To fundraise for 2-year-old boy with leukemia, Audubon pizza shop creates special pizza boxes

AUDUBON, N.J. - A local Audubon pizza shop is hoping to make a difference for one family by organizing a fundraiser for a little boy diagnosed with leukemia, creating unique pizza boxes.

"It was just him and I at the emergency room that day," Callen’s mom, Tori Sarlo explained. "Ryan was at work. I hugged him as hard as I could and I just broke down."

The family got the diagnosis a month ago. Little Callen McDonald had been sick, fighting through COVID and another bug. But, when doctors told his mom, Tori, that Callen had leukemia, time stood still.

"I actually asked the doctors over and over again, ‘Am I going to lose my little boy?’ And they said no, but they couldn’t promise me that. They couldn’t assure me that," Tori said.

Tori quit her job as a sign language interpreter, knowing her son’s condition would demand her undivided attention. The family celebrated Callen’s last birthday at CHOP and are finally home for the first time in a month. Tori’s sister started a GoFundMe, which is where Ali Doukali took notice – his Genova’s Pizza, in Audubon, has been trying out custom boxes.

"So, for Fourth of July, we’re presidents. For St. Patty’s Day, we’re leprechauns. Easter, we’re bunnies," Doukali remarked. "And, then, you know, I saw Callen’s story on a Facebook community page and immediately, when I read it, I wanted to help. I wanted to see what we could do."

What they did was put Callen’s alter-ego, "SuperCal" on a pizza box. And, then crowned him Genova’s first quarterly town hero. The fundraiser kicks off in a little more than a week, on April 3rd.

"Basically, April 3rd is when we’re gonna launch the grandma pizza, the classic grandma pizza or the drunk grandma pizza. Either of those pizzas will get the Callen box and a portion of those proceeds will go to the family," Doukali explained.

SuperCal on the pizza box rings hard with Callen’s dad, Ryan, who’s been trying to work and be strong for the family. The reality, for Ryan, is Callen lifts his spirits up more than otherwise.

"He gives me a lot of strength just to get through it. And, seeing him be a normal two-year-old boy, despite everything he’s going through, it fills me with all the hope that I could ever have," dad Ryan stated.

Cal’s got hard work ahead, including a bone marrow transplant. But, the hope that his parents get out of his being a hero on a box from a pizza shop they never knew? That lets them know they’re not alone, that people see them and care about them.