The work of Maple Tree Cancer Alliance^® is deeply rooted in the personal experience of its Founder and Director, Dr. Karen Wonders. Her passion to study the effects of proper nutrition and exercise in the battle against cancer was inspired by the memory of her grandfather, Robert Kellermann, whose lifelong love of personal fitness only seemed to grow after he was diagnosed with the disease while in his early eighties. The positive impact of exercise on Mr. Kellermann’s health and quality of life had a lasting impression on Dr. Wonders who sought to honor his memory by making cancer research her life’s work.

The legacy of Mr. Kellermann’s energy and enthusiasm for life is even woven into the organization’s name which gets its inspiration from the three towering maple trees that sit at the base of a large hill that was once his front yard. The seeds of this dear and vivid memory have grown to become the Maple Tree Cancer Alliance, in the hopes that they would provide shelter, hope and healing for a new generation, and many more to come.