Laser at work: Jumbie Industries

There are many ways to be led into business, and for Jay and Melanie Selway it was witnessing a friend’s young son battle with cancer. What started out as an online fundraising effort resulted in a move into a business, Jumbie Industries, with the goal of ongoing fundraising for children with cancer and their families.

Three years ago, Jay was a creative director with an advertising and marketing firm. Melanie, who had worked for years for an international nonprofit agency, was busy at home with their two young children. A good friend of Melanie’s, who was recently widowed and raising four kids, learned her son Joe had a rare form of brain cancer. Along with the suffering related to his illness was the financial burden. Melanie and Jay decided to do a fundraiser to help with that.

“We knew that we could raise at least several thousand dollars. I remember saying, though, ‘We’re going to raise $100,000 for Joe.’ We started an online campaign that ended up going viral. Amazingly, with the help of many other people, that goal was reached. Joe passed a year ago December, but knowing him changed Melanie and me forever. He was a remarkable kid, and he taught us all a lot.”