It’s near impossible to find hope and inspiration from childhood cancer, but 9-year-old Sophia Benintende managed to figure out a way to do it before passing away from Ewing’s Sarcoma in May 2023. Sophia was diagnosed with the rare cancer at age 7, going back-and-forth from hospitals across the state before entering remission over a year later. While in remission, Sophia was a tenacious advocate and fundraiser for childhood cancer patients and families. In 2022, her inaugural Lemonade Stand fundraiser raised $7,000 for the Shine Gold for Childhood Cancer Campaign and she successfully petitioned Mayor Byron Brown to declare September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in Buffalo. Before her cancer returned, Sophia founded Sophia the Fierce, Inc., a nonprofit born out of her desire to help children and families affected by childhood cancer like her and her family. The nonprofit is guided by 3 pillars: Respite, Research, and Relief. Today, Sophia’s mom, Kristina, keeps the charity and Sophia's memory alive, bringing some hope and inspiration to a fate that seems to have none. Sophia’s vibrance, advocacy and passion while she lived, and the legacy she left with her family makers her a Real Hero.