By Kimberly Paulk, Senior Connector at SHARECharlotte.com, a free, easy and local website that makes it easy to learn about and engage with our local nonprofits
“The soul is healed by being with children.” – English Proverb
Cancer and kids: it’s hard to read those two words in the same sentence.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, although for many parents and kids no specially designated month is necessary—they deal with this terrible disease every day. In fact, cancer is the number one cause of death by disease among children in the U.S.
This frightening statistic is why there are organizations working hard to eradicate cancer from kids’ lives. Here in Charlotte, a lot of good work is being done to help families, fund research and raise awareness. Here are a few. We hope you’ll take a minute to check them out and get involved.
Jeff Gordon Foundation – supports children battling cancer by funding programs that improve patients’ quality of life, treatment programs that increase survivorship and pediatric medical research dedicated to finding a cure. Check out the 2014 Corvette Raffle for a chance to win and help a great cause at the same time! (The raffle ends on Sept 29th or when all tickets are sold, whichever occurs first.)
Isabella Santos Foundation – Isabella had three wishes: beat cancer, grow hair and live her dreams. This foundation is determined to help these wishes come true for other children, and works to raise awareness and research funds for Neuroblastoma. Their annual 5k for Kids Cancer is THIS SATURDAY! Register here.
Cookies for Kids Cancer Charlotte – inspires individuals and businesses to host bake sales to help fund desperately needed pediatric cancer research. Get involved now to help with their 7th annual bake sale coming up in December.
Heart Meter – The average duration of chemo treatment ranges from 30 minutes to 4 hours. That’s a lot of time to fill. Heart Meter helps by donating video game systems, games, and accessories.
The Sandbox – helps patients and their families whose children have cancer or life-altering illnesses so they can focus on the most important factors: Believing and Healing. Their annual Evening of Believing Prom is this week!
Did we miss any great Charlotte organizations doing the important work of bringing an end to childhood cancer? Please let us know about them in the comments!
