Luke Garberg, 12, is an seventh-grade student at Tuffree Middle School in Placentia. He is an honor-roll student and is very involved with musical theater. Luke is currently performing in Hope International University's Little Mermaid. Like his older brother Josh, Luke is an avid performer and regularly takes voice lessons. He is a huge fan of video games, and spends a lot of time creating animated videos.
In 2006, Luke was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of two, after he had been failing to gain weight. Since then, he and his family have been fighting to find a cure for the genetic disease through their family initiative, The Garberg Force, and have raised over $190,000 in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the world’s leader in finding a cure and funding ground-breaking research and treatments for the disease.
Luke actively participates in his family’s team, and particularly cares about helping educate his classmates about cystic fibrosis. Since kindergarten, Luke has dreamed of becoming an Imagineer with the Walt Disney Corporation, and hopes to someday create new, fun rides at Disneyland for kids of all ages to enjoy.
Josh Garberg, 15, is a 10th grade AP/Honors Heritage Humanities Magnet Program student at La Habra High School where he is actively involved in the theater guild productions, is a member of the LHHS OC Cappies team member, tech for the Well-Behaved Villains Improv Team and a Link Crew mentor. He takes voice lessons as he loves to sing. He is very active in his family’s team, The Garberg Force, which is determined to find a cure for cystic fibrosis, as well as to educate his peers on his disease. He loves swimming, riding his bike and spending time with his friends. Josh hopes to serve his community as either a prosecutor or teacher.
Josh was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of 5, after his younger brother, Luke, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Because it is a genetic disease, both Josh and his older brother, Jake, had to be tested. Josh often refers to Luke as his hero because had it not been for Luke’s diagnosis, the family might not have known to start preventative treatment for Joshua as he had in good health and not presenting any symptoms.