The Cure Starts Now: Houston Hearts of Gold Chapter

02/05/2026

💛 Presenting Sponsor Spotlight: Dr. Cynthia Woo & Mayor Andy Chan 💛

We are deeply grateful to honor Dr. Cynthia “Cindy” Woo and Mayor Andy Chan as our Presenting Sponsors—for the second year in a row. Andy isn’t just a leader in our city; he’s my brother, and someone I’ve known my whole life. I can tell you firsthand: he is truly built to serve.

Andy has dedicated his life to Southside, bringing heart and hard work to everything he does as mayor. From his early days in the printing business to his work in real estate today, he’s always been a builder—yes, even handy with a hammer! Most importantly, he loves his family, loves Nicole, and loves this community with his whole heart.

Cindy has been a constant source of strength and compassion alongside him, and together they have been incredible supporters of The Cure Starts Now, honoring the memory of their beloved niece, Nicole Lee. Their commitment means more than words can say.

🙏 Prayer Request: We also ask for prayers for their sweet baby, Peanut—Cindy’s Chihuahua—who was recently mauled by a pitbull mix and has not moved since the attack. Please join us in praying for a fast and full recovery for little Peanut.

Andy and Cindy, we are so grateful for you—your leadership, your generosity, and your hearts. Thank you for standing with us, and for being family in every sense of the word. 💛

02/05/2026

✨ Gold Sponsor Spotlight: Pitsami Norm ✨

We are incredibly grateful to Pitsami Norm with P.S. Affairs for being a Gold Sponsor of our Year of the Horse Lunar New Year 2026 Banquet. Pitsami has truly beautified our past The Cure Starts Now events, bringing elegance and sparkle to everything she touches.

Her giving heart shines in all she does, and it’s no surprise she was recently honored at the Woman of Distinction Ball—a recognition to her outstanding leadership, philanthropy, and community contributions as she plans events for dignitaries across the country.

I’ve had the privilege of knowing Pitsami for almost 9 years, and throughout that time I’ve witnessed her unwavering commitment to her family as she pours her heart into serving the community. This somehow happens all while growing her business. Thank you, Pitsami, for your encouragement in putting on another Lunar New Year event, for generously sharing your talents with event planning, and for the passion you pour into all areas—not just the aesthetics. Come see what surprises Pitsami has for our banquet this year! Register or donate today at csnevents.org/LunarNewYear

01/31/2026

We are proud to announce Rosie Nguyen as this Year of the Horse Lunar New Year Banquet emcee! Thank you Miya Shay for connecting us together. Rosie is the Director of Communications and Projects in Free Expression at Rice University and Race & Culture and former reporter for ABC13 Houston (KTRK) and Emmy award-winner. Fun fact, Rosie was named Miss United Nations USA in 2013 and was born in Year of the Horse. I am a pig and apparently horses and pigs get along great! 🙂 Register today for a celebration of HOPE and culture as we find a cure for our kids of the future: https://csnevents.org/LunarNewYear

07/25/2025

2025 DIPG Symposium in Banff
Every two years, we are honored to gather and hear the latest research and breakthroughs in DIPG/DMG from our dedicated grant recipients. These moments renew our hope and strengthen our commitment as chapter members and part of the Collaborative, working together toward a cure.

Each of us has been personally impacted by this devastating disease—and now, more than ever, the cure feels within reach.

Thank you to everyone who has supported research over the past few years. Your generosity is making a difference.

We’ll be sharing more photos in the coming days.

With love,
Nicole’s mom and dad

07/24/2025

2025 WEDDING DRESS EVENT was a success! We still have some dresses left, but so far we’ve raised $2150 for The Cure Starts Now: Houston Hearts of Gold Chapter! All these lovely brides have beautiful dresses that were donated from a friend of Cristy Smith in memory of Nicole and Corbin to raise funds for DIPG Research! 💛

08/03/2024

Chapter spotlight: Nebraska is already doing so much to honor their son Jimmy who earned his wings in 2022. We can relate to all the boy things that Jimmy enjoyed.

02/18/2024

Oh sweet Brooklyn Medina—you will not be forgotten. Who could forget that curly hair and dimples? Big hugs to the Medina family who is hurting at their loss.

So many hearts are broken today as Heaven gained a beautiful angel this morning. 💔 Brooklyn was a chatty three-year-old who loved to talk about animals. Before she was diagnosed with DIPG, she wanted to begin every day outside, playing. The outdoors was her favorite place to be, much like the sunshine; she lit up every room she entered and loved having conversations about her current favorite topics. 💛

Brooklyn's 9-month fight against DIPG was filled with love, inspiration, and community. We hope some comfort is found knowing that she is running, playing, and sliding down rainbows with all our angels in Heaven. 🌈 Our hearts are with Brooklyn's family, whom we wrap in love and support. We promise to always say her name and cherish her memory.

"One of Brooklyn’s favorite activities was playing with her Playdoh. She especially loved making hearts with one of her Playdoh stencils. She would often hold up the heart and say “it looks like my heart”. Mom and me would always reply “baby, your heart is so much bigger.” She proved that this week. She proved she had the heart of a lion. Brooklyn was on extremely high doses of morphine, lorazepam and haldol in order to keep her comfortable. But she refused to give in. She refused to give up to the monster inside her. She has been such an inspiration to us these last 9+ months. She taught us what it meant to be tough, to be brave, to be strong, all while still being her incredibly sweet self.

To everyone, speak her name every chance you can. The biggest sin would be to pretend this didn’t happen. Yes, saying her name will make us cry. But hearing her name will also be music to our ears. We’ll need to know that our baby hasn’t been forgotten." - The Medina Family

02/18/2024

Sadly, our hearts break as a beautiful girl’s life is cut short by DIPG. Please remember Finley’s family as they navigate the upcoming days, weeks and year.

With heavy hearts, we share the passing of sweet Finley. She gained her angel wings last night after a valiant 3-month battle with DIPG. At just 5 years old, Finley completed her family, adored by her two older siblings. 💛 Her love was as beautiful as her luscious red hair. Throughout her fight, Finley's community rallied around her family, offering strength and support, and helping them create incredible memories together. We wrap our arms around her family as they grieve an immeasurable loss. Finley's spirit will be treasured and deeply missed. We know she was welcomed into Heaven by all our angels who came before her. 🌈

02/17/2024

The numbers are coming in and I can’t wait for the big reveal! Meanwhile, thank you to all who turned out for last weekend’s Lunar New Year — Year of the Dragon Banquet benefiting The Cure Starts Now in memory of Nicole and Lara. I am overwhelmed by the turnout and it was truly a labor of love. There was a lot of hard work behind the scenes to make tonight beautiful and we are so grateful for P.S. Affairs to take the ambiance and run with it! Pitsami Norm painted the town red with their bold red and gold theme celebrating our Asian heritage and elevating the evening.

Thank you to our presenting sponsors Mayor Andy Chan and Dr. Cindy Woo; Gold sponsors Henry and Althea Lee, Ellen Chin and Bing Yao, and P.S. Affairs; and Mission Wealth as our Bronze Sponsor.

Gratitude goes to Miya Shay, Emmy award winning journalist at ABC13 Houston for the superb job emceeing our event. We had the honor of hosting Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher; State Representative Ann Johnson; State Representative Gene Wu; Mayor Pro Tem Melissa Byers; and Sean Teare, candidate for Harris County DA.

Thank you to all the committee members and the Cure Starts Now who helped package moon cakes; built gift baskets; solicited donations; bought bears; sponsored entertainment; printed signage; set up; took pictures, videos, made dragons; ran the event; sponsored and organized tables. The evening was exciting and I am sure Lara and Nicole are holding hands as they look down on us striving for a Homerun cure to cancer starting with DIPG.