Our History

Retinoblastoma of Arizona (RBAZ) started back in February 2001, when 4 RB mothers met on an RB Listserve and discovered they all lived in Arizona and decided to meet. It all began in March 2001 when they met at a park and then went to lunch at a McDonald's play area. The mothers had such a wonderful time that we decided to meet again. The transformation of our RB affected children in confidence and so much more after just one time of meeting other children with prosthetic eyes was amazing. We continued to meet every month for that first year. We started to grow and life took over so we started meeting about every other month and have been ever since. In 2003 we were urged by many in the local communities to become non-profit and so we did. The husbands came to the second meeting and they continue to come to the RBAZ functions. RBAZ includes the whole family to help the child affected by the Retinoblastoma, and the parents gain so much from meeting with other RB parents, but the siblings have their own issues to deal with as well. RBAZ gatherings help to give a sense of normalcy to families affected by this cancer. RBAZ feels that every child diagnosed with this horrible cancer deserves to benefit all that our children did just from meeting at least one time with other children with a "new eye(s)" as they have. It's truly amazing to watch the newer families start to reach out to those just newly diagnosed, helping others is such healing. When a parent is told their child has cancer, their whole world falls apart. Our group comes from all walks of life and RBAZ isn't just an organization, it's honestly our RBAZ family that all of us feel so blessed to have in our lives