Carolyn and Mark live in the north suburbs of Chicago with their four kids, Molly, Ellie, James and Henry, and a chocolate lab named Boomer. In January 2019, Mark had a seizure and was diagnosed with stage II brain cancer. For Mark, who was then CEO of Chicago’s beloved pizza institution Lou Malnati’s, life would never be the same.

Pickles is a new nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids with a parent or a guardian who has cancer. How? By creating thriving communities of kids supporting kids through their parents’ cancer journeys. Pickles grew organically out of our own experiences as three families with a cancer diagnosis.