It’s October again, which means kids across the country will be gearing up for another exciting Halloween. But did you know that October is also the month when many organizations help their employees with charitable donations?

That’s right – within many company cultures, October is known as “employee giving month”. It’s a great way to generate more revenue for your favorite charity – like the St. Baldrick’s Foundation!

This October, ask your employer for more information about some of the following popular fundraising options – it could make the difference in helping fund vital clinical trials investigating childhood cancers.

Wireless Vision employees know it takes vision to conquer childhood cancers. Through their company-wide campaign, six Wireless Vision locations hosted St. Baldrick’s signature head-shaving events and raised over $43,000!

Matching Gifts

A growing number of organizations are offering to match the charitable donations made by their employees, effectively doubling their total contribution. That said, some employers may take things a step further by matching gifts at a higher ratio, like 2:1, 3:1, even 4:1 – in essence, it’s possible that for every dollar you contribute, your employer may double, triple, even quadruple your offering!

Please keep in mind that every organization has its own gift-matching policy, so consider asking your human resources representative for more information about how this is handled at your company. You can also use our matching gifts tool to see what’s available at your organization.

Read more »

St. Baldrick’s Fellow Dr. Elliot Stieglitz is a big reader, but not in the way that you might think. Over three years, he read the DNA of one hundred children with JMML, a rare leukemia, and he discovered something major. Read on to learn how his discovery could lead to better treatments for kids with this rare disease.

RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT: Dr. Elliot Stieglitz has brought his St. Baldrick’s-funded research to a Phase 2 clinical trial for kids with relapsed JMML. In this trial, which is first of its kind in the United States, researchers will be testing whether an oral targeted medication used in the treatment of melanoma in adults slows or even kills leukemia cells in kids with persistent JMML. In addition, Dr. Stieglitz developed a test that predicts which JMML patients have the best prognosis and therefore need less intense therapy. He’s now in the process of establishing a clinical test that will eventually be available to patients. This test will help kids get just the treatment they need and avoid damaging long-term effects from harsh therapies. Keep up the great work, Dr. Stieglitz!

For St. Baldrick’s Fellow Dr. Elliot Stieglitz, being a pediatric oncologist is the perfect blend of emotional satisfaction and intellectual stimulation.

His heart is with the kids and their families, guiding them through the toughest time in their lives. His head is in the lab, trying to find better treatments for childhood cancer.

Read more »

Dr. Elliot Stieglitz is a St. Baldrick’s Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. He’s researching ways to help kids with JMML who don’t respond to standard treatment. He explains JMML symptoms, treatment options, and how your support is moving research forward.

What is JMML?

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is a type of blood cancer that affects young children.

Read more »

Give the gift that keeps on giving by participating in our matching gift program!

Did you know that more than 15 million employees work for companies that offer matching gift programs? That means your donation may be eligible to be doubled (or even tripled!) to fund lifesaving pediatric cancer research.

Read more »

Kalea and Noah snuggle in one hospital bed during treatment.

From waking up in the morning to getting tucked in at night, siblings Noah and Kalea were practically inseparable.

They’d eat their breakfast together – whatever 6-year-old Kalea had, 4-year-old Noah wanted too – and brush their teeth together. The two kids would get so immersed in playing together, and so quiet, that their parents, Duncan and Nohea, would get nervous and go check on them. Inevitably, the adults would interrupt some elaborate imaginary adventure and the kids would shoo them away.

Read more »

Happy October! Fall is here, harvest season is upon us and Halloween is creeping around the corner. It’s the perfect time to help kids with cancer. Check out these 10 creative ways to fund childhood cancer research while the leaves are falling.

Who loved fall? 2014 Ambassador Alan, that’s who! His favorite holiday was Halloween, because he liked walking around his neighborhood and trick-or-treating. What can you do to help kids with cancer during Alan’s favorite time of year? Read on to find out!

Read more »

We talk a lot about how childhood cancer affects the family. But what about the siblings, specifically? 2016 Ambassador Cheyenne’s mom opens up about how her 5-year-old son, Tristen, copes with his big sister’s childhood cancer journey, and how she and her husband balance their children’s needs.

It’s September. This is a big month for those of us in the childhood cancer community.

If you know anyone impacted by childhood cancer, I am sure your Facebook feed is blowing up with heart wrenching facts about how underfunded the research is and how rare childhood cancer ISN’T.

One thing that tends to be forgotten is how childhood cancer impacts the rest of the family. Most specifically, the siblings.

Read more »

Why do kids get cancer? That’s the question we asked Dr. John Maris, who co-leads the St. Baldrick’s Foundation – Stand Up to Cancer Pediatric Cancer Dream Team. Researchers like Dr. Maris are working hard to find the answer to this question because it could hold the key to cures for kids’ cancer.

Why do kids get cancer? In short, there’s no single, easy answer.

The answer is complicated, said Dr. Maris.

Read more »

Honored Kid Micah is ready for his close-up during a hospital stay in 2015, when he was taking part in a St. Baldrick’s-funded clinical trial at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) for neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer.

For kids with cancer and their families, clinical trials mean hope. Clinical trials offer a chance for survival when all other options are exhausted. They offer kids in treatment and survivors the possibility of a better future with fewer side effects. Most of all, for all kids with cancer today and in the future, clinical trials help scientists get closer to cures.

With your help, St. Baldrick’s has been an essential part of this lifesaving research phase since 2005 — every St. Baldrick’s donor has helped make these trials possible for more than 100,000 children with cancer.

Read more »

Honored Kid Madelyn was diagnosed with DIPG in 2010. A fashionista with a big spirit and an equally big heart, Maddy was an inspiration to those around her. She passed away in November 2011 after an 18-month battle with DIPG.

No child has ever survived a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma brain tumor, commonly called DIPG.

This aggressive pediatric brain cancer multiplies in the brainstem, which controls some of our most basic functions for living – our breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and ability to swallow and speak.  And because the cancer is so intertwined with its delicate surroundings, DIPG is often inoperable.

A DIPG diagnosis and a zero percent survival rate has remained the reality for kids and families for decades.

But what if there might be hope? What if that hope came from within the child’s own body?

Read more »