08/21/2026
The Lindsey Ann Varney Foundation
The Lindsey Ann Varney Foundation was created in honor and memory of our beautiful daughter, Lindsey, who bravely fought DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma) for almost 32 months.
Understanding DIPG
Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, commonly called DIPG and now classified within Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG), is a rare, highly aggressive, and fast-growing brain cancer that primarily affects children.
The tumor develops in the pons, an area of the brainstem responsible for many of the body’s most vital functions. Because of its location and the way the tumor grows intertwined with healthy brain tissue, it cannot simply be surgically removed.
As DIPG progresses, children can experience problems with eye movement, double vision, weakness in the arms or legs, loss of balance, difficulty walking, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, facial weakness, headaches, vomiting, and many other devastating neurological symptoms.
Radiation therapy remains a standard treatment used to temporarily shrink the tumor and relieve symptoms, but tragically, there is currently no known cure for DIPG. The typical survival following diagnosis is approximately 9–12 months, although every child’s journey is different.
Lindsey fought for almost 32 months.
For almost 32 months, we watched our daughter face a disease that slowly took away abilities most of us never think twice about.
But DIPG could never take anything from Lindsey.
It couldn’t take her love for others.
It couldn’t take her compassion.
It couldn’t take her determination.
And most importantly, it could never take her faith in God.
Our Children Deserve More
One of the most heart-wrenching realities surrounding childhood cancer is the lack of research funding compared with the enormous need.
Childhood cancer receives only a small portion of federal cancer research funding, and rare cancers such as DIPG receive an even smaller share. Advocates have estimated that when you compare available DIPG research dollars to the number of children affected, the amount can work out to only hundreds of dollars per child.
When you have watched your own child fight this disease, it is difficult to put into words how heartbreaking that is.
These are our children.
They deserve more.
They deserve research.
They deserve better treatments.
They deserve options.
They deserve the chance to grow up.
And they deserve hope for a cure.
Throughout Lindsey’s fight, we witnessed something extraordinary—her unwavering faith, courage, and compassion for others.
Even while facing a disease that was taking so much from her, Lindsey rarely made her journey about herself.
She said that she would go through life living with DIPG if it meant that someday no other child would have to endure what she was enduring and no other parent would have to watch their child slowly die from this disease.
That was the heart of our daughter.
Her concern wasn’t for herself. Her heart was for the children who would come after her and the parents she hoped would never have to experience the heartbreak we were experiencing.
Throughout her almost 32-month battle, Lindsey touched the lives of thousands of people all over the world.
People followed her journey. They prayed for her. They were inspired by her strength. Many people who never had the opportunity to meet Lindsey personally came to love her simply by watching the way she lived.
But Lindsey never wanted the attention to be about her.
She wanted her life to point people toward Jesus.
More than anything, Lindsey wanted everyone to come to know the Lord the way she did. Her relationship with Jesus wasn’t something she talked about—it was something she lived, even during the most difficult days of her life.
Before Lindsey passed away, she made one wish very clear.
She wanted an altar call at her funeral.
Think about that.
While facing the end of her own life, our daughter was still thinking about the souls of other people and where they would spend eternity.
And on the night of Lindsey’s funeral, 10 precious souls accepted Jesus into their hearts.
She touched thousands of lives while she was here, and even after she had taken her last breath, her life was still pointing people toward Jesus.
Lindsey knew where she was going, and she wanted everyone else to know how to get there too.
Her greatest legacy isn’t simply that she bravely fought DIPG for almost 32 months.
It is how she lived those 32 months—with courage, compassion, purpose, love for others, and an extraordinary faith in God.
Carrying Lindsey’s Legacy Forward
Today, we carry Lindsey’s heart, faith, and love for others forward through the Lindsey Ann Varney Foundation.
Our Foundation provides financial assistance to families throughout the United States whose child has been diagnosed with DIPG.
We also provide financial assistance to families in Southern West Virginia and Southeast Virginia who have a child, up to the age of 21, diagnosed with any serious medical condition.
Our mission extends beyond direct financial assistance to families.
We proudly support the Ronald McDonald House serving St. Jude families in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as the Ronald McDonald House in Charleston, West Virginia, helping support families who have had to leave the comforts of home while their children receive critical medical care.
Each year, we also award a scholarship to a Princeton Senior High School student, allowing Lindsey’s legacy to continue by investing in the future of a young person from our own community.
Every family we help, every child we support, and every act of kindness performed in Lindsey’s name allows a piece of her heart to continue doing what she did while she was here—caring for others.
Because of You
But there is something we never want our supporters to forget:
We could not do any of this without you.
Because of your support of the Lindsey Ann Varney Foundation, we can continue this mission.
Every donation.
Every sponsorship.
Every fundraiser you attend.
Every purchase you make.
Every hour you volunteer.
Every post you share.
Every prayer you pray.
It matters.
Your support allows us to reach another family during some of the darkest and most frightening days of their lives and remind them:
You are not alone.
It allows us to provide financial assistance when a family’s entire world has been turned upside down.
It allows us to support Ronald McDonald Houses that become a home away from home for families with critically ill children.
It allows us to invest in the future of a student from our community.
And it allows us to continue sharing the story, faith, and legacy of a young woman who believed with all her heart that her life had a purpose greater than herself.
We cannot change what happened to our daughter.
We cannot bring Lindsey back.
But together, we can make certain that her life continues to make a difference.
What began from the unimaginable loss of our daughter has become a mission of help, hope, faith and love.
Through every family helped, every child supported, every scholarship awarded, every life touched and every person who hears Lindsey’s testimony, her legacy continues.
Lindsey touched thousands of lives all over the world while she was here, and through the Lindsey Ann Varney Foundation, she is still touching lives today.
Her fight may have ended, but her purpose did not.
And because of you, we are able to continue living out the mission she left behind.
From our family and everyone at the Lindsey Ann Varney Foundation, thank you for believing in our mission, supporting the work we do and helping us continue to honor the beautiful life, incredible faith and compassionate heart of our Lindsey.
Help for today. Hope for tomorrow. Faith for a lifetime.
