On the 11th of every month we bring you stories focusing on the latest cancer information. It's an ongoing CBS 11 News commitment. In this Cancer Connection, we bring you the story of an Alaskan whose dream lives on after losing his cancer battle.

About one week after his son's second birthday, David Bruchhauser was diagnosed with bladder cancer.

Bruchhauser was lucky; and he knew it.

He had the resources to travel out of Alaska, to fight his battle and prolong his life--just so his dream to make others' dreams come true would live on.

"You want to read that one to him?" said Program Co-Founder Michelle Bruchhauser.

"Sure! That one's too big of a book," said Ian Bruchhauser.

Three-year-old Ian Bruchhauser loves reading to his dad.

Chances are you'll find him doing that whenever he can. After all, that's how Ian still bonds with him, eight months after bladder cancer took David Bruchhauser's life.

"I just think that, you know it's hard, because he was just a really nice guy. And he really was just out to make things better," said Michelle Bruchhauser.

It is how David lived his life to the end. When Alaskan doctors told him he just had a month or two, he chose to fight his cancer down at a Houston, Texas hospital.

"You know, we were really lucky that we had great friends and great family. He was an executive with Alyeska Pipeline. We had their support. And we realize not everyone has an Alyeska Pipeline in their pocket," said Michelle Bruchhauser.

But months later, when it was clear he would not make it, David chose to make kindness his legacy.

"We sort of laid a groundwork plan of, 'This is what we need to do. We need to go back. We've gotten all this help and we need to pass it on,'" said Michelle Bruchhauser.

Passing on David's dream is now known as "The Dream Lives On." It is a non-profit organization granting dreams to adults, 18 and older, who've been diagnosed with a year or less to live.

"I mean

sometimes that all you have is the hope. And you have to offer that. And I think that's why we decided to let people write their stories. And give them some hope. And some opportunity to have a say," said Michelle Bruchhauser.

"At a time in their life when they're giving up a lot of control, they're vulnerable and everything. And we sort of let them take control again and decide, 'This is what I want to do. This is what's important to me.' And then we step in and make that come true for them. And then to leave some memories behind for those loved ones who they have," said Michelle Bruchhauser.

But the dream goes beyond making wishes come true. It's providing toys for 400 Alaska kids, or a holiday meal, or a video memory for the loved ones of a terminally ill Alaskan.

It is a dream Michelle Bruchhauser knows will live on through Ian.

"Just that we're here to help. You know it's never too late to help a dream come true. That's our motto. But just to have someone do a random act of kindness for you is an incredible feeling. And people are very open to it when they're going through what they're going through," said Michelle Bruchhauser.

So far "The Dream Lives On" has helped a dying Eagle River musher complete a project, a North Pole mom and her family, who've never been out of state, got to go to Disneyland. They even helped a mom come up to Alaska from the Lower 48 to see her son before he passed away.

Their first big fundraiser is in February.

If you need their help, or want to help them out, click below:

To contact Matthew, call 907-273-3186.