Before platforms like Zoom and Skype existed, entrepreneur and business owner Len Forkas was determined to find a way for his then 9-year-old son to connect with his third-grade classmates. Forkas’ son, Matt, wasn’t able to go to school due to his diagnosis of leukemia, and Forkas watched as Matt became more depressed and isolated by not seeing his friends.
So Forkas, who’s professional business was building cell towers, worked with Matt’s school to install a webcam in Matt’s classroom so that Matt could still “attend” school and socialize with his classmates. The impact for Matt was tremendous and made Forkas realize that there are many more children with cancer around the globe who could be experiencing the same isolation. And just like that, Hopecam was born.
As reported in North Virginia Magazine, since it’s initiation in 2003, and with significant support through a partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2013, Hopecam has connected almost 6,000 children across the US in 160 hospitals to their classrooms, and his mission is just getting started.
Forkas is now on an upward climb, literally, to change the lives of 500 more children fighting cancer and missing their friends and schools, by attempting to summit Mt. Everest. He has received $1 million from investors and supporters for this mission and is currently in trek and hoping to reach the summit by mid to late May.
And he has not forgotten, even for one day, who he is doing this for. Every day on his journey, Forkas writes a blog entry about a different child struggling with cancer as part of his efforts to raise awareness and to keep their lives and stories with him as he goes. If he is successful at reaching the highest points on earth, Forkas will be one of a very small population of people to ever do so, and knows it is because of the hope he is bringing with him.
To follow Len’s journey and learn more about Hopecam, please visit here.
Editor’s Note: Get Involved
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Childhood Cancer Hopecam pediatric cancer
Last modified: April 22, 2025
