Organizations shine spotlight on the No. 1 disease killing children
ST. GEORGE — Every day, 43 kids are diagnosed with cancer in the United States, with more than 40,000 children in active cancer treatment each year. Nearly 1,800 will die of the disease, despite numerous treatment advances that have improved the outlook for many children.
September marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, ushering in events focused on raising public awareness and fundraising to ultimately end the pediatric disease that can strike any family without warning.
Cancer is the No. 1 disease killing children from age six months to young adulthood and is the leading cause of nonaccidental death in children, according to the Children’s Cancer Institute, but only 3 percent of all cancer research money goes to childhood cancers.
In the United States, 1 out of 8 children will not survive their cancer diagnosis.
Kneaders Bakery and Cafe
During the month of September, Kneaders Bakery and Cafe is running the “Hope Fights Childhood Cancer” campaign in all of its 56 locations. Throughout the month, elephant-shaped sugar cookies and campaign-themed retail items will be sold and all proceeds are used to benefit the groundbreaking work of Dr. Joshua Schiffman, world-renowned oncologist, hematologist, teen cancer survivor and respected cancer researcher at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Schiffman’s team has been exploring a cancer-fighting elephant protein which helps protect elephants from developing cancer. Research has shown that elephants have 40 of these proteins in their cells, while humans have only two, which might explain why more than 4,600 humans in the U.S. are diagnosed with the disease everyday.
In St. George the Kneaders Bakery and Cafe located at 199 N. Bluff Street is owned by Kathy and Lowell Hansen, who are committed to the cause, Kathy Hansen said.
The store participates in the month-long campaign with “Hope Fights Childhood Cancer” themed items being offered on a large display and employees wearing powder-blue campaign T-shirts.
“It really all started on a corporate level with the company’s owners, Gary and Colleen Worthington, when their grandson was diagnosed with cancer and treated at the Huntsman Cancer Institute,” she said.
Kneaders, a Utah-based company, raised $142,000 in 2016. In the first half of September alone, more than $120,000 has so far been raised, Carrie Hill, Kneaders Bakery and Cafe’s public relations manager said.
Kneaders and the Huntsman Cancer Foundation hope to raise $300,000 throughout the month.
In addition to the elephant cookies and the campaign-themed retail items, Kneaders customers will also have the option to make a cash donation of their choice to the campaign and/or round-up their purchase at the register and/or online at kneaders.com/hope.
One hundred percent of the sugar cookie sales and a portion of the retail items sold both online and in-store will be donated to Dr. Schiffman and his team at Huntsman Cancer Institute, helping to further explore into what role the elephant gene might play in the fight to end childhood cancer.
In June of this year, the Huntsman Cancer Institute unveiled the Primary Children’s and Families’ Cancer Research Center, a 225,000 square foot building that will house researchers focusing on cancer that affects children and runs in families.
Amazon’s “GO GOLD” Campaign
This month Amazon will deliver 10 million boxes featuring gold ribbons, the international symbol of childhood cancer, empowering customers to join in the fight one box at a time in the company’s month-long campaign to help the American Childhood Cancer Organization, or ACCO, raise awareness and elevate childhood cancer as a national health priority.
On behalf of each child, Amazon will make donations to pediatric oncology programs across America committed to saving their lives.
Amazon also donated $1 million to help ACCO fund initiatives that provide educational, financial and emotional support to children and families in communities across the country.
Utah Childhood Cancer License Plate
These plates are to help raise awareness of childhood cancer and to help fund childhood cancer research taking place in Utah. The proceeds from the plates will go to the Oncology Department of Primary Children’s Hospital. For more information, go to Childhood Cancer License Plate for Utah.
“It’s time for us all to help make childhood cancer a Utah Priority,” Krystal Hansen, program founder said.
Summit Athletic Club
Summit Athletic Club located at 1973 W. Sunset Boulevard in St. George is hosting a High Fitness fundraiser that is being held Tuesday, Sept. 29 starting at 7:30 p.m. They are asking for a $10 donation, and each donation will be entered into a raffle with prizes.
Kneaders will provide snacks for after the workout, and all donations will go to Dr Schiffman research for cure at Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. To sign up, call 435-628-2151.
Cookies for Kids Cancer
Another organization involved this month, Cookies for Kids Cancer, is running the “Good Cookies” campaign to honor the 40,000 kids actively battling cancer daily, as well as holding events to raise money for research. The organization provides annual research grants to five of the nation’s leading pediatric cancer centers to advance the development of less toxic, more effective treatments for children battling cancer.
The company offers 10 cookie flavors and every box ordered supports research at the nation’s leading pediatric cancer centers.
Childhood cancer facts:
- The average age of a child diagnosed with cancer is 6.
- One in five children diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. will not survive.
- 80 percent of children diagnosed with cancer are in developing countries.
- The most common form of childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL.
- In 80 percent of childhood cancer cases, the disease has already spread to other areas of the body by the time it’s discovered.
- Many of the discoveries and research that help adult cancers were found through pediatric cancer research.
- There are more than a dozen types of childhood cancer and a hundred subtypes.
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