Eighteen-year-old Austin Gaines just completed his freshman year at Tulane University, and while he is certainly learning a lot, he could also teach his classmates some important lessons about life.

Just five years ago, Gaines’ mother Joan was diagnosed with breast cancer right around the time Gaines was celebrating his Bar Mitzvah. Instead of spending the monetary gifts he received that day, the 13-year-old took the money and established a fund for cancer research instead.

But Gaines didn’t stop there. A big basketball fan, he thought of a way to boost his research fund with a charity event. So he talked Glen Rice, then of the Miami Heat, into helping with a celebrity basketball game that successfully raised $10,000.

As a senior at Gulliver Preparatory Academy, Gaines organized his third NBA fundraiser with help from the Miami Heat and the University of Miami men’s basketball program. Over the years, several Heat players have participated in the fundraisers.

Gaines’ philanthropic efforts over the years paid off last summer when he delivered a check for $21,700 to cancer center director W. Jarrard Goodwin, M.D., F.A.C.S., and Joyce Slingerland, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute at UM/Sylvester to help support Slingerland’s work. As a result, Gaines is the youngest member of the Founder’s Society.

As for his mom, Joan, she just had a celebration of her own. She has been disease-free for five years.