Gilbert family sells hundreds of ornaments to restock toy closet at Mesa children's hospital (2025)

Six golden glass Christmas ornaments with the words "Go Gold 2018" delicately written in black cursive sit on Ceene Brazlovitz's dining room table at her family’s Gilbert home.

“‘Go Gold’ is the phrase that represents pediatric cancer awareness month,” Brazlovitz said.

It’s a cause close to her heart.

Brazlovitz’s 7-year-old son Bentley was diagnosed with a form of soft-tissue cancer in 2016.

Brazlovitz and Bentley are decorating and selling Christmas ornaments to raise money to restock the toy closet at Cardon Children’s Medical Center in Mesa where Bentley was treated.

But the response Brazlovitz has received from the community has been overwhelming, she said.

In just a few days, Brazlovitz received 180 orders. They have made 300 ornaments and she said they plan to make another 100 over the weekend.

“I was overwhelmed but in a good way. I was super excited for him because he has so much fun shopping for the kids and taking them (the toys) down to the clinic,” she said.

Ornaments are $8 and can be purchased online or in person at a fundraising event for home-bound cancer patients, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Desert Wind Harley-Davidson in Mesa, 922 S. Country Club Drive.

"Nothing in the world to prepare you for that"

Bentley’s exuberant personality fills the family’s dining room, which has temporarily been converted into a craft room.

A giant smile sits on his face as he wraps each ornament in red tissue paper and writes personalized thank you notes, “Thanks – B.” Each note also has a hand-drawn smiley face, some featuring ears and hair similar to the mop of curly brown hair on his own head.

He is anxious to show off his impressive Lego and stuffed animal collection, his grandpa’s pottery work and his own artwork.

He loves telling jokes and “roasting mom,” riding his bike, swimming and playing with his two younger siblings.

“He’s so full of energy all of the time,” Brazlovitz said. “He gives me a run for my money for sure but in a good way.”

It’s impossible to tell that less than two years ago he was undergoing cancer treatment.

Brazlovitz remembers hearing the diagnosis like it was yesterday.

She took Bentley to the hospital in March 2016 after he was unable to urinate. It was St. Patrick’s Day weekend, shortly after his 5th birthday, she recalled.

Brazlovitz said Bentley’s bladder was completely full and he was in a lot of pain.

“They thought it was no big deal, that there was just maybe some other smaller issues,” she said of the emergency room’s staff’s initial prognosis.

Before they were discharged, Brazlovitz said her mom asked hospital staff to do an ultrasound of Bentley’s bladder and that’s when they found a tumor.

Bentley was diagnosed with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the bladder and prostate.

There are about 400 to 500 new cases of rhabdomyosarcoma in the country each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Most cases are diagnosed in children and teens, with more than half occurring in children younger than 10 years old.

Brazlovitz said it was “devastating” to hear the news.

“I don’t really remember much after the ‘You need to sit down. We found a mass,’” she said. “There’s nothing in the world to prepare you for that.”

Bentley underwent 43 weeks of intense chemotherapy, including six weeks of daily proton therapy at Mayo Clinic.

He started kindergarten late because his immune system was compromised and he couldn’t be around other children at school, said Reid Brinton, Bentley’s grandfather.

But Brinton said treatment didn’t slow Bentley down. He said Bentley still got to ride his bike, swim when he didn’t have a catheter in, and he even went to Legoland.

“He was still a normal 5, 6-year-old kid,” Brinton said.

Bentley had surgery to remove the mass in April 2017.

He celebrated one year in remission earlier this year swimming with sea turtles in Hawaii with his family, thanks to Make-A-Wish Arizona.

Though he is cancer free, Bentley must still go in for frequent scans to monitor for any new growths, Brazlovitz said.

“There’s a sense of relief for a while until we get close to his scans, but I don’t think anybody will be completely at ease until the five-year mark,” she said.

Restocking the toy closet

This is the second time Brazlovitz and Bentley made ornaments to raise money for the toy closet at Cardon.

“We actually did this about two years ago, and I just thought it would be a nice keepsake for people,” she said.

That year, Brazlovitz said with the help of family and friends who purchased ornaments and spread news of her fundraiser, she sold about 150 ornaments.

This time she turned to social media.

Brazlovitz posted about the fundraiser Nov. 19 on the Living Chandler Facebook page, one of the largest neighborhood pages in the country with nearly 65,000 members.

“I thought we’d maybe get 50 if we were lucky,” she said. “I went to bed and woke up to like 80 likes and 40 comments, and by the end of the day, I think it had almost 100 comments. That’s huge.”

Facebook users overwhelmingly supported Brazlovitz’s and Bentley’s efforts. Several users said their children had or were currently being treated at Cardon, others praised Bentley for his ingenuity and entrepreneurship, and a few local shop owners offered to sell the ornaments in their stores.

As the orders continued to come in, Jennifer Cooper, founder of Phoenix-based non-profit Love is in the Bag, which is hosting the Holiday Love Event on Sunday, learned of the fundraiser. Cooper donated a table to Bentley and he will be allowed to keep the money he raises to restock the Cardon toy closet.

Brazlovitz said Cardon typically has a $10 limit per toy in the closet. So far, she has raised $1,440, enough money to buy 144 toys if she sticks to the $10 limit.

If she sells all 400 ornaments she plans to make, she could raise $3,200, enough to buy 320 toys for the toy closet.

Brazlovitz said Bentley is excited to go shopping and deliver the toys to the clinic because he knows how important something so simple as a toy is for a child going through cancer.

Bentley picked Charlie, a blue plush dog with brown ears, from the toy closet two years ago.

Charlie has been by Bentley’s side through chemotherapy and surgeries, often serving as a punching bag when treatment became frustrating, Bratzlovitz said.

“Charlie has been in it for the long haul,” she said. “He does loveCharlie a lot. We had to sew him up this past week because he’s been there through it all.”

Bentley said picking toys from the closet helped him get through treatment and he hopes the newtoys do the same for children at Cardon.

“I think maybe giving them (the children) a toy would maybe help them feel better,” Bentley said.