A Union County restaurant is doing its part to help raise money to help childhood cancer patients.
The effort is all thanks to 19-year-old Olivia Morrison, an employee at Salad House in Westfield.
Morrison herself was diagnosed with cancer about a year and a half ago as she was preparing for college.
“A few days before Christmas I got an MRI. It showed a mass on my sacrum and then they told me to go home and enjoy the holiday and on Christmas Day I went in to get a biopsy which showed it to be Ewing's Sarcoma,” she says.
Morris immediately started treatment and postponed going to college. She says that life was difficult.
“It kind of like came crashing down,” she says.
But things started to get better after she finished treatment and started to work at the Salad House.
"I could never have imagined the amount of support I would receive from my bosses and from my coworkers. It was the best decision I made,” Morrison says.
Morrison has now teamed with the Salad House to help raise money for the Valerie Fund, an organization that helps pediatric cancer patients. Morrison herself received treatment through the fund. The restaurant donated 100% of Thursday night’s sales to the Valerie fund.
"We knew she wanted to raise awareness for the Valerie Fund and for her condition, get the word out there. The restaurant could be a vehicle to get the word out there and that's exactly what it is,” says Salad House owner Jerry Eicke.
Morrison and Eicke say that they raised $7,000 Thursday night for the fund.
Morrison, meanwhile is in remission and is planning to attend the University of Maryland in the fall.