Surrounded by a crowd of 140 adults, an 8-year-old girl in a "Super Sam" T-shirt challenged a U.S. senator at Wednesday's town hall.
"Why do kids with cancer not get enough money?" Ava Santhuff said, her voice never wavering.
"My brother was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer. He went to Heaven. So why don't kids with cancer get the funding they need?"
Ava's twin brother, Sam Santhuff, died from rhabdomyosarcoma in September 2014. Since then, she and her parents, Matt and Cassie, formed the Super Sam Foundation, well known in Callaway County and now, the U.S. Senate.
"First off, you are a very impressive young lady," U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill said from her podium at the Callaway Senior Center. "I had my bout with the dirty 'C' word last year. I have been very supportive of research money for cancers. Not just the common types, the uncommon, too."
McCaskill added the United States is a beacon to the rest of the world when it comes to medical research, though she agreed rarer forms are not getting enough attention.
Cassie Santhuff said she is very proud of her daughter.
"Ava is amazing," she said. "She believes a lot in what we are doing in fighting childhood cancer. She says she is doing her part to help other families keep their kids, and making sure other sisters get to keep their brothers."
On April 30, after the Super Sam 5k, Cassie said members of the foundation are traveling to the nation's capital.
"We are traveling to D.C. to speak with McCaskill, Blunt and any other senators we can about childhood cancer funding," she said. "There are currently two bills concerning funding, and we will be asking Sen. McCaskill to support them. I hope that in our personal session, we get a chance to have a bit more dialogue."
Cassie said she looks forward to talking more freely with McCaskill, but was still satisfied with the town hall.
"I appreciate her acknowledging and speaking so kindly to Ava and me," she said.
"I do want more dialogue, but I am not disappointed with today. I'm happy she came, and very grateful to have a chance to speak with her."
Ava is going to Washington D.C., too, and already has a speech prepared, Cassie said.
When they meet next, Ava has more questions for McCaskill, she added.
"I was actually very grateful to be there, because not everybody gets to be there," she said. "But what I'm truly feeling is that I want the real answer. I want to know, for real, why we can't get enough (funding)."
Tensions rose after spectator Jessie Purvis brought up the topic of Planned Parenthood funding.
"The thing is, we have the lowest teen pregnancy rates and abortion rates in this country in decades," McCaskill said. "If we want to reduce abortion, we need to make sure women have access to birth control."
McCaskill said no federal money is used by Planned Parenthood for abortions, and is prohibited by law from paying for them.
"The federal money is used to provide birth control and cancer screenings," she said.
Joanne M. Schrader, a woman in the crowd who had been holding McCaskill's basket of questions, held up a sign that read "Bull." McCaskill asked Schrader to stand up and have her say.
"Planned Parenthood has done a lot of corrupt things," Schrader said. "They have been taken to court. Abortion is an intrinsic evil."
As some other members of the crowd began to shout, McCaskill shushed them.
"We are not going to (yell back)," she said. "We are going to be respectful."
Then she responded to Schrader.
"I appreciate your position, and we can disagree," McCaskill said. "But I would ask that you respect my position as well."