It’s only been a few weeks (if that) since I relaunched under the new blog, and I’m already getting a TON of fascinating things to check out or interview someone about!
For instance, have you heard of the Crunch Time Hero of the Week? It’s now in its fourth season during college football. Each year, PorkRinds.com teams up with Rudolph Foods, and when a hero of the week is chosen, they win some fun stuff, including pork rinds LOL, and are featured on the PorkRinds IG page!
What’s new this year is that if a fan, such as yourself, goes and SHARES that post, Rudolph Foods donates $3.00 to the Archer Foundation… JUST FOR SHARING A POST! It costs you and me absolutely nothing, and it helps an incredible organization, too!
What’s even more touching is that Rudolph Foods’ VP of sales and marketing, Mark Singleton, is Archer’s grandpa. ❤
Zach Ferenchak at RMD Advertising sent me the original Crunch Time Hero of the Week information around the beginning of September. Since then, Archer, from the Archer Foundation, was the Crunch Time Hero of the Week 0. Then Oklahoma tight end Rocky Beers was Crunch Time Hero of the Week 1. Then Luke Metz, a University of Alabama linebacker, was the Crunch Time Hero of Week 2.
The current Crunch Time Hero of the Week is Miles Capers, a defensive lineman for Vanderbilt University! His IG post is still shareable until October 8th, so go out and SHARE, my friends! $3.00 can turn into a LOT if people share! ❤
I want to take a good portion of this post to talk about the Archer Foundation itself, because I was able to send some interview questions, via Zach, over to Melissa Hill, the co-founder and chairman of the Archer Foundation. Melissa’s history and loss of her son are more than most can comprehend. Unless you’ve been in the shoes of a parent who has lost a child to cancer, all you can do is offer your support and help if possible.
My Q&A with Melissa Hill of the Archer Foundation
1. For readers who are just being introduced to the Archer Foundation, how did the organization begin, and what is at the heart of its mission today?
The Archer Foundation was founded because of our very special five-year-old boy, Archer Hill, who was diagnosed in kindergarten with a rare and aggressive brain cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, or DIPG.
DIPG is considered a terminal diagnosis, primarily affecting children between the ages of four and eleven. Average survival is less than a year, and there are no curative treatment options. It is a devastating diagnosis that no child or family should ever have to face.
Archer was an incredible kid who loved big and exuded joy. He loved football and baseball, had an enormous heart for others, and a wicked sense of humor that brought a smile to everyone he met. He fought hard to stay in this world he loved, but DIPG is relentless.
Five months after his diagnosis, Archer went to heaven, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts. Even through something so hard and unfair, Archer chose joy. He never once complained or asked, “Why me?” Instead, he remained grateful for what our family called the “good days,” and he never wasted a single one.
That mindset became the heart of our work. The Archer Foundation exists to help children facing DIPG and their families carry the unimaginable, make the most of the time they have together, and ultimately, have more good days.
The organization’s mission statement is to provide support and resources to families facing the challenges of DIPG/DMG pediatric brain cancer. We are dedicated to funding research that can improve treatments and ultimately find a cure for this devastating disease.
2. What led you personally to become involved with the Foundation, and what keeps this work especially meaningful to you?
When our family was faced with a terminal brain cancer diagnosis, we began a journey we never could have imagined. It felt like our whole world stopped, yet somehow, the world around us just kept going. During Archer’s journey with DIPG, we saw so many gaps for families like ours, families given such limited time with their child while still having to figure out how to keep the rest of life going.
Archer lived with so much love and kindness, always looking for ways to help others. Even at six years old, he showed us how meaningful it is to serve others. After losing him, that became our way of turning our grief into purpose and continuing the way Archer lived.
The Archer Foundation was created to carry that part of him forward. We help take some of the weight off families so they can spend less time worrying about bills and everyday responsibilities and more time simply being together. Because when time becomes the one thing you would give anything to have more of, every moment matters.
3. How did the partnership with PorkRinds.com and the Crunch Time Hero® campaign come together?
PorkRinds.com loves celebrating Crunch Time Heroes on the field, but they also wanted a way for fans to extend the impact off the field. The partnership between PorkRinds.com and The Archer Foundation lets us all become Crunch Time Heroes.
Mark Singleton (vice president of sales and marketing at Rudolph Foods) held such a special bond with his grandson Archer. They were the ultimate fishing buddies and always up for an adventure together. After living through Archer’s DIPG diagnosis and seeing the impact that his life had on not only those who knew him, but also people he never met, Mark saw the opportunity to connect the impact of two things he loved deeply… college football and helping kids like Archer.
When we all rally around something as important as the fight against DIPG/DMG, we can all be Crunch Time Heroes. The team raised $25,000 for the cause last year, and we’re hoping to raise even more funds this year.
4. The campaign connects something as simple as sharing a college football post with a donation to the Archer Foundation. What do you hope people understand about the impact those individual actions can have when they add up?
Sharing Archer’s story and raising awareness for kids facing this disease is incredibly impactful. When your child is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, and you’re told there is no treatment, only the hope for more time, it can feel incredibly lonely.
Every share reminds families they are not alone, that their child matters, and that their story deserves to be heard. When a diagnosis leaves families with so little to hold onto, knowing an entire community is standing beside them gives them something powerful: hope.
Since Archer left us for heaven in April of 2024, the Foundation has distributed more than $600,000 directly to more than 200 families in need, through partnerships with 39 children’s hospitals across 37 states and counting!
5. Where does the money raised through this campaign go? Are there particular programs, research efforts, or forms of family support that these donations help fund?
When a child has such a limited amount of time left, getting support to their family quickly and efficiently is critical. The Archer Foundation provides direct financial support with everyday household expenses, medical costs, travel and lodging for treatment or clinical trials, and meaningful experiences that allow families to make memories together. There is no income-based criteria to qualify for help because with this type of diagnosis, no one could ever be prepared for the emotional and financial toll it takes on the entire family.
We also provide peer-to-peer emotional support, connecting DIPG parents with each other with guidance from a dedicated social worker who helps them navigate the challenges that come with a DIPG/DMG diagnosis. Our goal is simple: to take as much off a family’s shoulders as we can, so they can spend less time worrying about everything that still has to be done and more time being present with their child.
We are also committed to funding innovative research that has the potential to change the outcome of this devastating diagnosis. Despite decades of advances in cancer treatment, the standard of care for DIPG remains palliative radiation, the same primary treatment offered to children diagnosed more than 60 years ago. Archer deserved more time. He deserved a cure. And every child diagnosed with this disease deserves to be more than just a statistic. They should all get the chance to grow up.
6. Why did college football feel like the right community for this campaign and for introducing more people to the Foundation’s work?
We love the fact that this campaign celebrates Crunch Time Heroes on the field while also allowing fans to become Crunch Time Heroes themselves.
College football is a uniting force, and we’re so grateful to give fans an outlet to do good just by sharing their love for these players on social media.
7. Pediatric brain cancer can be an overwhelming subject for families who haven’t encountered it personally. What do you wish more parents and families understood about the realities faced by children diagnosed with brain cancer and the people caring for them?
I wish more people understood that a pediatric brain cancer diagnosis doesn’t just affect the child. It changes everything for the entire family. Parents suddenly become caregivers, advocates, researchers, and decision-makers while still trying to simply be Mom or Dad. Siblings are left navigating their own fear and uncertainty.
For families facing a terminal diagnosis, time takes on an entirely different meaning. You are trying to find joy and make memories while carrying the weight of knowing what may be coming. That is anticipatory grief, grieving the future you desperately want while your child is still right in front of you.
No one can truly understand that experience unless they have lived it. These families don’t need the right words; they need people willing to show up, listen, and help carry some of the weight so they don’t have to walk this road alone.
8. Without compromising any family’s privacy, is there a moment or story from the Foundation’s work that has stayed with you and illustrates why this mission matters?
There have been so many, but one that stands out is a single mom raising five children, including her son with DIPG, far from any extended family.
As his disease progressed and he lost the ability to walk and speak, she became his full-time caregiver while trying to support her other children and keep their lives moving forward. With significantly reduced income, she was facing eviction.
The Foundation helped her catch up on bills and gave her some breathing room during a time when it felt impossible to catch her breath. What stayed with me most was that her family had been offered meaningful experiences to make memories together, but she was afraid to accept them. It was impossible to enjoy that time when she was worried they might not have a home to return to or be able to keep the lights on.
That experience reinforced why our support matters. Sometimes helping a family make memories starts with giving them the security to be fully present for them.
We can’t give these parents what they really need, which is for their child to never have to face this terrible disease, but we can choose to walk alongside them, help carry some of the weight, and make sure they never feel like they have to face the unimaginable alone.
9. Beyond sharing the Crunch Time Hero® posts, what are meaningful ways families or individuals can support the Archer Foundation’s work?
Fans can learn more and donate directly on our website!
Fans can also connect with us on Facebook and Instagram @archer_foundation to keep up with the latest with our organization.
10. The campaign runs through December. What would make you look back at the end of it and say, “This worked” — whether that’s a fundraising goal, greater awareness, new supporters, or something else?
If this campaign introduces DIPG to people who had never heard of it before and inspires them to care, share, give, or simply remember these children, then it worked.
Every new person who knows their stories becomes another voice helping make sure they are not forgotten.
Last year the team raised $25,000 for the Archer Foundation, and we’re hoping to raise even more this year.
This year, each share or repost of a Crunch Time Hero® post = a $3 donation supporting these families. Even more impact from a quick share!
11. More broadly, what do you think makes a brand-charity partnership genuinely useful rather than simply promotional?
We love how this campaign gets the fans actively involved. Instead of putting our logo on an ad, we have an interactive campaign that turns viral college football plays into donations for pediatric brain cancer families.
Each share of our weekly Crunch Time Hero® post also equals one vote for that player to be the Crunch Time Hero® of the Year. Our Hero of the Year will represent our campaign at the Super Bowl’s Radio Row media event in February 2027, which is an incredibly exciting platform for us.
12. If an In My Mom Era reader remembers only one thing about the Archer Foundation after reading this interview, what would you want it to be?
I would want them to remember that behind every terminal brain cancer diagnosis is a child who is deeply loved and a family trying to make the most of an impossibly limited amount of time. We may not be able to change the diagnosis, but we can absolutely change how a family is supported through it.
13. Where can fans learn more about PorkRinds.com and Crunch Time Hero® of the Week?
Find your rind and learn more about Crunch Time Hero® of the Week at PorkRinds.com.
Connect with and donate to The Archer Foundation at archer-foundation.org. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @archer_foundation.
Keep up with all of the Crunch Time Hero® action and share the weekly Crunch Time Hero® post @eatporkrinds on Instagram. We’re also @eatporkrinds on all other major social media platforms.
I can’t thank Melissa enough for giving me such detailed answers. The Archer Foundation is the type of Foundation that I WANT to see succeed. Their message is so powerful, and the help they’re giving to families in need is so inspiring! It’s nice to know that there are places and people out there who want to help people without asking for anything in return.
We don’t have enough of that type of KINDNESS in this world.
I’ve already gone out and begun following The Archer Foundation, as well as PorkRinds.com on their respective IG pages, and you should too. AND SHARE THIS POST! $3.00!!!
If there’s nothing else you do today, do that, and thank you.
Kelly
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