Connecting your efforts with an Honored Kid gives you fundraising superpowers! Find out more — and how to add an Honored Kid to your fundraising page — from Kelly Forebaugh, mom to Honored Kid Jackson and the Director of Hero Funds and Memorials at St. Baldrick’s … (Not a St. Baldrick’s participant? Get involved!)
Honored Kid Jackson in 2006, checking out some heads that were shaved in his honor.
My journey with St. Baldrick’s started 11 years ago. My then 22-month-old son, Jackson, had just completed treatment for pediatric cancer, and we celebrated this momentous milestone by attending our first St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event.
Our family fell in love with St. Baldrick’s that year. We were struck by the simplicity of the fundraising model, the fun, and most importantly, how empowered we felt.
Over the years, our commitment to St. Baldrick’s grew as we attended more events, volunteered, shaved, shared Jackson’s story, and experienced success with our fundraising efforts.
Jackson in 2013, after getting his head shaved at a St. Baldrick’s event.
Fast forward 11 years. Jackson has defied the odds and is now a long-term survivor of malignant rhabdoid tumor of the kidney. And St. Baldrick’s is my employer! We feel very lucky.
It is great to experience St. Baldrick’s from this new perspective. I love connecting with the fabulous supporters who are helping St. Baldrick’s mission. I am amazed by the number of people who are so passionate about this cause who don’t have a direct connection to childhood cancer.
As the mom of a survivor, it makes my heart soar knowing that kids with cancer (and their families) are not in this battle alone.
Every once in a while, I pull up Jackson’s Honored Kid webpage. I look at the people who are honoring him and click through to their participant pages. Some of these people are our friends, but many are not. I smile knowing that, in a small way, Jackson’s story is helping in the fight for less toxic treatments and cures for childhood cancer.
Was your child’s life touched by cancer? Sign them up as a St. Baldrick’s Honored Kid and inspire others to get involved in the fight against childhood cancer >
Jackson loves it, too! He has no recollection of what he endured as a toddler. However, he knows what cancer is, and he knows it’s a bully. St. Baldrick’s is the superhero. Jackson knows his story is the superpower that helps St. Baldrick’s fight the bad guy.
Jackson is right. Connecting your efforts with an Honored Kid gives you fundraising superpower. A child’s story adds depth to your fundraising appeal and makes a difference.
How much of a difference do Honored Kids make? In 2012, participants that honored a child raised, on average, $343 more than those who did not. The honored child’s story creates a connection between your bald head and the work St. Baldrick’s is doing to conquer childhood cancers.
Jackson with his mom, Kelly, dad, Gregg, and younger brother, Oliver, after they shaved together to celebrate his 10 years of survivorship.
You don’t have to know the child you are honoring. Through the St. Baldrick’s website, you can choose a child based on just about anything! Maybe they live in your area, or you like their name, or they have a cute picture. It does not matter. What matters is finding a child to honor, reading his or her story, and sharing it with your prospective donors.
Choosing an Honored Kid will strengthen your fundraising message — I promise! And as an added benefit, you will make a child and their family smile knowing that their story is inspiring others to help in the quest to cure kids’ cancer.
Thanks for stepping up to support St. Baldrick’s and fundraise for childhood cancer research!
Kelly Forebaugh
Mom to Honored Kid Jackson
It’s easy to add an Honored Kid to your fundraising page! Just follow these 5 steps…
1) Log in with your username and password at StBaldricks.org.
2) Click on the Dashboard. Then pick the page for the Participant, Event, Fundraiser, or Team that will be honoring a kid with cancer.
3) Under your Dashboard on the left-hand side of the screen, click the blue View and Edit Your Page button.
4) Scroll down to the St. Baldrick’s Honored Kids section of your page and click the Add a Kid button.
5) Click the Honor button next to one or more of the kids listed to select a child, or enter a name, disease type or location in the white box to conduct a search. Once you make your selection, click the Honor button.
6) Fun fact: If you have multiple roles, follow steps 2-5 to add an Honored Kid to any (or all) of your Event, Fundraiser, and Team pages!
You can also search for an Honored Kid by typing in their name or the name of your city or state!
Get started by signing in to StBaldricks.org.
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