Meet Alayna, 2025 Scholar

Thanks to a generous survivorship program grant from Hyundai Hope On Wheels, twenty-two survivors were welcomed into the 2025 Children’s Cancer Cause College Scholars Program, representing both organizations’ strong investment in survivors and belief in their bright futures.

Each of these students receive a financial scholarship to help with academic expenses, and each Scholar commits to undertaking a volunteer project of their choosing related to childhood cancer advocacy.

“In all that I do, I strive for more time—more time to make a difference, to give back, and to spread love and light. I refuse to let my challenges define me. Instead, I embrace them as opportunities to grow and continue my mission of helping others through advocacy, education, and my work in healthcare.”

Alayna’s Story

Alayna was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma at 17, just before her senior year of high school.

“I became a pioneer patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where I was the first pediatric patient to use a cold cap during chemotherapy to preserve my hair—something I advocated for because it allowed me to maintain my identity through treatment,” she told us. “Despite feeling physically unwell, keeping my hair helped me continue to feel like myself. I quickly realized that many adolescent cancer patients wanted this option.”

This experience inspired her to establish The Alayna Jayne Foundation (AJF), which advocates for cancer patients wishing to use cold caps and covers their funding.

She was declared cancer-free in February of her senior year and graduated high school on time, with honors. She enrolled in nursing school, but her studies were interrupted by a relapse.

“Despite this setback, I remained committed to my education, continuing part-time studies while undergoing a bone marrow transplant and radiation. My determination to become a healthcare professional remains unwavering,” she says.

Today, she’s working toward finishing her nursing studies at Monmouth University, where she is also involved with Colleges Against Cancer and continues to managing her foundation.

Alayna’s Advocacy Project

“I know firsthand how physically and emotionally isolating long hospital stays can be. During my bone marrow transplant, I was confined to a single hospital room for over a month,” Alayna says.

“What made an incredible difference for my mental health was transforming that space into a comforting, personalized environment. My room became a sanctuary—filled with string lights, posters, cozy bedding, and meaningful photos. It was a small but powerful way to reclaim a sense of control, normalcy, and peace during an overwhelming time.”

For her advocacy project, Alayna is focusing on her foundation’s Healing Spaces Project, an initiative to provide bone marrow transplant isolation rooms with ‘makeovers.’

She hopes to partner with a hospital that will accept personalized care packages to help adolescent and young adult patients transform their rooms into healing environments.
 
”The goal is to make these patients feel seen, supported, and more at home during one of the most difficult chapters of their journey,” she says.