The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer and donor powered charity committed to supporting the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.
Dear Friends,
Every year, as we sit to write to all of you, we are overwhelmed by what has been accomplished thanks to your participation, donations and advocacy.
Research moves at its own pace. Though there is always advancement, life-changing breakthroughs are more elusive and therefore must be celebrated loudly when they are found.
The FDA’s approval of Kymriah is one of the most exciting developments in the medical world in general and specifically in the childhood cancer community you care so much about. It is the first of its kind, a living drug that has the ability to target only the cancerous cells, leaving normal tissue unharmed during treatment. Given to patients for whom no other treatment options remain, to date, 83% of patients receiving this therapy have gone into remission and two-thirds remain so one year out. More children will live because you contributed to this research.
We also saw a major milestone achieved in our advocacy work when the most comprehensive childhood cancer bill ever to be introduced in Congress passed the House of Representatives. The Survivorship Treatment Access and Research (STAR) Act is a bill that addresses some of the major issues facing the childhood cancer community. The STAR Act was reintroduced this year. We hope Congress will pass it by the time this report is published to help children with cancer both survive and thrive. We urge you to contact your senators and affirm your support of this profoundly important legislation.
Finally, the board voted to begin the process of developing a five-year strategic plan for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. Our intention is to ensure we can continue expanding our ability to fund the very best research, no matter where it is taking place, and to seek out new partners with whom we can work to grow the amount of funds dedicated to childhood cancer research. We look forward to sharing more with you as we continue developing the plan.
Thank you for your commitment to taking childhood back from cancer.
Sincerely,
Michael McCreesh 
Kathleen Ruddy Mike McCreesh, Chair
John R. Bender | Amy Bucher | Bill Gerber | Tim Kenny* | Jeffrey M. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D. | Katherine Lugar | Chris Lynch | Enda McDonnell | Kathleen Ruddy
*Treasurer | Secretary, Rebecca Chapman Weaver
Joe Bartlett | Charles M. Chamness | Francis Feeney | Tom Leonhardt | John McKenna
Forever in Our Hearts
Robert J. Arceci, M.D., Ph.D.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation remains committed to fiscal responsibility and transparency.
Every dollar we spend goes to:
And of course, every dollar spent on fundraising and administration is with the goal of having more for the mission!
The expense ratio varies each year not only due to changing expenses, but also according to the amount raised by our volunteers.
Five Year Growth Chart (In Millions)
For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017
Due to the compelling quality of the research grant applications this spring, St. Baldrick’s elected to fund the entirety of the scientifically recommended grants resulting in a decrease in net assets for this fiscal year.
An independent audit of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation has been performed by Armanino, LLP. A copy of the full financial statements is available at StBaldricks.org/financials. We will also gladly send a copy by mail upon request. Please contact Anja Kloch at 626.792.8247, ext. 268 or Anja.Kloch@StBaldricks.org. All funds reflected on this page are listed in U.S. dollars.
Thanks to the following companies for their generous support:
With your support, this has been another year of making great strides toward St. Baldrick’s mission. Our research grants and advocacy efforts focus on finding better cures so kids diagnosed with cancer can live long, healthy lives.
1 grant: $6,045,000
1 grant: $1,000,000
2 grants: $928,446
9 new grants to continuing Consortia: $4,261,154
20 grants: $2,013,370
7 grants: $346,701
21 grants: $105,000
11 grants: $2,008,454
3 new awards for continuing Fellows: $290,775
12 grants: $3,257,211
18 new awards for existing Scholars: $1,847,353
1 grant: $330,000
3 new awards for existing International Scholars: $345,000
36 grants: $2,134,993
12 grants: $629,955
1 grant: $750,000
1 grant: $750,000
2 grants: $300,000
September
As one of the first International Scholars funded by St. Baldrick’s, Dr. Lubega will save the lives of countless children with cancer in his homeland of Uganda. Not only that, he is paying it forward by starting the first program in Sub-Saharan Africa to train doctors in pediatric oncology in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine.
December
St. Baldrick’s researchers liken themselves to Ewoks battling the Death Star, otherwise known as a medulloblastoma, a brain tumor. They discovered that removing a particular protein makes these tumors vulnerable to attack. With a new immunotherapy treatment, the Death Star cannot put up a shield anymore and Luke Skywalker (the child’s own immune system) can go in there and blow it up.
April
Dr. Stegmaier was already a pioneer in childhood cancer research, recognized for her creativity and innovation in the laboratory, when she received the unique St. Baldrick’s Robert J. Arceci Innovation Award. She now has the freedom to pursue any research she thinks will lead to the next new discovery to help kids survive cancer. Dr. Arceci, the award’s namesake, would be proud.
May
For children diagnosed with some types of cancer — like DIPG, a type of brain tumor — there is currently no hope for a cure. That’s devastating for everyone involved, and it’s why St. Baldrick’s Fellow Dr. Adam Green is working so hard to discover new therapies.
June
Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia have had no hope for a cure if standard treatments do not knock the disease into remission. When four-year-old Phineas faced this, his parents had already lost one child to cancer. But because of a new immunotherapy clinical trial supported by St. Baldrick’s, Phineas is now a cancer-free nine-year-old.
July
The STAR Act, the most comprehensive childhood cancer bill to ever hit Capitol Hill, passed the House in late 2016 and was quickly reintroduced in 2017 to get passed by full Congress this year. This bill has one of the largest numbers of co-sponsors in both the House and Senate in 2017, and with this support, we hope this important bill passes this year.
August
Because of your advocacy, Congress approved the FDA Reauthorization Act (FDARA), which includes crucial components of the Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity (RACE) for Children Act. This critical measure has the potential to greatly boost research into new drugs for pediatric cancer and yield higher cure rates, shorter treatment periods and less toxic therapies — possibly saving many lives.
Whether you’ve shaved your head, donated, volunteered, organized an event, biked across the country to raise crucial funds or advocated on Capitol Hill, St. Baldrick’s couldn’t do it without you — over 41,000 people shaved their head at 1,179 events. And, with over 413,000 donors we raised $39 million to support the best childhood cancer research.
And for that, we are so very grateful!
Because of your support for St. Baldrick’s advocacy efforts, federal dollars for cancer research have increased slightly this year through the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. For the first time in summer of 2017, scientists were able to apply for new pediatric cancer funding as a result.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation invites like-minded charities to fund or co-fund research projects approved through our highly respected scientific review process. This results in a more efficient use of resources for grant applicants, scientific reviewers and partnering foundations by avoiding duplication of efforts. Funding partners enable more highly impactful research to be funded, and by joining forces, we stand stronger as champions for childhood cancer research. Below is our list of current partners.
Supporting advocacy, raising awareness and funding targeted, specific childhood cancer research.
Supporting awareness, educating people about childhood cancer, providing financial aid to families and funding research.
Providing financial and emotional support to children and families fighting cancer and funding of research; funded a Scholar at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Supporting awareness, funding research and providing financial assistance to families in central New York; generously supported a Scholar at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Supporting childhood cancer research organizations and giving a hat to every child battling cancer; funded a research grant at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Providing care and comfort to children with spinal cord and brain tumors; funding research and supporting a continuum of care services.
Raising awareness, increasing community involvement and funding DIPG research; generously supported a research grant at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Raising awareness and funds for research with events in the communities of Edwardsville and Glen Carbon, IL, throughout the month of September.
Generating broad-based support for research and raising awareness of cancer; co-funding a Scholar at the University of Virginia.
Supporting the funding of innovative research and clinical trials to find new cures for the deadliest cancers; funding a Scholar at Stanford University.
Raising awareness and funds for research of leukemia and other childhood cancers in order to find new cures; generously supported a Fellow at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Our thanks to the 2017 Ambassadors for sharing their triumphs and challenges throughout the year. Their strength, dedication and service are an inspiration.
Hero Funds offer families an opportunity to join forces with St. Baldrick’s to fund the world’s best childhood cancer research while honoring a loved one. Families have access to our exceptional fundraising tools and highly-respected grantmaking program. Because of this support, each Hero Fund can cast a wider fundraising net to raise much-needed dollars for childhood cancer research. Our sincere thanks to the following Hero Funds that were active by during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017.
You can be part of the next research breakthrough for kids with cancer. Donate today.
