He was on his own cancer journey when Ridley High graduate Nick Colleluori planted the seeds for an organization that would eventually help 37,000 patients and their families fight their own cancer battles.
Nick was 19, a sophomore at Hofstra University in New York, when he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
An outstanding athlete, he had been captain of the football and men’s lacrosse teams at Ridley and a Pennsylvania lacrosse champion.
He was playing Division I lacrosse at Hofstra on a scholarship when the terrible news came 20 years ago.
During treatment, he became keenly aware of the lack of available resources to help patients and their families.
It inspired him to start the HEADstrong Foundation, dedicated to providing cancer patients and their families a warm, welcoming place to stay, as well as financial, emotional, and physical support during the stress of treatment.
Nick lost his life to cancer on Nov. 8, 2006, but not before he was able to turn the reins of the HEADstrong Foundation over to his mother, who still heads the nonprofit today as president.
“He placed the HEADstrong Foundation in my hands, and he made me promise that it would continue and that others who followed in his footsteps would benefit from his life, and I thought, ‘wow, you know, how selfless can one be?’” said his mom, Cheryl Colleluori. “And I promised him that I would, and I never realized where we would be 20 years later.”
The organization started with a $67 purchase of shoelaces. Today, it has raised $38 million and assisted 37,000 patients through the years.
It has operated Nick’s House in Swarthmore since 2011, where out-of-area patients and families can stay for free during treatment. A second Nick’s House is in Boston.
In total, HEADstrong provides 5,500 free night stays annually.
Headquartered in Woodlyn, HEADstrong also works with families of cancer patients from Delaware County and elsewhere in the region to provide financial assistance and other support as needed.
Its biggest fundraiser, the 15th Annual “A Night for the HEADstrong Foundation,” takes place Thursday evening, Sept. 18, beginning at 6, at the Switch House by Cescaphe off Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia.
The event features cocktails, dinner, dancing, as well as a silent and live auctions.
The fundraiser is also a time to remember those who were lost, but also to celebrate survivorship and to recognize those who are making a difference.
This year, the hematology/oncology team at Penn is being recognized along with Sam Adolph, a HEADstrong board member.
HEADstrong’s long-term strategic plan is to continue aligning with nationally recognized cancer institutions and offer patients the opportunity to go there for treatment.
A Nick’s House destination is in the works near Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, because of the hospital’s strong programs in brain and blood cancer.
There’s a large population of families that have to travel there, Colleluori said.
Find out more about the HEADstrong Foundation.
Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on DELCO Today in September 2025.
