Our Impact
Legacies are about what is left behind when someone leaves. When Nicholas’s fight with Acute Myeloid Leukemia ended, the Koenig's were left with so much grief. Thinking about Nicholas's four-and-a-half years of life, Shannon and Erik remembered the many struggles their family had overcome, but they also remembered the times filled with joy and laughter. They recalled times when they were struggling, and other families and foundations helped them.
The Koenig's realized that Nicholas’s incredible life could be more than a reminder of loss and heartache. Nicholas’s life, and the people who loved him, could be the catalyst for something great.
Erik, Shannon, and their supporters created the Nicholas P. Koenig H.E.R.O. Foundation as a way to help other families facing the same difficult scenarios. The foundation can alleviate some of the burdens that come along with caring for a child affected by pediatric cancer.
H.E.R.O. stands for Help and Encouragement on Rough Oceans. Because if pediatric cancer is anything, it’s a rough ocean. In the case of Nicholas and his family, it was an ocean they sailed for over half of his precious life. Yet there was buoyancy: the support and encouragement the Koenig family received when they needed it most.Read about our impact
University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital