By: Kelly Rouba

September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and, according to the National Cancer Institute, cancer is the leading disease-related cause of death among children age 15 and under who live in the United States.

While there are groups, like the National Childhood Cancer Foundation (NCCF), that work to raise funds for childhood cancer research, one local celebrity has been waging his own war against the disease. “You can’t solve all of the world’s problems. I wish we could, but we can’t. We pick and chose our battles. For me, it’s children and it’s childhood cancer and that’s the battle that I want to fight,” said Tony Luke, Jr., who has become known for his work as an actor, screenwriter, songwriter, restaurateur, and entrepreneur.

Seemingly a jack of all trades, Luke is perhaps best known for his Philly cheesesteaks, which are served in his restaurant franchise Tony Luke’s. “I worked with a lot of bands in the ‘80s and then I got into the food business in the ‘90s. ‘92 is when I opened up the sandwich shop, Tony Luke’s,” he said.

Tony Luke’s cheesesteaks proved to be such a hit that it has garnered Luke national attention and led to appearances on the Food Network shows Dinner: Impossible and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, among others.

“Then (life) kind of went full circle, and I got into the music (industry) again,” Luke said, adding that he now shares a record label with Whey Cooler called Luke Cooler Records. Among the artists he has signed are MTV’s The Real World: DC star Josh Colon, whose first single was Dance Wit Chu.

Luke has also dabbled in film. “I have a movie out now. It’s on Showtime and the Movie Channel. It’s called The Nail,” said Luke, who co- wrote the movie that also stars Tony Danza and William Forsythe. “It’s my first starring role in a feature.”

Although Luke has also had small roles in other movies, like The Mighty Macs, he is perhaps best remembered for his role in Invincible, a film about Vince Papale from the Philadelphia Eagles. “I played the crazy guy in the green cape,” Luke joked.

And while Luke enjoys getting recognized for his portrayals, it isn’t because he needs an ego boost. “It’s funny, some people want to become famous because they want to buy big homes and they have an ego to fill. I want to be famous…because, for some reason, we worship celebrities in this society and celebrities can get a lot of stuff done,” Luke said, noting, “I do all these things and I open up all these businesses to make more money so I can do more (for children with cancer) and being famous makes people pay attention to what you’re doing.”

Ultimately, “there’s going to come a point where I will start a fund (to support childhood cancer research) and push hard to get people to come onboard. I’m never going to give up.”

Luke hopes that by speaking out about his interest in finding a cure for childhood cancer that it will encourage others to join his efforts. “I need help. I cannot do it on my own. I appeal to other celebrities. I appeal to other people with money,” he said. “Let’s eliminate one childhood cancer from the face of this earth. Let’s just get rid of one at a time. Because, you know, all cancer is different. You can’t just cure cancer as a whole because every one is different.”
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Together, “let’s fund research for all childhood cancers and maybe we (will) get lucky and one of them hits in my lifetime maybe or at least I start the ball rolling. Maybe not in my lifetime but maybe in my kids’ lifetime we make that happen; we make a real difference. We take that away and we let a child grow up and we stop these mothers and fathers from crying. We stop this. That is the ultimate goal of my life.”

Luke’s interest in finding a cure for childhood cancer intensified after he met Elijah Talley. At the time, Elijah was nine years old and had already been battling cancer for four years. According to Luke, he received an email from a woman who is friends with Elijah’s family. In the e-mail, she told Luke that Elijah said he wanted to go to Tony Luke’s and get a cheesesteak for his birthday. He also said he wanted to meet Tony because he saw him on Man v. Food on the Travel Channel, which is one of his favorite shows. Luke responded to the e-mail and told the woman to have Elijah and his family to come to one of his restaurants.

“He was coming to Children’s Hospital (of Philadelphia) and the day that he was coming in, it fell on his birthday,” Luke recalled. “He comes in (to the restaurant) and here is this adorable, cute kid. I mean adorable with the biggest smile on his face (and he) is going through something that you or I would want to kill ourselves for. This kid is going through it and he is smiling. I guess the one thing these kids are given, they are resilient. They are happy. They appreciate things.”

During their visit, Luke gave Elijah a cake as well as a special shirt and hat he had made just for him. Elijah also asked to see the photo of Luke with Adam Richman, host of Man v. Food. Luke complied and later called Richman to tell him about his visit with Elijah, who went on Twitter and wished him a happy birthday. “His mom called up and said, ‘Tony, it was one of the best birthdays he ever had!’.”

Luke has also made trips to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to visit other children who have cancer or serious illnesses. “It’s hard for me to go into the hospitals. It kills me,” he said. “What I learned is I can’t take (the illness) away; I don’t have that power, but the power that I do have—the one thing that I do have control of—is whatever time that I am with them, I can try to make them laugh, make them forget for a minute, make them happy. That’s the power that I do have and I will use (it) wherever and whenever I can.”
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Still, Luke refuses to give up his quest to find a cure for childhood cancer and hopes that those reading this article will assist him in his mission. “There’s got to be people out there, people with money, people with vision, like me, that would want to get together with me and pull our resources and pull our fame and make this happen. I give to as many charities as I can, and I think it’s wonderful when we give to other countries…but my God, the greatest time in my life was my childhood and to see a child not experience that—not having a shot to be a child—and to see the devastation that that illness brings to a family, it cripples them; it crushes them. It is a weight that should not be carried by anyone. No parent should ever bury a child. Period. And I believe that with every ounce of my being and I am going to do everything I can to make that stop.”

To that end, Luke tries to generate funds in any way he can, like auctioning off his cooking services to benefit CHOP. “Right now, every time I get an opportunity to do something that raises money, before I do it, I say whatever I’m making, whatever it is, it has to go to Children’s Hospital or cancer research.”

“Everyone’s had cancer touch them,” said Luke. “My grandmother died of emphysema. My uncle died of cancer. But, thank god, so far, my children are healthy.”

And that’s the way Luke wants to keep it.

“My goal, God spares, before I die, I want to help to fund and eliminate one childhood cancer. Now, I know it’s asking for the world, but my dream is when I take my last breath, I just want to hear somebody say to me, “Tony, kids are gonna die…(but) they are not gonna die from this—just one (form of cancer) that we pulled off the books.”

To read more about Elijah Talley, visit www.prayforelijah.com. To contact Tony Luke with fundraising ideas or to make a donation, e-mail him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(To view more statistics from the National Cancer Institute, visit: http://www.cancer.gov/aboutnci/servingpeople/snapshots/pediatric.pdf )