In 2009, I was asked by a grad-school friend to join him in the fight against Childhood Cancer. Looking back, there is no way I could have predicted what has happened over these last 10 years. Since then I have personally watched my father pass away from Leukemia, my mother have successful treatment to treat Lung Cancer, and my friend pass away from Pancreatic Cancer. Family, friends, colleagues, friend’s family members, acquaintances and are forced to fight this dreadful disease on a daily basis. Nobody should be forced to fight cancer, but if they are, they need our support in that fight, and the fight to end cancer.
So, I'm shaving my head again to raise money for childhood cancer research!
Did you know that before they turn 20, about 1 in 285 children in the United States will have cancer? Out of all the numbers that I read on Childhood Cancer this one startles me the most. The odds are some of my friends' children will have to fight through Childhood Cancer at some point. That is startling to me, and one of the largest reasons I continue to devote my time to raising money to Conquer Childhood Cancer - I cannot sit idly by knowing there is a chance that a family member, colleague or friends' child would have to go through the painful fight of Childhood Cancer.
While cancer treatment has come a long way, we still have a long way to go, especially in fighting rarer forms of cancer. Rare forms of cancer include Childhood Cancer, Leukemia, Pancreatic, Brain, Ovarian, Thyroid, and Stomach Cancers, which make up 50% of the approximately 1.7M new cancer cases diagnosed in 2018. Even though they account for about half of all cancer diagnoses, research on many rare cancers is drastically underfunded (less than 4% of US federal funding for cancer goes to Childhood Cancer research).
I know, there are a lot of great organizations out there and a lot of great opportunities to give. But we're talking about kids with cancer. Conquering childhood cancer requires good people like yourself to join me in this fight, to help children enjoy their lives, and preserve the preciousness of childhood. Your donation funds research that will give children the opportunity to grow up and have children of their own, to create something beautiful, or perhaps even discover a cure for cancer.
While current cancer treatments weren't able to save my father, please help me save future cancer fighters - help prevent a child's pain and a parents' pain of losing a child. Please give what you can. Every dollar matters. Together we will Conquer Childhood Cancer. Thank you for your commitment helping us get one step closer in the fight against cancer.