Thomas Pacheco is a bright and creative seven-year-old who was diagnosed on March 7, 2002 with a rare cancer. Thomas will lose his right eye and eye socket to this cancer, and will subsequently undergo at least six months of chemotherapy. This horrible course of treatment is Thomas' best hope, but he is fighting a rare and tenacious cancer with long-term survival rates of less than thirty percent. The struggle of Thomas’ family is on all fronts, from soaring medical bills that their health insurance does not cover, to caring for Thomas through his painful ordeal, to keeping their own financial and emotional stability.

The thomaspacheco.org site was conceived with the idea of helping Thomas and his family raise money for their medical and related costs. The idea was simple: sell Thomas's artwork to raise money. At first it even seemed a bit crazy, but the idea grew on Thomas and his family, and they decided that they had nothing to lose.

That initial idea has now expanded into a larger vision, and if they can raise sufficient funds, the Pacheco family wants to form a full-fledged organization that would use web technology to generate support for children around the world suffering from such tragic diseases. Thomas’ father, Ron, already has registered a domain to be used for that purpose: artforhope.org. But first he has to save his son.

Anyone reading this, please check out their site and pass this on to others who might want to learn about Thomas and his family.