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PJammin’® Event for Kids with Cancer

Today, we would like to express our sincerest thanks to Jel Sert President Ken Wegner and all the employees of Jel Sert, over 200 of whom are currently participating in the first-ever corporate PJammin’® event to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer! During this corporate-wide fundraiser, employees who have chosen to participate can wear their favorite t-shirt and pajama bottoms to work. The top fundraiser in each department will get to drop their supervisor into a dunk tank, while the top overall fundraiser gets to dunk Jel Sert President Ken Wegner. What an amazing way to show support for children with cancer and their families: spending the day in your favorite PJs and working for the chance to dunk your boss! Thank you, Ken Wegner and all your employees, for your help and support; we hope you have fun today!

The funds raised from this event will support the ACCO’s ongoing mission to develop and distribute resources and educational tools designed to empower children and their families during their battle against childhood cancer. From the very first moment a family hears the devastating news that their child has cancer, they are thrown into an entirely new world where they must make numerous critical medical decisions on which the health and wellbeing of their child depends, all while attempting to explain this new world to a scared, hurting child. Our learning resources, available free of charge to families coping with childhood cancer, are designed to empower families by giving them the information and tools they need to navigate this challenging and overwhelming new world. The funds raised today also support the ACCO’s advocacy missions here and abroad to fight for improved funding of and access to new and better treatments designed specifically for childhood cancer.

ACCO and Jel Sert: An Ongoing Partnership

We would also like to thank Ken Wegner and Jel Sert for its ongoing and heartfelt support for children with cancer, as well as for the ACCO and its mission. Jel Sert has been a dedicated supporter of the childhood cancer community for many years now. Through its Take a Pop, Share a Smile program, Jel Sert donates freezers and frozen Fla-Vor-Ice treats to pediatric oncology hospitals around the country. For children undergoing treatment for cancer, these pops are more than simply a fun treat; they can play a critical role in easing the pain of mouth sores, keeping children hydrated, and alleviating many other negative side effects of cancer treatment. Since 2008, Jel Sert has donated freezers to 115 hospitals, and more than one million pops! Jel Sert also displays the gold ribbon, the internationally-recognized awareness symbol for childhood cancer, on Fla-Vor-Ice freezer pops, Otter Pops, Pop-Ice, and other Jel Sert products.

Now, Jel Sert has once again shown its dedication to the childhood cancer community by becoming the first corporation to hold a large-scale PJammin’ ®fundraiser! PJammin’® events are a fun, memorable way to raise awareness about childhood cancer and what it means in the day-to-day life of a child. Originally created as a way for families to build awareness of childhood cancer in their child’s school, organizers of PJammin’® events invite participants to wear their pajamas during the day, just as a child undergoing treatment for cancer often spends days, even weeks, in a hospital wearing pjs or hospital gowns. Today, Jel Sert has shown us that PJammin’®, Go Gold®, and other fundraising and awareness events need not be limited to schools, but can be a great way for organizations and corporations to build team spirit, improve community outreach, and even have some fun, all while helping children with cancer and their families!

If you are interested in hosting a PJammin’®, Go Gold®, or other creative fundraising event in your business, school, or community, we encourage you to contact us today for more information!

About the American Childhood Cancer Organization

The American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO) is a non-profit charity dedicated to helping kids with cancer and their families navigate the difficult journey from cancer diagnosis through survivorship. Internationally, the ACCO is the sole US member of Childhood Cancer International (CCI), the largest patient-support organization for childhood cancer in the world. Here in the United States, the ACCO promotes the critical importance of ensuring continued funding into new and better treatment protocols for childhood cancer. And most importantly, the ACCO is focused on the children: developing and providing educational tools for children fighting cancer and their families, empowering them in their understanding of childhood cancer and the medical decisions they must make during this difficult journey. All of ACCO’s resources are available free of charge for families coping with childhood cancer.

For additional information on our resources or information on how to obtain our resources free of charge, please visit our website at www.acco.org.

For more information about the American Childhood Cancer Organization and how we can help, call 855.858.2226 or visit:

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New ACCO Board Member Mr. Ken Wegner, President of Jel Sert

The American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO) is very pleased to introduce as its newest Board Member Mr. Ken Wegner, President of the Jel Sert Company and father of a childhood cancer survivor. Mr. Wegner is the grandson of Jel Sert founders Charles and Lillian Wegner, and has worked at Jel Sert since 1985, first as Director of Purchasing and then as President since 1997, although he notes that his employment at Jel Sert really began right from childhood, when he and other children in the family would help suggest, and test, new products and flavors! A graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio, Mr. Wegner has a long and noted history of charitable and philanthropic endeavors, including serving as Chairman of the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Foundation Board, a board member at the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, and membership in WPO – Chicago.

ACCO & Jel Sert Partnership

Mr. Wegner’s partnership with ACCO began in 2008 with the introduction of two incredibly important programs in support of childhood cancer awareness. First, Jel Sert began proudly displaying the gold ribbon, the internationally-recognized awareness symbol for childhood cancer, as well as information about ACCO on their Fla-Vor-Ice freezer pops. Jel Sert’s support for the Gold Ribbons for Childhood Cancer Awareness now extends to many more of their packaging, including Otter Pops and Pop-Ice. Second, Jel Sert founded the Take a Pop, Share a Smile program. Recognizing that freezer pops play a critical role in easing the pain of mouth sores, keeping children hydrated, and alleviating many other negative side effects of cancer treatment, Jel Sert generously donates freezers and a continuous supply of freezer pops to more than 115 childhood cancer treatment centers across the United States. Jel Sert’s ongoing partnership with the ACCO and support of the ACCO’s mission to raise awareness about this disease became personal for Mr. Wegner when his teenage son was diagnosed with cancer in 2011.

About Jel Sert

Since its founding by the Wegner family in 1926, Jel Sert has been a family-owned company located in West Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Wegner continues his grandparents’ commitment to offering innovative, high quality, and great tasting food products, following the guiding principles of quality, flavor, fun, and value instituted by Charles Wegner back in 1926. Jel Sert’s products currently include freezer bars, dessert mixes, powdered drink mixes, and ready-to-drink beverages. Jel Sert’s nationally-recognized brand names include, among others, Wyler’s, Wyler’s Light, Pop- Ice, Flavor-Aid, Fla-Vor-Ice, Royal, My*T*Fine, Otter Pops, and Mondo.

Today, Jel Sert employs more than 1,000 employees in US-based manufacturing plants that continue Jel Sert’s commitment to maintaining the highest possible quality standards, meeting the standards set by the US Food and Drug Administration for manufacturing in the pharmaceutical industry. Incorporating these industry standards into its manufacturing practices has enabled Jel Sert to produce pharmaceutical-grade products such as Pedia Care Pops for Pfizer and Pedialyte for Abbott Labs. Jel Sert’s consist commitment to quality and innovation have enabled it to compete nationally with significantly larger food manufacturers; its products are currently distributed to more than 60,000 retail outlets across the country!

We appreciate Mr. Wegner’s and Jel Sert’s ongoing support of the ACCO and the childhood cancer community, and look forward to working closely with Mr. Wegner as we continue to pursue and develop the ACCO’s mission to build awareness about childhood cancer and the needs of families who are facing or who have faced this terrible disease.

About American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO)

The American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO) is a non-profit charity dedicated to helping kids with cancer and their families navigate the difficult journey from cancer diagnosis through survivorship and bereavement. At the national level, the ACCO promotes the critical importance of ensuring continued funding into new and better treatment protocols for childhood cancer. At the grassroots level, the ACCO is focused on the children: developing and providing educational tools for families and learning resources for children in order to make the lives of children and their families a bit easier and perhaps even brighter during this difficult time. Many of our resources are available free of charge for families coping with childhood cancer.

For additional information on our resources or information on how to obtain our resources free of charge, please visit our website at www.acco.org.