At two and a half years old, Trevor Perry went to the dentist. 

"He actually went to his first pediatric dental appointment, and the dentist looked at his mouth and said he didn't like what he saw," said Trevor's father, Jon Perry.

His parents, Jon and Joni Perry, took him to the pediatrician. 

"The doctor took us back into his office, and he said I don't have any nice way to say this, Trevor has cancer," Jon recalled.  

That news felt like a gut punch, and it propelled Trevor's parents to stay at Children's Hospital Pittsburgh with their son. 

"When you hear these words, that's the hardest you can have because your mind has never even contemplated that," said Jon.

He said, in the days waiting for the pathology results at Children's Hospital, there was "a little room across from Trevor's where I got to be friends with another father who is in the same situation, we are waiting for pathology."

He said the other man's sixteen-year-old daughter had osteoporosis, and she was going to have to have her leg amputated at the hip that Friday.

However, Jon noticed that on Friday, the other father was absent. His mind went to the worst place, so the next time Jon saw the man, he asked him where he'd been. 

"I couldn't afford to be here, and I [Jon] said what do you mean?  He said I couldn't take another day off from work, he had to work a double shift," Jon said the man told him. 

That interaction stuck with Jon. Even more so, while walking the halls at Children's Hospital, Jon noticed even more parents who couldn't afford to be at their child's hospital bed. 

"To this day, I cannot forget those kids who were in those rooms alone, crying," Jon said.

Once Trevor beat lymphocytic leukemia, Jon and Joni started a non-profit called Pennies from Heaven to cover costs for parents to be with their sick kids at Children's Hospital Pittsburgh. 

"We pay utility bills, whatever it takes to allow the parent to stay in the hospital with their child," said Jon. 

Gifts from the non-profit range from small overnight toiletry bags and brown bag lunches, to paying lost wages, and even mortgage payments. 

So, how does it feel to be able to give back in that kind of capacity?

"It's turned out better than we ever dreamed it could to be honest with you," Jon said. 

Twenty-five years later, Pennies from Heaven has provided over 1,000 grants. 

"Every dollar donated has gone directly to a family in need," said Jon.

Pennie's from Heaven's raised more than $3,000,000. 

"It's all word-of-mouth grassroots, but it's really worked for us. We have a great legion of people behind us," said Jon.

Social workers at the hospital help identify families in need. 

"The social workers cannot be more grateful, I mean, they literally tell us that Pennies from Heaven answered their prayers," Jon said.

Jon believes having parents and guardians with their sick children helps them heal.

 "One of the reasons that we believe Trevor did so about this chemotherapy was that Joni and I were able to be with him 24/7 whenever he had to have anything done, and he went to chemotherapy five days a week for the first year," he said.

Trevor is now married and cancer-free, but his story is now the centerpiece of this non-profit's mission, making every penny for others part of the healing process for pediatric patients.

Pennies from Heaven can always use volunteers and donations. 

The next big event for the non-profit is coming up on October 4th. You can buy tickets to its Oktoberfest, starting next week. For more information, click here.