#myRVAhero
Our summer intern, Sarah who is a rising senior at Glen Allen High School, created the #MyRVAHero campaign. You can make it go viral and raise awareness of childhood cancer. Share your heroes (on either Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) and text to donate to childhood cancer research!!
1. Take a picture holding a sign that says #myrvahero or with your hero.
2. Use the caption: #myrvahero is ___ because ___! I tag (two of your friends) to share their hero and donate $5 to the pediatric cancer kids helped by Connor's Heroes. You can text MYRVAHERO to 77948 to donate.
3. Donate and make sure your friends complete the challenge!!
Watch WRIC news report on why Sarah created this campaign.
Stay Tuned for #RVACures
Kristin Seward Photography is using her talents to once again share beautiful stories of the children who are inspiring us to fight against childhood cancer and the researchers who are giving us hope. She is preparing something amazing that will debut for September's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It focuses on a very small fish that you have probably seen at pet stores. It's the zebrafish. The zebrafish represents pediatric cancer research that is happening in Richmond. You helped fund Dr. Corey's team of scientists through the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. Thanks to you, they have a lab with tanks full of zebrafish swimming around, which, hopefully will lead to breakthroughs for our kids.
Redskins Training Camp 2017
What a fun day at Redskins Training Camp! Hero families were given special access during the morning and afternoon sessions. We were happy to be able to provide this opportunity for so many families. The players took the time to come over to our VIP tent for autographs and words of encouragement. It is through your support that we can arrange fun outings for our families. We assist them with any special accommodations and are mindful of their limitations when in treatment. Next up is a night with the Flying Squirrels.
Local Heroes For Research #1
Jamie Hess was an inspiration to all who met him. Although he left this world in 2002 at the age of 10, a year after being diagnosed with leukemia and after enduring two bone marrow transplants, his legacy lives on thanks to the powerful love of his family who created a research fund in his name. Burger Bach presented Connor's Heroes with $1,536. The Ashland Barracudas raised more than $5,000 from their annual swim-a-thon. These donations will go to the Jamie Hess BMT fund. Pictured with Lisa is Jamie's father, Fred, and Burger Bach's manager, Timothy, who was Jamie's friend. Donations like these are more than dollars. They are hope for discoveries to improve treatment and prevent cancers like Jamie's.
Caleb’s Room
From the facebook page, TeamCaleb, Caleb's mom shared the moment when Caleb saw his room decorated by the volunteers at Connor's Heroes:
"As soon as we entered the unit we were greeted with smiles and cheer, "Krysta, I think your little guy is here! Are you Caleb?" The girl walked us right to our room to find our nurse, Krysta, and the room beautifully decorated for Caleb in a firefighter theme!! Thank you, Connor's Heroes Foundation!! ... With the firefighter toys/tools... and the fire truck tent, he was completely at ease! He was strutting the halls in his cowboy boots and fire hat, using his crowbar and his axe to open doors, his megaphone and radio to talk to everyone." -- Caleb's mom
Four volunteers decorated Caleb's room: Monica, Beth, Theresa and Kourtney. One of them has a daughter, Krysta who is a nurse on BMT and happened to admit Caleb when he arrived on the unit. The room decorator, Monica, said, "My friends and I had such a wonderful time decorating Caleb’s room. Sending lots of hugs and prayers for this sweet little one! Thank you so much for the opportunity to do this!"
Decorating the rooms of our bone marrow heroes is a big part of Connor's Heroes mission, but it is not all you allow us to do for our Hero families. From the Heroes Bags and Backpacks to gift cards for traveling out of town for second opinions/trials. Now, every child opens up their Heroes Backpack and finds their own iPad mini. We are constantly evolving and growing but remain focused on the kids. Thank you for playing your own role of being a hero to a child with cancer.
Sharing Good News
Thanks to Board Member, Jeff Brownstein, for showing us this article in the local publication, The Reflector. We appreciate it when someone shares the stories of Richmond's local heroes who are doing good on behalf of our childhood cancer heroes; especially when it's kids helping kids.
2017 Music For Massey
Our Hero, Lauren, was part of the Bucket Brigade at Music For Massey in July. She had close to $100 in cash in her bucket. Thanks to Jim Napier and Music for Massey for their many years of supporting our pediatric cancer research in Richmond. CHF is dedicated to helping our community's families cope with childhood cancer and our community's researchers to conquer it. This year's event raised over $25,000 for the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund -- over $200,000 raised since Music for Massey started 11 years ago!
Art Pop Up
Twenty local artists painted large-sized zebra fish in a competition for a spot in this year's RVA Street Art Fest on September 22-24. The zebra fish is the symbol of pediatric cancer research happening in Richmond. You can bid on one of these unique works of art when we open up our online auction on September 1. Proceeds from your winning bid will go directly into the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. The federal government only spends 4% of its budget to fund pediatric cancer research. That percentage has not risen in many years. Dr. Corey relies on contributions from individuals and businesses to fund his research.
Pic cred: Backlight Photography
Summer Donations
Our office was busy with visitors bringing gifts collected for children battling cancer. This fairy brought a check for Connor's Heroes generously donated by RVA Insurance Agency, Inc. It's enough to make sure that four newly diagnosed children will have a Heroes Backpack ready for them -- full of crafts, personal supplies and an ipad!! These two boys unloaded an SUV full of toys, crafts, coloring books and lots and lots of legos. Campers from Shady Grove United Methodist Church- Mechanicsville collected them for their service project. Richmond is showing incredible support this summer.
If you would like to offer your help, contact us first for suggestions on the type of help our families need the most. Use our Contact Page to share your information.
Here’s Erin
Erin was genuinely touched by the recent Facebook post from Team Caleb, the page created by Caleb's parents to keep their friends and family informed of his progress in treating his neuroblastoma. (He is only four years old.) It was a picture of Erin standing in the door of Caleb's hospital room with a hopeful, welcoming smile. She has a bright red, star-shaped balloon and is holding a Connor's Heroes gift bag. In the bag are sweet surprises, toys, gift cards and encouraging notes that were generously donated by people like you. She was celebrating Caleb reaching an important milestone in his treatment: Day Zero of his stem cell transplant. Caleb was one of many children whom Erin visited in the hospital and clinic that day. Erin navigates each family’s individual and, oftentimes, sensitive situations with respect and encouragement. Behind the scenes, she coordinates the volunteers who decorate the hospital rooms of the bone marrow transplant unit and trains people to be buddies for our patients or their siblings. She works with Lisa and other childhood cancer parents in determining the best ways for Connor's Heroes to fill in the gaps for families struggling financially and emotionally.
Erin says that it is her privilege to share the generosity of our donors who allow her to support the families. She said that the parents and children are appreciative and need our care, concern, and assistance of any kind. In her unassuming way, she encourages a family through the ups and downs of treatment and she is empathetic to what they deal with. Obviously families appreciate her, as one commented on the Facebook post: "She always comes at the right time ❤️." We are grateful every single day to have Erin as part of our Connor's Heroes family.