Emma Stone was just 19 years old when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now, at age 32, the actress says her mother’s diagnosis is what pushed her to reach out and help others who were feeling alone and scared due to cancer.

Stone took some time to remember the day her mom, Krista Stone, was diagnosed, saying, “I was oddly stoic, the opposite of how I usually am. But it was terrifying.”

The young actress had just moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue an on-screen career at the time and decided to move back home to Arizona to support her mom through a double mastectomy and 18 months of chemotherapy.

“I’m sure, in private, Em lived in fear and anxiety,” Krista says. “But she really shifted into this [mode of] ‘We’re going to take care of this, and everything’s going to be fine.’”

After her mother successfully made it through cancer, Stone became motivated to help others who are going through something similar.

Stone has been an ambassador for Gilda’s Club, a non-profit that supports people living with cancer, since 2012. The club was named after Gilda Radner, a Saturday Night Live comedian who died of ovarian cancer in 1989 at the age of 42.

“I was 19 when my mom was diagnosed and the idea of trying to understand that, especially as a little kid…Knowing that at Gilda’s Club, kids can have fun and go to summer camp and enjoy time with other kids who understand what they’re going through is absolutely incredible.”

Recently, Stone was awarded the Gilda Radner Award for her work at Gilda’s Club.

Thank you, Emma, for taking time to think about other people who feel as lost and terrified as you and your mother did when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Your work has not gone unnoticed, and we hope you’ll continue to assist others.