6th Annual Heroes Art Ball - Photo Gallery 1
The Heroes Art Ball is more than a fundraising event. It is a magical night where our childhood cancer patients and their families get to forget for just a little while that they are battling childhood cancer. The 2016 Heroes Art Ball raised more than $200,000. This money will provide direct support to area Hero families and fund research through the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund and the Jamie Hess Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Fund.
Save the date for May 12, 2017!
Thank you Kristin Seward for sharing your talents to captures these moments. kristinsewardphotography.com
Childhood Cancer Research
In the childhood cancer community, research is a hot topic of discussion among parents. It also is at Connor's Heroes. When Connor started his treatment, there was no focused research in pediatric cancer conducted in Richmond. Today, that is not the case thanks to The Goodwin Family. Richmond has a cancer researcher who is focused on one thing... pediatric cancer. In September 2015, Dr. Corey came to Richmond to lead the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. The change will not happen overnight. Rest assured, with Dr. Corey, the CHF Research Fund can advocate for advancements in treatment and cures. https://www.connorsheroes.org/donate/research-fund/
Bettie Weaver Elementary Service Club
Thank you to Bettie Weaver Elementary PTA K-Kids Service Club for making small pots of flower seeds. Each one has an inspiration message. Hopefully, with some TLC, the seeds will bloom into a beautiful flower to brighten up a Hero child's room. This is one of the creative ways that kids help their fellow kids who are battling cancer. If your school or service club is in need of a project, contact Connor's Heroes. We can give you a list of items and gift cards that we know are popular in our Heroes Bags and Backpacks. Email erin at connorsheroes.org.
10 Years of Heroes
This may look like a simple, framed picture of the Connor's Heroes logo. Look closely. Surrounding it are the names of the children who Connor's Heroes helped since The Goodwin family started it 10 years ago. More than 1,000 families! CHF Board President, Jeff Brownstein, presented it to the Goodwin Family at the Heroes Art Ball. It was an emotional moment for this special family. Our website has profiles of many of these children. Take a moment to learn about the brave children who are part of the Connor's Heroes family.
Sunday Funday April
April was our last Sunday Funday before the Heroes Art Ball. All the children were excited to be together and create their art. Many of the pieces are on display at our 501auction site for the auction that is online right now. Others, we will auction at the Heroes Art Ball on May 6. We welcomed our newest heroes Aida and Jack. The Sunday Funday is a program that we developed with our Young Professional group. Connor's Heroes staff work with the volunteers to make sure the facilities and activities are appropriate for children who are in various stages of treatment and may need special accommodations. Our program funds allow the volunteers to purchase necessary art supplies for the sessions. Looking at the photos, you see how our hero families and our volunteers enjoy this time together.
The Story Behind This Picture
Grace was very excited to give Lisa a box full of cards and goodies that she made to show Lisa how much she appreciated her and Connor's Heroes. Grace was diagnosed with PreB Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in 2013. We were honored to have her as our hero at the 2014 Heroes Art Ball. Below, Chrissy, Grace's mom, tells you about this special moment for Grace (and Lisa).
This picture is worth a thousand words to me. When I look at it, memories and experiences of the past three years of Grace's cancer journey come to mind. Many of them have something to do with this lady right here and Connor's Heroes.
Anyone who knows me or my family knows our love and appreciation for our Connor's Heroes cancer family and how they have supported us in so many ways. I could never begin to cover all the ways in a single post. Between the gift cards, amazing events, monthly art sessions, ballet lessons for Grace, Diggityfest, The Art Ball, the personal love and care, the list could go on and on. They have been by our side since the very beginning and have never left.
The night this picture was taken, knowing we'd had a hard few weeks and that my kids adore hers, Lisa said she and her kids were going to babysit for us so Matt and I could have a date night. Her love and dedication are 24/7, 365 days a year. Later that same week I would sit with her in a funeral home as she supported a grieving family and heard her softly say to the funeral director that Connor's Heroes will help pay for the funeral.
This year this amazing organization accomplished a major milestone - years ago they started an endowment for pediatric cancer research. And after years of hard work, fundraising, meetings at MCV, and more passion and love than I could ever describe, Connor's Heroes helped fund a pediatric cancer researcher at MCV! Dr. Seth Corey started last fall and I cannot tell you how incredibly excited and hopeful we are that his research will find cures and that our children will benefit from these efforts! Connor's Heroes pours many of the funds they raise into pediatric cancer research. A large portion of the sales from my company, That's Sew Cutesy, go directly to this fund.
Sometimes the Lord brings times of reflection in our lives. This has been one of those seasons for me. I want to thank you with all my heart to Lisa and everyone at Connor's Heroes for everything you have done for my family and countless others! Thank you for pouring your heart into everything you do on behalf of our kids and THANK YOU for making pediatric cancer research possible here at MCV. Thank you for making this your life's work, to be an advocate for our children and families. We love you so very much and I praise God for my Connor's Heroes family as I cannot imagine this journey without them!
Alpha Tau Omega Bike 300 miles
Thank you to the brothers of Alpha Tau Omega at Virginia Tech for raising $2,700 to help children with cancer in Virginia. They created a unique fundraising event. They challenge themselves to bike for 24 hours straight - without leaving the Va. Tech campus! They would bike on a stationary bike. They set up a tent in the drill field of Va. Tech. Frat brothers hopped on and together they biked all day and night. Sunset to sunrise. What an experience! Several brothers donned superhero costumes and biked from Blacksburg to the children's hospital in Roanoke. People donated from all over included Va. Tech alumni. We are so grateful to these young men, many from the Richmond area, who recognized that it's important to be heroes to children with cancer. If your college or school service group is interested in hosting a fund raising event for childhood cancer heroes, we have great ideas to get you started.
Guest Blogger: Campbell’s mom, Kim
Kim's daughter Campbell (or, as we know her, Soup!) was a hero at our 2013 Heroes Art Ball. If you've driven on 95, you've seen her beautiful smiling face on a billboard for Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU. She's become an ambassador for the childhood cancer community in Richmond. We are proud to have her as part of the Connor's Heroes family.
A lot of people describe the experience of having a child diagnosed with cancer as like a tornado. It was like that for me. When I was told that my daughter had leukemia, life started to spin out of control. Every routine my family once had was totally disrupted. We eventually found our new normal. While we were spinning, there were lots of people there to help. That was nearly four years ago. I often find myself wondering if I ever properly thanked those that helped the most. Connor's Heroes definitely deserves that thanks.
♦ Thank you for the backpack you gave us the day after my daughter's diagnosis. It was full of practical necessities for life in a hospital and sent a clear message that we were not alone in this scary, new world. We carried that backpack to every clinic trip we took for our three years of treatment.
♦ Thank you for faithfully serving lunch every Thursday on the 7th floor of the hospital as part of the Lunch Bunch. During long hospital stays, seeing a familiar face and eating an actual meal was more comforting than words can describe.
♦ Thank you for inviting our family to the circus. That outing was the first fun evening out of our house and the hospital that our family had since diagnosis. It helped us realize that we could still have fun.
♦ Thank you for sponsoring monthly art sessions with other families. They provide a time for my daughter to see “hospital friends” outside of that setting. Cancer kids share a very unique, strong bond.
♦ And lastly, a very heartfelt thank you to Lisa Goodwin. Thank you for not running far away from childhood cancer after your son finished treatment. (No one would have blamed you if you had.) Thank you for staying. Thank you for offering so much love, compassion, advocacy and energy to those of us with babies who are still fighting.
I am forever grateful for you.
2013 Heroes Art Ball
Art180 Opening
HEROES ~ art by Connor's Heroes youth affected by cancer. The opening of HEROES was more than I imagined. To see the art hanging in one of the city's top art studios during the excitement of RVA First Fridays was magical. The exhibit labels beautifully described the journey of the hero who created the piece. Many of our guests were overwhelmed with emotion. The show is open through April. You can visit ART 180, 10a-5p, Monday through Friday, or call 804.233.4180 for an appointment. The gallery is in Jackson Ward at 114 W. Marshall Street. We will auction each piece at the Heroes Art Ball, May 6, at Science Museum of Virginia. Proceeds benefit Connor's Heroes.http://501auctions.com/heroesartball
Decorating BMT Room for Toddler
Connor is a sweet baby who at the tender age of 19-months is having the second part of his treatment protocol. He's fighting Medulloblastoma. This is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood, and it accounts for about 20 percent of all childhood brain tumors. It is slightly more common in boys than girls. Our hero volunteer, Lindsay, decorated his room with his favorites: Winnie-The-Pooh and Curious George. She filled his room with colorful lights and his backpack with beautiful picture books. Your gift to Connor's Heroes gives Lindsay the resources she needs to purchase decorations for Connor's room. Hospital staff tell us that these decorations ease a family's anxiety. If you would like to volunteer to decorate rooms for our young patients, email Erin, our program director, at erin@connorsheroes.org.