A Morris County girl became an overnight sensation after she was introduced by President Donald Trump at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.
The president highlighted 10-year-old Grace Eline’s battle against cancer and her fight to help others.
“I didn’t think that a lot of people would be watching it, but I’ve had so many people recognize me and say that they saw me on the State of the Union."
President Trump invited Eline and asked for funding to help cure childhood cancer. He highlighted the thousands of dollars that Eline raised in less than a year.
“She rallied the community and raised more than $40,000 to fight against cancer,” Trump said in his address.
Eline raised that money for the Valerie Fund, a nonprofit that provides psychosocial care for children with cancer staying in the hospital.
Eline was diagnosed with brain cancer in May 2018. She says that the Valerie Fund helped her greatly.
“They took my mind away from what was going on at the moment, so when I was sad they helped me by making me happy,” she says.
The 10-year-old has actually been raising money for children with cancer since she was 4 years old. She says that she did not know that one day she would need that care or get to meet the president of the United States,
“That was pretty cool,” she says.
Her grandfather Dan Reichard says that he watched the address beaming with pride.
“Sitting on our couch watching it with my wife Liz was surreal he says. “I can’t believe we’re watching what we’re watching.”
Eline’s family is currently working to raise more money for the Valerie Fund with a home show in Plainfield. Twenty designers are decorating different rooms in the home dubbed “
Grace’s House.” Visitors will be able to stop by the house in April to tour it.