It’s the first full week of summer vacation for area students, which means most kids in Towson are waking up with plans to goof around at the pool, head to the beach, or meet new friends at summer camp. Not Abby Osmeyer.

For the first three weeks of her summer vacation, the 11-year-old will be at Dumbarton Middle School, where she’ll be a sixth-grader next year. Unlike most kids on the campus this summer, Abby won’t be participating in jump roping, football, running or any other summer camps there.

Instead, you’ll find Abby and her supportive group of friends standing in the hot sun in front of the school, selling snacks, shorts and homemade jewelry. Is she a budding entrepreneur? Future philanthropist is more like it.  

Abby is raising money for families whose children are fighting cancer. One hundred percent of the money raised will go to a nonprofit called Spencer's Friends Foundation.

“I think that cancer is a fight that kids shouldn’t have to fight,” Abby said. 

Then, in a steady voice, Abby bravely shared the longer version of her explanation. She told me about how the Gleasons, a local family that’s close to hers, lost their son to a rare brain tumor when he was just 1 year old. Not even the world-renowned Hopkins pediatric surgeon Ben Carson was able to save him.

After the little boy’s sad and sudden death, his parents founded Spencer’s Friends Foundation in his name and memory. The foundation raises money for pediatric cancer research and for families whose children suffer from the disease. Tuesday, June 21, was a particularly special day for Abby’s fundraising venture. It was the tenth anniversary of Spencer’s death.

When asked how much money she hopes to raise this summer for the foundation, Abby responded somewhat vaguely. “Maybe a couple hundred,” she said, although her friends helping her say they think they can surpass the $1,000 mark.

It’s clear that, to Abby, the amount of money raised isn’t the primary motivation here.

“It makes you feel really good to know you’re helping,” she said. Asked if she plans to follow up this first foray into fundraising with others, she breaks into a broad smile. “Definitely,” Abby said. 

To support Abby’s fundraising efforts for Spencer's Friends Foundation, stop by the front lawn of Dumbarton Middle School on weekdays through July 8 from noon to 1:30 p.m.