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Community Corner

Palatine Girl with Brain Cancer Inspires Local Pizzeria Owner

Pizza Bella in Palatine to host Celebration Toy Drive on Saturday, June 16.

About two years ago, Tony De Filippis, owner of in Palatine, was in his office when one of his employees told him that there was a little girl at the counter who he just had to meet.

That little girl was Rosie Colucci, and she was asking for donations for what De Filippis would soon realize was just one of her many fundraising projects.

Rosie, who will be eight in August, was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, or NF1, when she was three years old. This genetic disorder causes tumors to grow on nerve tissues. Rosie was also diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and she now has multiple tumors in her brain as well as several other chronic conditions. Since Rosie was three, she has had 142 doses of chemotherapy.

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“When people meet Rosie, they’d never think anything was wrong with her,” said De Filippis. “She is so positive. She brings life into you.”

After De Filippis met Rosie, the two became fast friends. “We joke around a lot,” said De Filippis. “We talk in our own quirky language, and she gives me ideas to improve my business.”

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Rosie, her sister, Bella, and her mom, JoAnne now visit De Filippis at Pizza Bella at least once a week. “He [De Filippis] has always been supportive,” said JoAnne Colucci.

Since meeting Rosie, De Filippis has helped out by providing pizza for Rosie’s birthday party, participating in toy drives and holding “Cupcakes for Kids” specials in which $1 of each cupcake sale went to Children’s Memorial Hospital.

Aside from organizing toy drives, Rosie has also collected unused medical supplies for mission trips, supported blood drives and even spoken to students at Palatine and Fremd High Schools.

“I think we’re put in contact with certain people for a reason,” said De Filippis. “Rosie came into my life to help me learn to relax and not take life for granted."

“They’ve been an inspiration for each other,” said Colucci of her daughter and De Filippis. “When Rosie’s sick, she knows people like Tony are there for her and care about her.”

On Saturday, June 16, Pizza Bella will host a Celebration Toy Drive for Rosie’s Toy Box, a charity that collect toys, books and games to donate to the new Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, formerly Children's Memorial Hospital.

Patrons of Pizza Bella can bring in new, unused toys, meet Rosie and indulge in a bake sale featuring desserts from Bella Sweets, a division of Pizza Bella.

Rosie just graduated second grade and made it an entire school year without needing chemotherapy. “We’re in a really good place,” said Colucci. "You never know what the next MRI is going to show, so when it's good, we take it and we run with it."

“Rosie just wants people to have hope and have love in their lives," said Colucci. "She gets it. She gets that life is short, and you have to live in the moment.”

Pizza Bella is located at 100 W. Northwest Highway in Palatine. For more information about Rosie, visit http://www.researchforrosie.com.

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