#VBGIVESBACK

Penny’s Flight Foundation

03/09/2023

When Kate Doerge lost her 16-year-old daughter Penny in November, no one would have blamed her if she sunk into an emotional abyss and burrowed herself away from the world. But a miraculous, amazing thing happened: a month later, she turned her grief into purpose and started a foundation to combat the disease that took Penny’s life.

Co-founded with her husband and their two sons, Penny’s Flight is dedicated to spreading awareness and advancing much-needed research for neurofibromatosis (NF), which affects how nerve cells form and grow. Despite being one of the most common genetic conditions in the U.S.—more common than cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Huntington’s disease combined—NF is woefully underfunded and currently has no cure.

The Doerges are determined to change that, and we’re proud to join them in the fight. Last Thursday, 10% of sales across our stores worldwide benefitted the nonprofit and, just this week, we hosted an additional shop-for-a-cause event at New York’s UBS Arena, home to the Islanders. Before the game against the Buffalo Sabres, guests were able to customize their VB dickey jackets with exclusive Penny’s Flight and Islanders patches (now available at our Manhasset store). The connection here? Penny was a huge fan of the ice-hockey team and loved going to games with her brothers.

“Our logo is the butterfly, which is so perfect for Penny because it represents an inextinguishable soul always drawn to the light,” says Doerge of the foundation’s pink and blue butterfly patches. “And now we’re taking on her legacy and spreading its wings so her story can continue to inspire others. It’s your wingspan, not your life span, that matters.”

Here, Doerge opens up about Penny, her impact and extraordinary positivity.

Q&A

What inspired you to turn your grief into purpose and launch Penny’s Flight?
It goes back to advice my father once gave me and my husband: how you decide to play the cards you’re dealt in life is up to you. So when we learned that Penny had neurofibromatosis, we had a choice about how she was going to live her life. We chose positivity. When Penny passed, we chose to celebrate her life and continue her legacy.

Tell us about Penny…
Penny radiated sunshine from the minute she was born. She never complained no matter what she was going through—and she had 14 different surgeries. She truly was this little warrior who got through it all with the biggest smile.

The Doerge family, clockwise from left: Frankie, Henry, Chad, Kate and Penny

What’s the mission behind Penny’s Flight?
In addition to expanding knowledge and research around NF, the pillars of Penny’s Flight are really the pillars of Penny’s life: beauty in imperfection, positivity in the face of challenge and faith over fear.
In every step of her life, she chose positivity. She bedazzled her braces. She was the first one to climb up a mountain on a girls’ trip. She and her friends started a summer program for young girls, Glam Camp. No one realized that during all this time, she was doing daily trips into New York City for radiation. Her attitude was "I can and I will."

How will the donations help?
The money we raise will fund grants to help researchers with drug development and clinical care, gene therapy and improvements in patient care. NF affects far too many people. We can help shine a light and find a cure.

Penny shared her joy through her art—you can see more of work at pennysflight.org

What should parents know about NF?
The complexity of NF is that it manifests differently depending on the person, even among siblings. We don’t have any way of predicting who will develop which features or how severe they will be. You could have anything from freckling in the armpits or groin to small benign tumors to tumors on the optic nerve that cause blindness to glioblastoma, the brain tumor that took Penny’s life. There currently is no cure. But that’s why we’re doing this—to spread awareness and raise the critical funds needed for research.

Advice to parents—or anyone, really—dealing with loss?
Going back to my father’s advice, we all have a choice in how we live every day. Are we going to choose the high road or are we going to be depressed? Penny lived more in her 16 years of life than people do in a 100. We recognize that’s a gift, inspiring us to live life in the biggest way. It’s your wingspan, not your life span, that matters.

Greatest lesson you've learned from Penny?
It goes back to living life to the fullest—and to live it with beauty, kindness, bravery, humor and resilience.

“She made broken look beautiful and strong look invincible…” — Ariana Danca

To donate directly to Penny’s Flight and learn more about events in support of the cause, visit pennysflight.org and @pennysflight.

Islanders forever: Penny, far left, with best friends Lily and Alix

#VBGIVESBACK

Q&A

Discover More on VB Edit

Related Posts

Related Posts