Today, a family mourns the passing of a little girl who made an immeasurable impact on her community.

Shane and Tara Swan don’t mourn alone. Their community mourns with them.

Kallie Swan was diagnosed in August 2013, at the tender age of 21 months, with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Kallie’s fight became a rallying point for our community; she had been the focus of fundraisers and stories of hope as she and her family dealt with the diagnosis. People prayed. They checked Facebook for updates as Kallie went through treatment. They cried when treatments failed. They came together when there were fundraisers or ways they could help. They decorated the town orange when Kallie made her return home. Tonight, we will see orange light bulbs on porches throughout the area and orange balloons released in remembrance of Kallie.

Her story made parents hug their children a little tighter, prompted tears from people Kallie had never met and brought people together in a way that is hard to describe. The Kallie’s Krusade Facebook page, with membership of more than 10,000 well-wishers, allowed a community a glimpse into the world of a brave little girl. The story touched thousands. We were moved by Kallie’s dignity and bravery when she told her parents not to cry as treatment options dwindled. We loved to see Kallie’s ever-present smile, a smile that lit up a room no matter where Kallie was being photographed – a far-away hospital room, at home with her parents and dog or visiting with her grandmother. Our hearts broke as we saw photographs that captured the love so evident in the faces of the Swan family as they dealt with ever-increasing adversity.

Our area’s collective heart aches for the Swan family today as they deal with a day we all hoped would never come and a story we hoped we would never have to write. To Tara and Shane Swan, thank you for sharing your wonderful little girl with your community. It surely wasn’t easy. No one except for those who have walked in your shoes can comprehend the range of emotions you’ve felt in these past several months. We hope the foundation you created continues to bless those fighting childhood cancers as Kallie so richly blessed thousands of people who never had the pleasure of meeting her.

To Kallie, your pain is gone, dear little one, your fight is done. Know that your short time among us was a gift we wish could have lasted longer. That we lost you so soon is just the latest example that the world you leave behind is far from perfect.

Kallie’s heartbreaking story won’t be the only time childhood cancers wreak havoc in our area. There are dozens of families every year in our area who fight a similar fight, and for far too many, the story is just as heartbreaking as that of the Swan family. It makes us wonder if we, as a state and nation, are putting enough emphasis on ending childhood cancer. National Cancer Institute statistics indicate an estimated 10,380 new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed in children ages 0 to 14 in 2015. Advocates have for years said too little money is spent on research, but a January 2013 article written by Zoe Read in The Atlantic puts the issue into context. Read reports the National Cancer Institute, a government organization, provides funding for researchers, but only 10 percent of them can move forward with their findings due to budget cuts. Researchers told Read too many of the treatments they have available are adult-oriented, while research on childhood-specific cancers waits for funding. Dr. William Carroll, New York University researcher and cancer institute director, said 96 percent of grants don’t get funded.

Think about that statistic while crying one’s way through the Kallie’s Krusade Facebook page as Kallie’s mother, Tara, details the treatments Kallie went through during her 20-month fight. We have lost too many beautiful, brave children. We have seen too many families’ lives ripped apart by a disease that does not discriminate and which chooses its victims with no rhyme or reason. As a society, it is long past time to find the financial wherewithal to fund the child-specific research that will finally end childhood cancer.

It is up to us to continue Kallie’s Krusade, so let us all pick up where Kallie has left off. Don’t let her brave fight – and that of her family – be in vain.