Bringing Holidays To Our Hero Families
The holidays are stressful enough. Adding to the pressure, our Hero kids still have countless appointments, clinic visits, treatments and unexpected trips to the hospital. Moriah was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma when she was less than a month old. This sweet baby has only known a life with cancer. While we drove to and from the malls, her family made more trips to Duke for treatment, often spending several days at a time in North Carolina. Childhood cancer does not take a break for the holidays! We realized it is a good time to call on our community of volunteers. Thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous donor and a grant from the Richmond Christmas Mother Fund, eight Hero families had Secret Santas take care of their holiday wish list.
Our Secret Santas made sure presents were wrapped and delivered right to their doorsteps. Our Hero Santas made deliveries to South Hill and Petersburg and delivered Christmas dinner too! We appreciated the kind email written by the mother of our 17-year-old Hero. She's battling a brain tumor that metastasized to her spine.
This is a program we coordinate, every year, with ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation. We want to thank Johnson Controls, Haley Auto, McGuireWoods LLP, Aaron and Karen for making the holidays special for our Hero families.
Kids Helping Kids 2015
Over the holidays, a Midlothian Girl Scout troop held a bake sale for Connor's Heroes. All the baked goods were priced at just a dollar! Would you believe they raised $500! That's enough to fill five backpacks for the first five children diagnosed with childhood cancer this year. If your scout troop, church group, school service club or family wants to hold a fundraiser for Connor's Heroes, our website is full of simple ideas to get you started.
Guide to Giving
Now's the time to show that you believe every child should not face cancer alone. Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children yet it only receives 4% of research funding from the federal government. Connor's Heroes surrounds a family with a community of heroes who help emotionally and financially. Your financial gift makes it possible for Braxton's mom, shown here, to feel there's hope for her baby boy. This is your guide to learn more about the families who need you to support Connor's Heroes with a financial gift made before the year's end.
You can give online at our secure site, www.connorsheroes.org/donate, or mail a check to Connor's Heroes, P.O. Box 2536, Midlothian VA 23113. Thank you!
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Celebrating The Holidays
We are busy as elves here at the office of Connor's Heroes. Every day we reach out to families to make sure they don't feel alone in their journey with a child's cancer. During the holidays it is more important to extend a helping hand. That's where our community of hero volunteers come in!
- Pat, a volunteer and cancer survivor, signed 100 holiday cards that Erin mailed to our hero families.
- A mom dropped off a stack of adorable cards made by the Builder's Club at Midlothian Middle.
- A family delivered beautifully wrapped presents for a hero family. The financial burden and emotional toll of their teen's treatment for leukemia is making the holidays hard. Thanks to the grant from The Richmond Christmas Mother Fund, they will have presents and gift cards for the holiday.
- Families living in the Woods at Sumerford donated gift cards for our Heroes Bags and Backpacks and raised $500 selling holiday baked goods.
These are great reasons to believe in the community of heroes who help the families of Connor’s Heroes. Together, we will make sure no family faces their child's cancer alone, especially during the holidays.
Giving For The Holidays
This holiday, why not ask your family, friends, co-workers or secret santas to donate to Connor's Heroes instead of purchasing gifts? A $10, $25 or $50 tax-deductible donation will help a child who is spending the holidays in treatment here in Richmond. You will make sure no family in Central Virginia will go through their child's cancer alone. Feel free to download the graphics. Include them in a text, email or your holiday cards. Anyone can donate online at our secure site, www.connorsheroes.org/donate, or mail a check to Connor's Heroes, P.O. Box 2536, Midlothian VA 23113. If you have other suggestions, contact me at lisa@connorsheroes.org.
Video of our Heroes
Flipgram is a fun way to show you a collage of photos. Here's one created for our end-of-the-year giving campaign. In one minute, you will see our heroes such as Landon, Katie, Caleb, Pierson and the volunteers who helped throughout the year. As you're with your family,friends and co-workers over the holiday, you can tell them about Connor's Heroes by showing them this video. Whether you donate to support our programs or pediatric cancer research, your gift will impact the lives of families battling childhood cancer. Discover how...
Hero Families Take Tacky Lights Tour
Connor’s Heroes decided this year, for our annual holiday outing for our hero families, we would rent a bus and do a Holiday Tacky Lights Tour. Reservations for the bus filled up quickly. More than 50 children, parents and grandparents joined in! We toured for three hours; with ohh's and ahh's at every house and singing Christmas carols in between.
Thank you to Hannah Rhudy for serving delicious hot chocolate and baking cookies for the families. Thank you to Winn Transportation for providing the tour at a discount rate and Captain Dan who was our wonderful driver and guide.
Connor’s Heroes can offer fun outings for our families due to the generosity of our community of heroes who give to Connor’s Heroes. This trip with our Superheroes & Sidekicks was supported by a grant from the Altria Companies Employee Community Fund. You can make a difference to a family with a child in treatment for cancer through your end-of-the-year gift.
Happy Holidays!
Superbowl Quarterback Meets Our Hero, Thomas
Sometimes a birthday wish does come true. That certainly was the case for our hero, Thomas. Thomas considers Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, his hero. When we realized the Seahawks were playing in Baltimore the weekend of Thomas’s birthday, our community of heroes sprung into action! As Thomas’s grandmother commented on our Facebook page, “Thank you so much for everything you have done for my family. Words can't describe the joy you have brought my grandson Thomas and family.” The photo essay below shows Thomas's amazing weekend.
When you give to Connor’s Heroes, you allow us to help a family in a meaningful way. We are in the middle of our end-of-year- campaign to raise the money we need to help our hero families in 2016. Make your donation online or by mailing a check to Connor's Heroes, P.O. Box 2536, Midlothian VA 23113.
End Of Year Giving Is Happening Now
December is the time of year when Connor's Heroes asks you to make your annual gift in honor of our Heroes. Historically, our annual campaign raises the money we need to make sure every child who is in treatment for childhood cancer is helped by Connor's Heroes.
How does your gift directly help a family? Some families need financial assistance with household expenses such as groceries, gas, clothing. Other families ask us to help with housework, yard work or transportation. Our Superheroes and Sidekicks give siblings lots of attention. Families enjoy the outings we offer such as Sunday Funday and a bus trip to see all the Holiday Tacky Lights. For some of you, childhood cancer research is important so you give to the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund.
The more you give, the more we can give to our brave childhood cancer heroes. You can donate online at our secure website or mail your check to Connor's Heroes, P.O. Box 2536, Midlothian VA 23113. Thank you!
A Note of Thanks
The week before Thanksgiving, 42 families found in their mailbox a card from Connor's Heroes. Inside was a $50 gift card from their favorite grocery store. Every other month, CHF mails gift cards to needy families who've registered with us. Treating childhood cancer often comes at a great financial cost to families. The average out-of-pocket cost is nearly $10,000. Then there are the hidden costs of: food, transportation, and accommodation. That's where Connor's Heroes can help. As you can read from the wonderful note sent to us, a gift card for groceries makes a difference to a family who's struggling with the week's expenses then give to Connor's Heroes. You'll allow us to make sure no family in Central Virginia faces their child's cancer alone.