each person individually has the potential to create lasting change in the world, it has been proven that the greatest change comes when people work together. Take for example how Itzel Lopez ’11 BA, ’22 MBA rallied her community to help support a local family in their battle against cancer. 

When Lopez saw a post on Facebook from a high school friend whose two-year-old son, Thiago, is fighting retinoblastoma—a cancer of the eye—she thought about sending a donation. But then she had a better idea.  

Lopez had recently found a community for herself through Empower, an online fitness program for women with a focus on empowerment and wholistic wellness—in addition to virtual fitness classes, the program offers daily reflection questions, nutrition tips, workshops on everything from cooking to mental health and ways to connect with other members.  

Inspired by the program, Lopez reached out to Victoria Valenzuela, owner of Empower, and told her about her friend’s fundraiser. The two developed a campaign called #ThaigoStrong and planned a special online fitness class to promote the fundraiser, where people could give a small donation to attend the class. 

Lopez then promoted the event by sharing with her social media networks and reaching out to her online MBA cohort and the Eller MBA staff to help support and promote the cause. 

“The idea was that if everyone who attends the event pays something small like five or 10 dollars, we would be able to raise around $600 for the cause,” says Lopez. “We ended up raising way more than I originally expected.” 

Between the people who attended the class as well as numerous additional supporters, Lopez was able to raise $2,000 for the family in need.  

“The family has had to travel from our hometown, Douglas, to Phoenix every week for the cancer treatment, which is a four-hour drive,” says Lopez. “The money we raised helped them cover the expenses related to those visits.” 

And the situation seems to be improving. “I heard that the chemotherapy is working; they were able to cancel some treatments they thought were necessary, but he no longer needs,” says Lopez. 

In addition to the fundraising efforts, Lopez hopes that the campaign has helped spread awareness about the signs of eye cancer, so more families can identify them early-on. Using the CRADLE White Eye Detector smartphone application, parents can check photos of their children for an abnormal white glow in their eyes, which may be a sign of cancer.  

“One thing that COVID has shown me is that we need to do our part to be there for others who are in need,” says Lopez. “This fundraiser proved the impact that we can have when we come together to help those around us.”