A high-school-led nonprofit
Rarity should never mean being overlooked.
We are the Aware Together Foundation — a nonprofit led by high school students. We build student teams that grow leadership, organization, and coordination skills, and we work together toward three shared goals. Our first focus is desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT), a rare, aggressive cancer most people have never heard of.
Led by students. Built as teams, with scientists, families, and researchers. Join a team →
Hope through discovery
Research resources for DSRCT are limited. We bring hope through discovery — supporting the scientists doing the work, and the students who will carry it forward.
Led by high school students
Founded by high school student Leon Zheng after a research internship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Built as multiple teams
Students lead, organize, and coordinate across events, outreach, media, and school communities — learning by doing real work together.
Focused first on DSRCT
A rare, aggressive cancer that most often affects adolescent and young adult males — and needs more research and greater public awareness.
Who we are
Students learning to lead — together.
The Aware Together Foundation is a nonprofit led by high school students. Before any single cause, we are a place where young people learn to take responsibility for real work: planning a project, running an event, coordinating with partners, and following through as a team.
That is why we are organized as multiple teams, not one small group. Each team has its own job, its own student leads, and its own deadlines — and all of them work toward the same three goals below. A new school or community can start a team without starting over: the Foundation coordinates the shared mission, so local efforts add up.
In short: we build student leaders, and student leaders build the work.
Leadership
Students set goals, lead teams, speak in public, and make decisions they are accountable for.
Organization
Students plan fundraisers and awareness activities step by step — budgets, timelines, roles, and follow-up.
Coordination
Teams coordinate with each other, with schools and communities, and with the scientists and families the work is meant to support.
Our teams
Fundraising & Events Team
Raise
Runs booths and community fundraisers — from practical goods and nostalgic toys to fresh cotton candy — and directs proceeds to research and scholarships.
Awareness & Outreach Team
Teach
Brings talks and materials to schools and communities so more young people understand rare diseases and know how to help.
Media & Design Team
Create
Makes the cause visible: social media, banners, flyers, and graphics that carry one clear message — rarity should never mean being overlooked.
School & Community Teams
Connect
Student teams in different schools and neighborhoods, including our Brooklyn team, each organizing locally under one shared mission.
One foundation, shared goals
Different teams, different strengths — one direction. Together, the teams carry out the Foundation’s three core goals, introduced next.
What we do
Three core goals, carried out by our teams together.
These are the goals every team works toward together: fund student research scholarships, fund laboratory research directly, and raise public awareness of rare diseases — laying the groundwork for the next generation of medical researchers.
Goal 01
Open the lab door for students
We raise funds for scholarships that help high school students gain hands-on experience in DSRCT research — real time in real labs, learning how science actually happens.
From our mission: student research scholarships
Goal 02
Fund DSRCT research directly
We raise funds to support DSRCT research itself — supporting scientists and institutions working to improve understanding and develop more effective treatments.
From our banner: Fund DSRCT Research · Support Lab Research
Goal 03
Raise awareness, connect people
We help more people understand DSRCT and other rare cancers — and bring together patients, families, and researchers to build hope, especially among young people.
From our banner: Raise Awareness · Connect Communities
Our first focus · Taking DSRCT as the example
Why DSRCT — a name more people should know.
We put our three goals to work first on one disease: desmoplastic small round cell tumor — DSRCT for short — a rare, highly aggressive cancer. It most often affects adolescents and young adults, yet because cases are so few, laboratory research is chronically underfunded, treatment options are limited, and patients and families can feel unseen.
So for DSRCT, our teams raise funds for laboratory research, build a dedicated student research scholarship so high school students can gain hands-on lab experience, and call on the wider community to pay attention to rare-disease research and care — laying the foundation for the next generation of medical research talent.
That is exactly why awareness matters. When more people understand DSRCT and other rare cancers, more support follows: for the scientists studying it, for the institutions treating it, and for the young people whose lives it touches — whether they are affected themselves or know someone who is.
Our message is simple, and it is the one on our banner: rarity should never mean being overlooked.
“We bring hope through discovery.”
— Aware Together Foundation banner
Common questions
What is DSRCT, in plain words?
DSRCT stands for desmoplastic small round cell tumor. It is a rare and aggressive form of cancer. “Rare” does not mean unimportant — it means fewer researchers, fewer resources, and far less public awareness than more common cancers receive.
Who does it most often affect?
DSRCT most often affects adolescent and young adult males. That is one reason we focus especially on young people: they may be affected themselves, or they may know someone who is.
Why does a rare cancer need its own foundation?
Because rare diseases compete for limited attention and funding. Dedicated fundraising helps support DSRCT research directly, helps scientists and institutions improve understanding and develop more effective treatments, and builds a community around patients and families.
Is this medical advice?
No. This site is for education and awareness only. If you have health concerns, please talk with a qualified medical professional or a cancer center directly.
Why we started
It started in a lab.
“I saw how much time, patience, and persistence research takes — especially if experiments fail or do not meet expectations.”
Leon Zheng, founder of the Aware Together Foundation, spent a summer interning at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, taking part in lab research firsthand.
That experience showed him how important it is to support scientists — and how powerful it is to give young people a chance to take part in the work themselves. Today, student leaders across schools and neighborhoods carry that lesson forward.
Fundraising booth
Stop by, learn more, give if you can.
Our fundraising booth is where the community meets the cause. Pick something up, ask us about DSRCT, and know that proceeds support student research scholarships and DSRCT research — opening up opportunities and support.
☂️
Practical umbrellas
Useful every day — and every purchase supports the lab.
🥤
Insulated tumblers
For school, work, and long days of volunteering.
🧸
Nostalgic toys
Fun, familiar favorites that make people stop and talk.
🍭
Fresh cotton candy
Made fresh at the booth — come for the treat, stay for the story.
Our foundation banner — the message we bring to every event.
From the field
Moments from the Autumn Arts Festival.
Get involved
There is a way for you to contribute.
Whether you are interested in social media, design, or volunteering at events, there is a place for you. Pick a role to see what it involves — then send us a note to join a team.
Event volunteering
Help run the fundraising booth — make cotton candy, share the DSRCT story with visitors, and help every dollar raised go toward scholarships and research.
For students, especially
Our scholarship goal exists for you: hands-on DSRCT research experience for high school students. Volunteering with us is a good first step toward understanding the work — and the community behind it.
Join a team
Tell us how you’d like to help and a student lead will get back to you by email.
Together, we can support the next generation of researchers.
Please stop by our booth, learn more, and donate if you can. Together, we can bring more attention to rare diseases like DSRCT — and open doors for the students who will study them.
Donate now · Support lab research
Every gift opens a lab door.
Your gift supports student research scholarships and DSRCT laboratory research. Thank you for helping make sure rarity never means being overlooked.
Donate nowAware Together Foundation Inc is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law.