Today's Helping Hero: Once Upon A Child
Once Upon A Child raised close to $3,000 — during September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month by donating a portion of their Friday sales to Connor’s Heroes. The store and their customers’ generosity will be a lifeline to families who rely on Connor’s Heroes for support. We can provide them with gift cards for groceries and gas and other surprises to get our childhood cancer heroes through another day of treatment.
Dinner From Burger Bach
Thanks to your generous donations, Connor’s Heroes treated 15 families to a delicious dinner from Burger Bach. Throughout the pandemic, Connor’s Heroes has been creative on how we bring moments of joy to our hero families. It might seem like a simple burger, but the time they spent eating dinner together is what makes us smile! Thanks for being a part of our community of heroes and allowing us to provide hope guidance and support to our childhood cancer families (in new and exciting ways!!)
During September Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, select Burger Bach locations will donate a dollar for every speciality burger ordered. Find out all the details, including ordering online, at www.connorsheroes.org/2020-giving-bach
Giving Bach at Burger Bach Locations
In honor of September Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, select Burger Bach locations will donate $1 for every Burger Of The Month ordered. The September Burger of the Month is the Pizza Chick- Organic chicken, basil pesto aioli, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, tomato and garlic aioli. The fundraiser is at the Burger Bach locations:
Burger Bach – Midlothian: 101 Heaths Way Road Midlothian, VA 23114
Burger Bach – Short Pump: Old Brick Rd, Glen Allen, VA
Burger Bach – Charlottesville: 2050 Bond Street, Charlottesville, VA
Burger Bach – Durham: 737 9th St, Durham NC
Visit theburgerbach.com to place your order online.
Today's Helping Hero: Mike with Scelzo Real Estate Group LLC
I don’t want the lack of accessibility to be a reason for one of our kiddos to fall behind this year.
— Mike Scelzo, The Scelzo Real Estate Team, and Jaiden’s dad
As families face schooling during the pandemic, Mike wanted to make sure a child with cancer could connect with friends, teachers, and classmates. Mike knows first-hand the struggles of a family who has to juggle work, education, and a child’s cancer diagnosis. His son Jaiden was diagnosed with ALL in October 2016. The family was featured at our 2018 Heroes Art Ball. Jaiden is now in post-treatment and starting kindergarten. Mike donated 16 Google Chromebooks for us to give to the childhood cancer heroes who need a laptop. Mike’s donation came just in time for the first day of school. On behalf of our heroes, thank you Mike!
Exciting News About 2021
Celia Martin, Executive Director of Connor’s Heroes, with Elias Neujahr, CEO of Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, tell you about a special partnership coming in 2021.
2020 Jr. Hero Squad
Congratulations to Graeme’s Warriors: Graeme, Connolly and Macklin.
These brothers raised the most money of all the Jr. Hero Squad members. They raised a total of $2,957. What makes this honor so special is Graeme is a childhood cancer hero himself. Graeme was diagnosed with Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in May 2016. We featured his family in the 2017 Heroes Art Ball.
Our 16-member Jr. Hero Squad raised $19,110 for children who are in treatment for cancer. Their team goal was $5,000 — 282% more than anticipated. The fact these kids and teens were thinking of other children during this difficult time speaks volumes of their kindness. Here are snapshots of the creative fundraisers put together by some of the members of the Jr. Hero Squad.
💛 9 have journeyed through childhood cancer themselves or in their families
💙 3 know Connor’s Heroes because their parents volunteer
💛 4 signed up because they want to help other kids!
Say “hello” to the amazing and caring kids who joined our FIRST-EVER Jr. Hero Squad. The Jr. Hero Squad is young people from schools and neighborhoods across Central Virginia. What brought them together was a desire to make sure no child or teen will face their cancer alone.
The Jr. Hero Squad will be the hero a child with cancer needs right now.
Track their progress and add your name to OUR COMMUNITY OF HEROES!
Art Session On Zoom
Connor’s Heroes resumed our Hero Art Sessions! The coronavirus put our monthly sessions at the Visual Arts Center on hold. We knew the kids missed being together and creating together. Sarah, our program coordinator and art teacher, developed art sessions and invited our heroes to tune in on Zoom! 15 families (of past and current Heroes) logged on. They followed Sarah’s instructions as she showed them how to draw their favorite flower. We will piece each flower into an art piece you can bid at our online auction for the Heroes Art Ball. We plan to hold art sessions each week in June. Connor’s Heroes supplied all the materials and even delivered them to the houses’ of our families.
The donations you gave since the coronavirus made it possible for us to redesign our Hero Art Sessions and offer them to all of our families. You can support future virtual sessions by making a donation. You can give every month or donate a single gift.
Connor Goodwin: Then & Now
We want to send congratulations to Connor Goodwin, our namesake. Connor graduated from the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School in June and on July 2, he will report to the United States Naval Academy. For the past 14 years, Connor has served as an inspiration for other kids who were diagnosed with cancer. Not only is he a survivor, he is an awesome friend for many of our childhood cancer heroes along the way. When Connor’s parents named the organization, “Connor’s Heroes,” it was an acknowledgement of all the people who supported their family when Connor battled leukemia as a preschooler. The name also signified their determination to continue building a community of heroes to provide hope, guidance, and support to other childhood cancer families.
Around here, we think Connor was our organization’s first HERO.
We are so proud of him and can’t wait to see the incredible impact he will have on this world.
To see photos of Connor’s journey with cancer and the start of Connor’s Heroes, view our timeline: https://www.connorsheroes.org/about-us/#our-story
Cookie Delivery
Thank you to our friends at Holland Baking Company. Holland Baking Company specializes in custom-designed sugar cookies. The cookies are a true work of art and they taste delicious, too! Holland Baking Company put together individual cookie decorating kits for us to deliver to our families who have a child in active treatment. Each kit had iced cookies for the whole family, edible paints, and chef’s hats. Connor’s Heroes staff dropped off the kits at our Heroes’ houses. Within hours, we received pictures of the fun our hero families had painting (and eating) their cookie surprises.
Holland Baking Company is one of several local businesses who are our Hero Partners. They donate their services or products to help children with cancer and their families.
Be A Hero Shirts
Here is a picture of Mia eating dinner at home. She’s been spending time FaceTiming her friends and playing Minecraft. She helps out at home with some chores.
— Mia’s mom
We give a child their own “Be A Hero” shirt after their cancer diagnosis. Those three words – “Be A Hero” – reassure them as they start their journey. We asked our heroes to send us a picture of them wearing their special “Be A Hero” shirt while staying at home during the coronavirus. See who is showing off their “Be A Hero” shirt. Pictured are heroes who are currently in treatment and some who are survivors now.
Click on their photo and meet our heroes.
