Team 97727

Arden Nation Team Logo

Arden Nation

Every 2 minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer. Help me fund the research that will save their lives!

Fundraising

$14,090Raised

$10,000 GOAL

$10,000 GOAL

(888) 899-2253

Download Donation Form

Team 97727

We're shaving to raise money for childhood cancer research

Event: Jamison Pour House

Apr 12, 2015 • Time TBD

At: Jamison Pour House

2160 York Road, Jamison, PA US

Team Captain: Grayson B.

Conquer Kids' Cancer

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Milestones & Stretch Goals

$ 14,090
  • GOAL 10,000 $
We're shaving to raise money for childhood cancer research

Event: Jamison Pour House

Apr 12, 2015 • Time TBD

At: Jamison Pour House

2160 York Road, Jamison, PA US

Team Captain: Grayson B.

Every 2 minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer. Help me fund the research that will save their lives!

Fundraising

$14,090Raised

$10,000 GOAL

$10,000 GOAL

(888) 899-2253

Download Donation Form

Team 97727

Top Participants

View All (4)
  1. Grayson B. $11,995.00
  2. Rick Bucher $350.00
  3. Chris Burky $25.00

Looks like participants haven't started fundraising yet. Check back soon to see this team's top participants.

Recent Donors

View All
  1. Jim, Elaine, Emma and Nate Sanders In Memory Of Miss Arden Q Bucher 12/29/2015
  2. Jim, Elaine, Emma and Nate Sanders In Honor Of Richard and Alice Bucher 12/29/2015
  3. The Moore Family In Memory Of Arden Bucher 4/12/2015
  4. Mr. David M Burky 4/11/2015
  5. Mr. Chris Kreider 4/7/2015

Celebrating 25 Years

St. Baldrick’s started as a grassroots effort 25 years ago, driven by people who believe in helping kids with cancer.

National Partner

Arden Nation

  • Grayson B. photo
  • Rick Bucher photo
  • Chris Burky photo
  • Amy Bucher photo

The Significance of the Sunflower… for Arden and the Arden Nation: It was May, 2008, and Arden was at home between stem cell rescues, happily reconnecting with her own toys, room, baby brother, and routines while at the same time struggling with feedings, unable to keep in an NG tube for a few hours because she would be throwing them up. Her smiles were blissful. Seeing her play dress-up with my cousin Jessie, trying to eat a piece of toast while watching the Backyardigans, swinging with abandon on her swingset was so, so very sweet. June was looming, which meant we would have to return to CHOP for her next inpatient stay for so many weeks. To reassure her, we took sunflower seeds from a gift she had received from one of her supporters. Keeping her far away from the soil (which can be dangerous for an immunocompromised patient), I carefully placed them in a few styrofoam cups, to start them in our kitchen window. I labeled them, “Arden’s sunflowers,” and said, “Won’t it be so very cool to see how much they’ve grown once you’re out of the hospital?” Weeks passed. As we started to realize that Arden’s stay was going to be longer than we anticipated, we started taking pictures of the seedlings to show her how well they were doing. The growth of those little plants reminded us of the little cells growing in Arden’s body, trying their best to recreate her marrow and jump-start her new immune system. “GROW CELLS, GROW,” I painted in bold letters on her window overlooking the atrium, along with sunflowers she helped me create with construction paper and window paint. When he was home during the week because he was going back and forth to work and caring for Grayson at night, Rick would show us the plants’ progress via webcam over Skype. They never failed to bring a great big smile to Arden’s face, no matter how hard the day had been. They gave her hope. They reminded her of home. When they started outgrowing their little starter containers, Arden's Grandmother rescued them and replanted them in pots. She cared for them alongside her own cherished garden, guarding them to make sure they would bloom for Arden. Then, in the middle of July, Arden unexpectedly went into respiratory failure and was taken to the PICU. She had to be intubated, so she was kept sedated and comfortable, an induced coma from which we thought she would wake once her lungs healed. Somehow, I knew that the sunflowers would start to bloom soon. I took on a project, determined to give Arden something wonderful to look at once she opened her eyes. I started putting together photos of Arden, happy memories throughout her childhood, and I put out a request to the Arden Nation via Caringbridge for pictures of sunflowers as they saw them. My inbox was flooded with loving responses. I had so many pictures, each bringing tears of hope to my eyes, that I couldn’t fit them all around the poster. Some had planted them when they read that Arden had them, others would stop when they saw them growing wildly. Some of her young cousins, friends and some children who never met her posed in front of the ones they helped plant or find. One of the families we had met at A.I., the Godwins, turned around and pulled over on a highway to get a shot of a whole field of them. I kept all of them in a photo file, labeled “Sunflowers for Arden,” (which still exists), because I was determined to show her every single one. That poster, prominently hung in the window of Arden’s "fishbowl" room, told an unwritten message to each doctor, nurse, aide, other staff member, or visitor who passed by. It was a message of love, of hope, of faith. Arden never did open her eyes to see those glorious sunflowers. I’d like to think that she heard me describing them, as I did every time I got another email with a beautiful attachment. Interestingly enough, the ones we planted struggled quite a bit. Not all of them survived. Only one had a large bloom towards the very end, but another of the small ones, which I had planted in our backyard just to see how it would bloom, yielded one, small, weak but bright flower. I grabbed our camera to snap a picture. It’s in her file. Years later, seeing sunflowers doesn’t just remind us of Arden. They represent the hope we have for all of the other children who are still fighting, those yet to be diagnosed. They also remind us of the generosity of heart and spirit we found in the Arden Nation. We could never have gotten through it alone. We could never have achieved what we already have for the pediatric cancer community by ourselves. Our successes are yours, and we are most grateful. Thank you for bringing hope to other families, waiting for cells to grow, for new therapies, for their children's eyes to reopen. Much love and many blessings to you all.

St. Baldrick’s Honored Kids

It's all about the kids. Let's fund childhood cancer research to help kids grow up cancer-free. Get involved or make a donation today, and click a photo below to see why we need cures now.

Top Participants

View All (4)
  1. Grayson B. $11,995.00
  2. Rick Bucher $350.00
  3. Chris Burky $25.00

Looks like participants haven't started fundraising yet. Check back soon to see this team's top participants.

Recent Donors

View All
  1. Jim, Elaine, Emma and Nate Sanders In Memory Of Miss Arden Q Bucher 12/29/2015
  2. Jim, Elaine, Emma and Nate Sanders In Honor Of Richard and Alice Bucher 12/29/2015
  3. The Moore Family In Memory Of Arden Bucher 4/12/2015
  4. Mr. David M Burky 4/11/2015
  5. Mr. Chris Kreider 4/7/2015

Celebrating 25 Years

St. Baldrick’s started as a grassroots effort 25 years ago, driven by people who believe in helping kids with cancer.

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