Kids Helping Kids
Our Parent Tote bags will have a sweet treat thanks to the generosity of an area girl scout troop. Troop 4613 held three booster sales at neighborhood businesses. Customers purchased 100 boxes of nuts and chocolate which the troop then donated to back to Connor's Heroes. Each bag of nuts is a perfect salty, sweet snack for the long days waiting in the hospital. Do you have a scout troop who wants to help their fellow kids who are battling cancer? Connor's Heroes website has great ideas for day-long service projects.
A Holiday Memory
You know what you give a family helped by Connor's Heroes? You give them a wonderful memory for the holidays. Connor's Heroes arranged for a charter bus to take families on a tour of the area's incredible holiday lights. For our hero families, this was their one chance for festive fun in between doctor appointments, unexpected illnesses and hospital stays. The whole family came, even sweet month-old baby brothers and sisters, 40 people in all. Your gifts, along with a grant from the Richmond Christmas Mother and the Altria Companies Employee Community Fund, allowed us to give everyone a catered dinner and a warm, dry bus from which to watch the dazzling lights. A special moment was singing happy birthday to our brave hero, Thomas, who passed away in April. His grandmother donated cupcakes so we could celebrate his holiday birthday with his childhood cancer friends.
You can continue to make sure a family of a child with cancer doesn't miss having memories that mean so much to your family. The gift you make to Connor's Heroes now allows us to plan our programs in 2017. You will make sure no family faces their child's cancer alone.
Blanket Drive
This may be the largest school volunteer project ever conducted for Connor's Heroes. 450 elementary school students made fleece blankets for Connor's Heroes. It happened thanks to one kind-hearted person, Brittany. Brittany was one of our first volunteers who turned to us after the loss of her best friend. She started this project last year at her school and now, not only is her school participating, but two other schools loved the idea and are helping too! I can't wait to give a child in treatment a warm, soft blanket. To say that it was made by the loving hands of another child will make it even more special and comforting.
Remembering A Childhood Cancer Hero
Emily, Piersen, Katie, Callen and even Lisa, Connor's Mom, were celebrated by their wonderful friends and family this week. We received heartfelt financial gifts in their honor. All asked that Connor's Heroes help the other families who are actively in treatment. A few were determined to fund Dr. Corey's research through the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. Who is the special cancer hero in your life? Remember him or her by making a gift to Connor's Heroes in his/her honor. Your one gift not only gives financial and emotional support, you also give hope for finding a cure through research. Make a gift you can be proud of! MAKE YOUR GIFT BEFORE THE YEAR'S END
Will you be the hero we need?
Connor's Heroes understands that when a child receives a cancer diagnosis, the family begins a journey that piles on physical, emotional, and financial burdens at every turn. You can be hero if you give now. By supporting Connor's Heroes, you ensure families don't make that journey alone. You provide them with:
Hope. We assist families with expenses related to traveling for a second opinion or specialized treatment outside of Central Virginia.
An extra hand. From yard work to delivering meals, we help families live life as normally as possible.
A way for kids to be kids. Backpacks filled with games and activities distract kids from the discomfort of treatment and hospital stays. Brothers and sisters aren't forgotten either. Mentors make everyone in the family feel loved.
To celebrate our 10th year, we donated $100,000 to the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund and the Jamie Hess Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Fund on behalf of people like you.
Make Your Gift Before The Year Ends
Your financial gift will continue to make childhood cancer research a priority in Richmond, and you will be the hero these children need now.
Sincerely,
Lisa Spickler Goodwin
Co-founder, Managing Director and Connor's mom
Connor's Heroes is the only non-profit organization in our area working to conquer childhood cancer by providing direct support to families and financial support to research. www.connorsheroes.org
Summer Concert Raises $30K for Research
The Dwight Yoakam concert at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this summer raised, are you ready for it? $30,000! That money will go into the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research fund. It is a big boost to Seth Corey and his team of researchers. Thank you to our hero, Jim Napier of Napier Realtors ERA for allowing the sponsorships of Music for Massey to benefit pediatric cancer research. This one donation will give tremendous hope to the brave childhood cancer heroes. They need it now more than ever.
Update on Katie
We had an incredible outpouring of support from our Heroes of RVA blog. Many of you were moved by the beautiful photos of our brave heroes. Our photographer, Kristin Seward, not only captured their courage and strength, but she eloquently told their stories. By the end of the series, you walked with them on their journeys. One of the heroes was Katie, who's battling T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Erin, our program coordinator, shared an update on this beautiful girl:
Katie had her last bone marrow biopsy in October. Thankfully, it showed no evidence of disease. She has 100% donor cells! She's feeling strong enough to be back in school in the 3rd grade. She now goes to clinic every two weeks to draw labs and meet with the doctor. She has regular visits with an eye doctor as a result of the side effects of her treatment. Everyone is looking toward February. Katie will have a full round of scans and another biopsy. If the test results are good, Katie can finally have her port removed. This is an important milestone in a brave child's treatment. What impresses me the most about Katie and her family is the fact that they live life to its fullest. Their facebook page, Courage For Katie, is full of photos of the family enjoying time together, traveling, and even sharing the more difficult moments of Katie's cancer. I can say that they are an inspiration to our hero families.
Connor's Heroes will continue to offer financial and emotional assistance to Katie and her family. Thanks to the generous donations of your time and financial gifts, Katie is not alone. Keep Katie and all our hero families in your thoughts.
Fall Clean Up for Families
I have a great group of close friends who enjoy helping others, especially around the holidays. When we found out Moriah's family needed some help with their yard work, we were more than happy to lend a hand. Such an unfortunate circumstance for an incredible family. We were happy to take this minor chore off their plates. - CHF volunteer, Aaron
Our hero families woke up to find a crew of volunteers raking leaves and doing yard work for them. It was our annual Fall Clean Up. Thanks to support from you, we organize this day of community service every year near Thanksgiving. We realize our families are spending so much time at the hospital that yard work isn't a priority. Sometimes, they are too uncomfortable (or tired) to ask for help. Like a true superhero, our volunteers sprang into action. This year, 42 volunteers cleaned the yards of six families. Our volunteer crew was made up of young professionals, a board member’s children, a mother and daughter team, the University of Richmond girls soccer team and members of the Midlothian Kiawanis.
If helping people is important to you like it is to Aaron, tell us about yourself by filling out our volunteer application.
Trike A Thon for Connor’s Heroes
Thanks to these little tikes for riding trikes in support of Connor's Heroes (say that three times fast!). Students learned bicycle safety from Henrico County police officers and rode a "busy town" course to test out their skills. All this was done to raise $837 in honor of their hero buddy, Callen Tyson. Thank you to Bree King from Liberty Mutual and the Kids in Discovery Preschool for all of their support!