The Dragonfly Foundation

2024 Non-Profit of the Year Finalist

MADE Chamber & Community Involvement:

In 2010, The Dragonfly Foundation was founded by Deerfield Township resident, Christine Neitzke. From the onset, the Mason Deerfield communities wrapped their arms around Dragonfly's grassroots efforts to support children and families experiencing pediatric cancer. From our first volunteers and board members, to key businesses such as Peoples First Bank, Mims Off Main, Pitrelli's/Luigi's, and Mason City Schools, this community was the first to step up and lend support. Because of these relationships and the new ones built along the way The Dragonfly Foundation would not be who we are today without this community. This is also why Dragonfly is committed to being apart of and investing in this community.

Fun Facts About You/Your Business:

The Dragonfly Foundation was created from experience but grew from understanding.
Since 2010, Dragonfly has supported more than 7,800 pediatric cancer patients, their siblings, and caregivers by providing opportunities of strength, courage, and joy. In addition to multiple programs, Dragonfly also has a home less than a mile from close partner Cincinnati Childen's Hospital and Medical Center that provides a reprieve from hospital room walls for Dragonfly families. This home is referred to as The Landing - because every Dragonfly needs a place to land.

A Bit About The Dragonfly Foundation

The Dragonfly Foundation was founded in 2010 by Christine Neitzke when her ten-year-old son Matt was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Fortunately, Christine, Jim, Matt, and Sam, who was 12 at the time, had the support of family, friends, and the community. Many other inpatients/families were not as fortunate Stunned at the lack of support many of their peer families fighting cancer had, Christine was moved to create Dragonfly with the intention of providing anything a pediatric cancer family needs and placing the family’s well-being at the center of all that it does.

Today, Matt is cancer-free, and Dragonfly has grown to help over 7,800 patients and families.

Learn A Bit More

Why is being part of the Mason Deerfield Chamber important to you/your organization?

Like the pink diamond, businesses and organizations have many facets. Which facet is your strength and why?

If your company culture, or personal persona, had to be summed up in five words or less, reflective of a
gemstone, what would they be?

The Mason Deerfield Chamber has been instumental in not only exposing our services to the region but also supporting Dragonfly families all around. From local businesses providing a well-deserved break from the hospital with a meal out or tickets to a sporting event, the Mason Deerfield community leads with their heart and compassion.

Strength, courage, and joy are not just a tagline to Dragonfly. They are our purpose. Our mission. You often will hear us say, "our Dragonflies deserve the world", and we strive everyday to provide the world to them. Whether it's a few moments or an afternoon away to forget their diagnosis, what treatments they are experiencing, how this new reality has interrupted their family and lives; each Dragonfly leaves with a little more strength, courage, and joy.