Tonight is Relay for Life in my home town. I have seen several people post about it on my personal Facebook timeline. I can feel my blood pressure rise whenever Relay for Life is mentioned. Now in regards to someone doing Relay for Life for an adult who was diagnosed with cancer I don't have any problems. Raising money for adult cancer research is important. And it is important to honor anyone who has had a cancer diagnosis, is a survivor or succumbed to the disease. My problem comes when someone is doing Relay for Life for a child who is diagnosed with cancer. I realize that Relay for Life is EVERYWHERE. Literally almost every small town in America hosts one. And the American Cancer Society is a big organization that advertises these walks nationally. The problem with this is that for every $1 donated for the Relay for Life, only 1 cent from that $1 goes towards childhood cancer research. And that is supposed to cover ALL the types of childhood cancer. That number is appalling. Our children are worth more than that.
The National Cancer Institute only designates 4% of the federally funded money it receives from the government to childhood cancer research. And again that covers ALL the types of childhood cancer. My daughter was worth more than that. Who knows what she might have accomplished in her life had she been able to grow up.
This is a topic that of course gets me riled up. With good reason. Had more money been dedicated to childhood cancer research, maybe more effective treatments would have been found to treat the kind of cancer Ambrosia had. If I had known all that I know now about how severely underfunded childhood cancer research is BEFORE Ambrosia was born maybe I could have helped make a difference. Don't wait until it's too late to get involved. Educate yourself and choose the organizations to which you donate your money wisely. Make sure the money you raise to honor a child with cancer actually goes towards childhood cancer research. And not just a penny.
Yesterday a campaign started to unite all Childhood Cancer organizations to help get the support in Washington, D.C. for designating more money to childhood cancer research. Please consider joining this campaign by visiting this website: http://www.soundoffatcongress.org/nY2f It will help you locate your representatives in Washington and send them a message telling them to #StepUp. If you don't have a Twitter account you can always email your representatives. Search for their contact information by visiting this website: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/US-Congress.shtml This is all in preparation for Childhood Cancer Action Days happening in Washington, D.C. on June 23 and 24th.
If you'd like to make a donation to an organization that is for childhood cancer research please consider making a donation to our CureSearch Walk team, Angels for Ambrosia. CureSearch raises money for childhood cancer research and the CureSearch Walk is one of the fundraisers for research. You can make a donation by visiting this page: http://www.curesearchwalk.org/louisville/angelsforambrosia
My sources:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/people-against-childhood-cancer-pac2/where-does-the-money-go-childhood-cancer-funding/385954821882
http://curechildhoodcancer.ning.com/profiles/blogs/my-thoughts-about-the-american-cancer-society
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-agin/friends-dont-let-friends-_2_b_2759403.html
http://www.amandarileyfoundation.org/childhoodcancerfacts.htm
http://www.stbaldricks.org/filling-the-funding-gap/
The National Cancer Institute only designates 4% of the federally funded money it receives from the government to childhood cancer research. And again that covers ALL the types of childhood cancer. My daughter was worth more than that. Who knows what she might have accomplished in her life had she been able to grow up.
This is a topic that of course gets me riled up. With good reason. Had more money been dedicated to childhood cancer research, maybe more effective treatments would have been found to treat the kind of cancer Ambrosia had. If I had known all that I know now about how severely underfunded childhood cancer research is BEFORE Ambrosia was born maybe I could have helped make a difference. Don't wait until it's too late to get involved. Educate yourself and choose the organizations to which you donate your money wisely. Make sure the money you raise to honor a child with cancer actually goes towards childhood cancer research. And not just a penny.
Yesterday a campaign started to unite all Childhood Cancer organizations to help get the support in Washington, D.C. for designating more money to childhood cancer research. Please consider joining this campaign by visiting this website: http://www.soundoffatcongress.org/nY2f It will help you locate your representatives in Washington and send them a message telling them to #StepUp. If you don't have a Twitter account you can always email your representatives. Search for their contact information by visiting this website: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/US-Congress.shtml This is all in preparation for Childhood Cancer Action Days happening in Washington, D.C. on June 23 and 24th.
If you'd like to make a donation to an organization that is for childhood cancer research please consider making a donation to our CureSearch Walk team, Angels for Ambrosia. CureSearch raises money for childhood cancer research and the CureSearch Walk is one of the fundraisers for research. You can make a donation by visiting this page: http://www.curesearchwalk.org/louisville/angelsforambrosia
My sources:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/people-against-childhood-cancer-pac2/where-does-the-money-go-childhood-cancer-funding/385954821882
http://curechildhoodcancer.ning.com/profiles/blogs/my-thoughts-about-the-american-cancer-society
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-agin/friends-dont-let-friends-_2_b_2759403.html
http://www.amandarileyfoundation.org/childhoodcancerfacts.htm
http://www.stbaldricks.org/filling-the-funding-gap/
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