I'm shaving my head to raise money for childhood cancer research! This research is extremely underfunded, so I decided to do something about it by raising money for cures. Right now, doctors and researchers are not sure what exactly causes most childhood cancers. Some cancers can be linked to Down syndrome, genetic abnormalities, or radiation exposure, but, obviously, more research is needed.

And that’s where we come in.

A few years ago, cancer was the “hot new thing” in literature. In The Fault in Our Stars two teenagers with cancers start a romantic relationship. My favorite book, Matt Greene’s Ostrich, is about a young boy studying for exams, analyzing his parents’ relationship, and struggling with a brain tumor. While these books have their problems, I’m sure, they do work to build empathy. Essentially, we all know that childhood cancer is a problem, we all want to support these children and teens emotionally, yet research is still so underfunded.

Cancer is the number one cause of death by disease in children. In 2019, of the 15,500 children diagnosed with cancer, about 1,500 died. While more and more children are getting the treatment that they need and coming out of their battles victorious, the incidence of cancer in children has been increasing in the past few decades. In 1980, about 15 children per 100,000 were diagnosed with cancer, but since 2007, the percentage is closer to 17 children per 100,000. We need more research, we need a cure. Some researchers blame the increase on “environmental reasons,” which is a little too vague to be of much help. Even now, 12% of children diagnosed with cancer do not survive.

Every dollar makes a difference for the thousands of infants, children, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancers. Please join me in supporting scientific research into childhood cancers!