Last February, Richie Metzler, then 5 years old, of New Providence was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor. A few days later, his mother, Desiree, created a Facebook group to make it easier for her to answer questions from concerned friends and family members, as well as to provide updates on Richie's treatment. "Prayers for Richie" has since grown to comprise hundreds of members who are cheering Richie on as he battles cancer.

Shortly after his diagnosis, Richie, who recently turned 6 years old, began a series of chemotherapy and stem cell treatments at Penn State Health Children's Hospital in Hershey. He remained at the hospital several months as he received treatment. Richie returned home for a few weeks in August before traveling back to Hershey for a final round of high-dose chemotherapy.

Due to health complications that resulted from the treatments, Richie required a specialized series of proton radiation doses. On Oct. 13, Richie was moved to the Roberts Proton Therapy Center located at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The facility is the only hospital in the area that offers the unique procedure, and Richie was moved quickly to decrease the chance of his tumors returning. As of Nov. 28, he had received seven of 30 proton radiation doses.

On Nov. 7, Desiree created a post in Prayers for Richie to update its members on the development in her son's treatment. In the post, Desiree asked Richie's supporters to help her with an idea to cheer Richie up by helping him have his best Christmas yet. Since the diagnosis in February, he has spent almost the entire year receiving treatment, and he will remain in the hospital until after the holidays, so Desiree asked members of the group to send Richie a Christmas card. "The cards are to cheer him up and show him people are still praying for him and rooting for him to get better," Desiree said.

Less than a week after she made the post, Christmas cards addressed to Richie began to pour into the Metzlers' mailbox. Richie's family members, friends and classmates from the Wee Friends Preschool in Quarryville expressed their support for him via cards and notes. More than 100 Christmas cards later, Desiree has lost count of the letters they've received, and Richie is beginning to run out of space on the windows of his room to hang them. "I was amazed by it," Desiree said. "Richie wants to open every single one, so we read them to him and clip them up on the window. He gets a big smile on his face every time."

Richie loves collecting Hot Wheels and building Legos, and his current favorite superhero is Captain America. The Metzler family will continue to accept Christmas cards for Richie until Christmas. For more information, including a mailing address and a link to a fundraiser for Richie and his family, search for "Prayers for Richie" on Facebook and view the Nov. 7 post.