Community Rallying Around Sick 4-Year-Old

One month ago, Patch ran into Quaker Hill Elementary School teacher Matt Guarraia across town at Great Neck Elementary School. Guarraia, energetic as always, discussed his plans for the next school year, told old tales from high school, and seemed generally happy and content.

Friday, Patch talked to Guarraia again. This time he was in a seventh-floor room at Yale-New Haven Hospital with his wife, Amie, watching over his daughter, Madeline. The couple has spent the past three weeks “crying every night,” constantly worrying about their daughter and praying she’ll be all right, Matt Guarraia said.

“It is a combination of a numbness and 'this is our life,' ” said Amie Guarraia, who is a kindergarten teacher at Oswegatchie School. “You never take the time to feel bad. It is that parental instinct in you to say, OK, this our life now, how do we fix it?”

Madeline, who is 4, was diagnosed with leukemia three weeks ago. She has a treatable form of the blood cancer, but will have to go through 2 ½ years of treatment, which includes chemotherapy.

“She's doing well; she is like the toughest kid I ever met,” Amie Guarraia said. “We always joked she is so determined and strong-willed. She has the qualities that we need.”

Mad About Madeline

After hearing the news, fellow Oswegatchie teacher Kelley Concascia knew she had to do something. So she called Quaker Hill Elementary School teacher Sara Egan, and a movement was born.

“When something like this happens, you just want to do something,” Concascia said. 

Egan, who was emotional in an interview with Patch, agreed. She and Matt Guarraia were hired at the same time, and they have vacationed with the family, she said.

“We were so caught off-guard by the diagnosis and we had to do something,” Egan said. “They are just such special people, and we knew they would do the same for us.

Concascia and Egan decided to hold a fundraiser, “Mad About Madeline.” At first they thought it would draw a few guests, and maybe some donations. It looks like they are wrong.

“Holy cow, the donations that have been coming in have been unreal,” Egan said.

“The outpouring from the community has been tremendous,” Concascia said. “I think it is just an indicator of what special people (the Guarraias) are.”

The women put the event on Facebook. As of Sunday, 431 people have agreed to go to the June 29 fundraiser at Oswegatchie School.

The event has received donations from a variety of groups, from the police to the Oswegatchie Fire Company to the Cactus Jack Foundation, Concascia said. The event will feature silent auctions, a moonwalk, inflatable obstacle course, fire truck rides and a water slide.

People can park at Oswegatchie Elementary School for the event, and overflow parking is available at Oswegatchie Fire Company, with shuttle service. The event, which runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., is free, but donations are strongly encouraged, with all money going to benefit the Guarraia family.

What “Mad About Madeline” Means To The Guarraias

“It is just incredible,” Amie Guarraia said. “At a time you want to be made it mad at the world, they make it impossible.”

Every night, after their daughter goes to bed and the treatments are over, the couple checks the Facebook page to see what new messages people have written. Every night, it brings them both to tears, Amie Guarraia said.

“We are so touched we don’t know what to say,” she said. “Emotionally, it is exactly what we need.”