“Reason this person is a Gold Ribbon Hero: My son Aric is a brain cancer-fighting superhero. When he was 8, a softball sized tumor was removed from the back of his brain. 3 years later, he started volunteering his time to fight homelessness. Today he’s 15. Although he’s blind in one eye and has very little vision in the other, he plays football, wrestles, and has helped the homeless in Orlando, Florida, and in Pontiac, Flint, Detroit, and Grand Rapids, Michigan.” – Adam B.
ACCO Executive Director Ruth Hoffman and Congessman Michael McCaul (R-TX)
ACCO board member Greg Aune and ACCO Executive Director Ruth Hoffman were proud to attend the 6th annual Childhood Cancer Summit held Friday September 18th in the Visitor’s Center Auditorium of the U.S. Capitol Building. The Childhood Cancer Caucus is co-chaired by Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). ACCO’s office is located in Congressman Van Hollen’s 8th Congressional District of Maryland, so we were once again proud of our relationship with our Congressional Champion. Congressman Van Hollen thanked all in attendance for, “coming together to push forward on research and treatments for childhood cancer.” He assured the advocates in attendance that, “Progress happens when individuals work towards positive change.”
ACCO Board memmber Greg Aune MD, PhD and Congessman Michael McCaul (R-TX)
Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) also highlighted the dysfunctional state of the institution and Americans being deeply troubled at Congress’ inability to get, “anything done.” She also challenged those in attendance to, “Let Congress know that they CAN do something by supporting the STAR Act and by increasing funding to the NIH.” She advised families in the room who had gone through the childhood cancer experience, “to use our grief to make change.”
For more information about the American Childhood Cancer Organization and how we can help, call 855.858.2226 or visit:
” Reason this person is a Gold Ribbon Hero: She is a strong and sweet little girl who has changed my life and many others lives. She deserves this and SO MUCH MORE! She’s mine and my daughter’s hero!” – Lauren G.
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, September 17, 2015 (Kensington, Md.) A hospital can be a scary place for a child. Imagine how difficult it must be for a child undergoing treatments for cancer. The on-going initiative by Columbia Utilities and PALMco Energy is generously donating $10,000 to help underwrite the Medical Play Kits distributed free by the American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO).
The Medical Play Kit helps a child with cancer better understand and mentally prepare for upcoming tests or treatments. Kids can interact with Cozy the Port-a-Cat, a stuffed animal that serves as a teaching tool and a companion for children before, during, and after their cancer treatment.
Through the “Columbia Cares” and “PALMco Cares,” programs, the companies also donate $1 every month to ACCO for each gas and/or electricity customer account that registers.
“Being a family owned business, we feel a special connection with ACCO not only because it was founded by a group of parents, but also because it is a strong voice and pillar of support for all families of children with cancer,” said Robert Palmese, President of Columbia Utilities and PALMco. “The partnership enables customers to turn an everyday task like paying their utility bills into an opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child. As a father myself, I am proud to do my part to help ACCO, and hope customers will join us in aiding families to combat this deadly disease.”
“While childhood cancer has seen an improvement in survival since our organization’s founding, sadly, childhood cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease of America’s children,” said Ruth Hoffman, ACCO’s Executive Director. “The needs are great and ACCO is thankful for this partnership with Columbia Utilities and PALMco. We are grateful to their customers who can so easily make a difference in the lives of these courageous children because kids can’t fight cancer alone.®”
The American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO) is the nation’s largest grassroots organization at the forefront of the crucial battle against childhood cancer. The ACCO is dedicated to improving the lives of children living with childhood cancer and its long-term impacts, and to offering critical advice, support, and assistance to families engaged in this life-altering struggle.
Columbia Utilities and PALMco are sister companies, based in Brooklyn, New York, and owned and operated by the same family. Columbia Utilities supplies electricity, gas, and oil in New York, while PALMco supplies gas and electricity in Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SET UP AN INTERVIEWRuth Hoffman, Executive Director, rhoffman@acco.org. Cell: 202-262-9949, Direct Line: 855-858-2226, ext. 104
For more information about the American Childhood Cancer Organization and how we can help, call 855.858.2226 or visit:
“Reason this person is a Gold Ribbon Hero: This is Alicia’s 2nd bought with sarcoma. This time it’s in her spine. She is a hero. Alicia is 25 years old. 1st tumor was found when she was just 24 weeks pregnant. Against the advise of her drs and family she continued the pregnancy. Her son Wylee was born 5/14/13..healthy and strong. Now she is struggling to raise an active 2y/o after 2 major back to back surgeries to both remove tumor and reconstruct bone she lost. Three days after being released from hospital she helped deliver her sisters baby and she does it with a smile on her face.” – Kelly S.
“Reason this person is a Gold Ribbon Hero: My son Brodie is my hero not just today but everyday. Brodie was diagnosed at the young age of 8 months old. Brodie went through many rounds of chemotherapy. Even on his worst days he was so full of lover and life. Brodie always had a smile on his face even after being messed with all day. He made so many friends in the hospital. We almost had to spend Brodie’s first birthday in the hospital but we were released a few days before. I am so lucky and proud to be able to watch my baby grow into such a great young man. We are so very thankful for everyone we have encountered throughout our hospital experiences they all have left a mark on our lives. Thanks to all of you my son is a soft understanding little boy who loves to help others in need. Brodie will soon be 3 on October 15th and thankfully he has been on watch and the scans have shown the tumors are still there but aren’t sure if they are growing. I am one proud momma.” – Kylie M.
” Reason this person is a Gold Ribbon Hero: Quinn was first diagnosed with cancer when he was 20 months old. Rhabdomyosarcoma. He had a soft tissue tumor in his abdomen the size of a cantaloupe. After five surgeries, nearly a year of chemo and six weeks of radiation, he was cancer free! Unfortunately, the first week of this year, at the age of 10, Quinn was diagnosed with a secondary cancer. Osteosarcoma. This time, a bone tumor in his pelvis caused by the radiation he received as a little guy. So far this year, he has had round after round of high dose chemo and another five surgeries, including a hemipelvectomy in April, where his right hip and leg were amputated. Despite all of this, Quinn can almost always be found with a huge smile on his face, inspiring all who are fortunate to know him!” – Teresa H.
“Reason this person is a Gold Ribbon Hero: He was diagnosed at a year and half of age with A.L.L. with a 50/50 chance now 8 yrs old he is now cancer free he kicked cancers but he is my hero I am proud to be his mommy” – Martha C.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: time for all of us to #StepUp and make childhood cancer a national health priority. Making childhood cancer a priority means devoting critical resources towards much-needed research efforts and clinical trials devoted to the development of new, more effective, and less toxic treatments. It means making sure childhood cancer receives an equal share of the budgetary pie. It means ensuring the continuation of critical federal funding focused on defeating this terrible disease forever.
This is not a call for donations. This is a call to add your voice to the growing chorus of people demanding that the US Government commit to funding critical research efforts specifically targeting childhood cancer.
This month, Congress will review a major piece of legislation designed to protect and enhance federal funding for research into targeted therapies specifically designed for childhood cancer. We hope that you will join with the ACCO to encourage Congress to pass the Childhood Cancer STAR Act. As always, the budget is tight and money is scarce, and Congress has many funding priorities to consider. So we need to work together to let Congress know that childhood cancer cannot be forgotten, that the children facing cancer today and those who will face it tomorrow are counting on Congress—and on us—to make their future brighter.
The Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research (STAR) Act is an important first step in addressing the critical funding gap undermining the potential for advances in treatment protocols for all forms of childhood cancer. This critical legislation seeks to promote research for childhood cancer in five substantive ways:
1 out of every 285 children will be diagnosed with childhood cancer every year, and nearly 90% of those children will receive treatment through clinical trials supported by NCI’s Children’s Oncology Group. Because every type of childhood cancer requires a unique treatment approach, development of new, effective, and less toxic treatment protocols has lagged significantly behind similar efforts into adult cancers. In fact, of the 109 new cancer drugs developed since 1990, only two were developed and approved by the FDA to specifically treat childhood cancer.
The NCI funds nearly all current and ongoing research into new treatments for childhood cancer, and its success has been remarkable: in the past decade, the survivorship rate for some forms of cancer has risen to above 80%. Unfortunately, recent funding cuts have impaired the NCI’s, and specifically the Children’s Oncology Group’s, ability to promote critical research efforts and support desperately-needed clinical trials. These cuts threaten to halt the promising gains that have been made in many areas thus far.
Only by securing much-needed financial support for the NCI and keeping childhood cancer at the forefront of the NCI’s agenda can we preserve the gains that have already been made in the fight against childhood cancer, and continue to push toward a future where no child has to die from this devastating illness or suffer long-term health effects stemming from current treatment protocols.
This month, the ACCO, along with many other groups and individuals in the childhood cancer community, is “Stepping Up” its efforts to make Congress and the general public aware of the grave threat childhood cancer poses to children today and the critical need for ongoing research into new and better treatments. It is our goal, this month, to Make Childhood Cancer a National Priority.
For more information on how to join our social media campaign, letter templates for contacting your representative, and specific posts, tweets, and images you can use to capture the attention of your local representative and the community near you, we encourage you to visit www.stepupforchildhoodcancer.com today! We thank you for helping us #MakeChildhoodCancerANationalPriority!
For more information about the American Childhood Cancer Organization and how we can help, call 855.858.2226 or visit:
We are overjoyed at the overwhelming success of this year’s Go Gold for Kids with Cancer® awareness t-shirt campaign! We simply cannot think of a better way to showcase the critical importance of September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month than by celebrating the children who have been touched by this difficult, traumatic, and all-too-often deadly disease. We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who participated in the campaign this year: from those who shared their child’s name and story with us, to those who purchased t-shirts and are wearing them proudly, and to those who shared your beautiful pictures with us. And a special thank you to Booster, who worked closely with the ACCO to design, produce, and ship these amazing t-shirts. We thank you ALL for making this year’s Go Gold for Kids with Cancer® T-Shirt campaign our most successful Awareness Event yet!
The 2015 t-shirt featured an incredible 3,454 names of children who have suffered from some form of childhood cancer. The names of these children cannot, indeed must not ever be forgotten, whether they are undergoing treatment now, are a survivor, or sadly left us far too soon. Childhood cancer continues to touch the lives of too many children, and today’s outdated and highly toxic treatment protocols are proving inadequate to the task of safely and permanently eradicating the threat this disease poses to our children.
Demand for this years’ t-shirt was so high that we extended the purchase deadline by one week to September 8, to ensure that everyone who wanted a t-shirt was able to get one and still receive it this month! With the second campaign ending last night, a total of 8,132 t-shirts have been ordered this year. We are so pleased, so excited at the thought of so many t-shirts and so many names being proudly displayed around the nation in recognition of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and we are gratified that so many of you took the time to share with us your pictures of the shirts being worn proudly. Your active participation in this campaign helps us spread the word about the prevalence and severity of this disease, as well as the critical need for advanced research into new and better treatment protocols that fight the disease without the harmful late effects suffered by so many childhood cancer survivors.
Vital role in enabling the ACCO’s missionOur annual Go Gold® t-shirt campaign plays a vital role in enabling the ACCO’s mission to spread awareness about childhood cancer and the many children it affects every year. For too many years, childhood cancer was a silent killer, overshadowed by the overwhelming attention paid to adult cancers, but increasing awareness about this disease makes it easier to improve our advocacy campaigns at the highest levels in support of new research efforts into more effective and less toxic treatment protocols.
The Go Gold® t-shirt campaign also enables the ACCO to continue to offer high-quality, free resources to children and families currently facing a cancer diagnosis or dealing with late effects of a cancer treatment. These resources are designed to offer real, tangible, daily support and relief to children facing childhood cancer, as well as provide parents with the critical knowledge they need to navigate the difficult world of childhood cancer and make well-informed decisions about their child’s treatment and care. These resources play a vital role in empowering the lives of these amazing cancer warriors and their families, and your participation in this campaign helps make it possible to distribute these resources to all who need them, free of charge!
This year’s campaign is over, but we are already planning our next t-shirt campaigns and hope you will be just as eager to participate next year as you were this year!
The American Childhood Cancer Organization is dedicated to offering assistance, support, and guidance to children facing childhood cancer and their families. Founded and led by parents of children with cancer and survivors—the ACCO is guided by a deep, personal commitment to doing everything we can to make the lives of the children courageously battling this deadly disease easier. To find out how you can help, we encourage you to visit www.acco.org for more information on our critical mission and details on how you can help us eliminate this threat to our children forever.
…Because Kids Can’t Fight Kids Alone!®
For more information about the American Childhood Cancer Organization and how we can help, call 855.858.2226 or visit:
