"Life is short, serve selflessly. To serve, all you need is a generous heart. By helping one person, you can't change the world, but you can surely their world."

At the DQ Strong Foundation, we are working towards launching a petition to enact a bill in Illinois which requires hospitals and birth centers to provide sickle cell disease education and annual testing for each newborn baby considered elevated risk for Renal Medullary Carcinoma.

“’Mom, I hope no one has to go through this. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.’ These are words that my son spoke to me during his battle with cancer. I’m Consuelo Johnson, the mother of DayQwon Jones, a passionate advocate for rare cancer research.”

DayQwon Jones was an accomplished athlete that participated in football, basketball, and track for Rock Island High School from 2011-2014. On December 14, 2022, DayQwon was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Renal Medullary Carcinoma that stems from individuals that carry the sickle cell trait. Sickle cell trait is an inherited blood disorder that affects 1-3 million Americans with 8 to 10 percent of them being African Americans.