Holiday on Hermitage!
Holiday On Hermitage
Connor’s Heroes was excited to host our Holiday Open House in our office on the corner of Hermitage and Broad Street — not far from the hospital. We opened our doors and invited every family whose child is in active treatment for cancer over the holidays.
“Are you ready to see Santa?”
The most magical part of the day was our very own Santa. Santa spent the day with us doing what he does best: listening to a child’s holiday wishes and posing for pictures. Some kids jumped right onto Santa’s lap. Sweet Harcum needed a gentle coaxing before he nestled up to Saint Nick.
The children and parents built sugary gingerbread houses out of milk cartons, graham crackers, gum drops, and candies (a classic craft for the holidays). Each child made a holiday ornament of a snow globe with their picture in the middle! It will be a keepsake ornament for years to come.
The Local Cup Coffee Co rolled into our parking lot. Families (and Santa) treated themselves to delicious coffee, hot cocoa, and pastries.
Celia gave every parent a much-needed $250 Visa gift card for holiday expenses. A family walked out of the Holiday Open House with their arms full of presents and their hearts filled with joy.
Harcum Meets Santa
Four-year-old Harcum (nicknamed “Turtle”) wasn’t sure about meeting Santa. He knew what he wanted for Christmas (spoiler: a nerf gun), but did he have the courage to ask Santa? With some coaxing by his grandma, Santa’s elf, and Twizzlers, Harcum slowly inched closer and closer until he stood right next to Santa himself. Harcum even let Grandma take a picture. What a beautiful holiday memory!
Thank You To Our Holiday Heroes
Over the holidays, parents and caregivers are juggling the emotional stress of their child’s diagnosis with the financial stress of giving their family the holiday they deserve after a difficult year. The Holiday Hero Fund provided each family in active treatment a $250 VISA gift card, tickets to Lewis Ginter GardenFest of Lights, and presents from their holiday wish lists.
The Holiday Heroes Fund was fully funded thanks to our community of heroes, especially. Cathy Heizer and her family, Marla and Jack Fergerson and The Richmond Christmas Mother Fund. Below is the long list of caring people who donated to the 2023 Holiday Hero Fund:
Accent Professional Recruiting LLC • Peyton Adams • Robbie Andrews • Barbara Antoskow • AT&T Services • Ben Baxter • Jennifer Bennett • Beyond The Entertainer • Neil Biller • Tim Bishop • Adam Blackwell • Thomas and Bethany Block • Mike Brammer • Don Bray • Trip Chalkley • Donald Coleman • Commercial Plastering and Drywall • Stuart Craft • Trevor Denton • Davis Durrett • Laura Earley • Jack and Marla Fergerson • Jake Fiesler • Matt and Tammy Griffin • Linda Harris • Keith Harvey • Cathy Heizer • Jim Heizer • Justin Heizer • Help Charities Inc. • Chad Hollins • Neal Hollins • Vicki Huber • Hudson Group Realty • Tim Kelley • Carl King • Cherie Lane • Linda Loverro • Ross Luck • Dan and Celia Martin • Lynn McCoy • Tim and Ashley Menninger • Doug Michel • Elizabeth Minter • Kathy Morton • Kenneth Murray • Old Dominion Drywall • Jennifer Owen • William Payne • Anthony Pelling • Randall Peyton • Jason Pritchard • John Pritchard • Sandra • Tim Shelton • Jeff Smith • Jeff Stallings • Brian Steveson • Susan Mclauchlan Jewelers • Breakthru Beverage • Michael and Jennifer Tolley • Gail Warren Weymouth • Dave Werner • Doug Wilberger
Thank you to the talented photographers who captured these special holiday moments: Hysell Photography, LaLovely Photography, Angela and Sheldon.
Introducing Jillian, Connor's Heroes New Program Director
Say “hi” to the newest member of the Connor’s Heroes team: Jillian Carpenter. On Monday, January 8, 2024, Jillian will formally begin her role as Connor’s Heroes Program Director.
Jillian has a Masters of Social Work. She is a clinician, educator, and community liaison with more than a decade of experience. In college and graduate school, she worked with pediatric oncology patients and their families. Prior to joining Connor’s Heroes, she served as an Assistant Professor in Teaching at the VCU School of Social Work. She is a member of the board at Full Circle Grief Center.
“I have been a supporter of Connor’s Heroes since I became a volunteer over ten years ago. In my role as Program Director, I hope to help children and families feel less alone by companioning them with warmth and compassion. I look forward to building relationships to provide support that feels validating and helpful.”
Jillian will welcome a family to Connor’s Heroes after their child’s diagnosis. She will get to know a family and offer emotional and financial support specific to a family’s situation. Jillian will work closely with Meredith Burns, the Child Life Specialist at CHoR.
Learn More About Jillian:
What are three words that best describe you?
Compassionate, thoughtful, and collaborative.
What is something you love to do that most people would never imagine:
I enjoy beach combing and collecting sea glass, shells and pottery while imagining the journey these objects took to get to this exact point of collection. I also love to read books that include magic realism!
The best thing someone ever taught you:
Two things can be true at the same time — both/and thinking.
Your favorite singer:
Judah And The Lion
13th Annual Heroes Art Ball - Save The Date
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Countdown to 13th Annual Heroes Art Ball
Put this date on your calendar! The 13th Annual Heroes Art Ball will happen on Friday, May 3, 2024 in the elegant John Marshall Ballrooms. Sponsorship opportunities will be coming soon. Tickets will go on sale in March 2024.
The Heroes Art Ball is a magical night that brings together our hero families with the volunteers, researchers, the community who support them, and YOU.
You don’t have to wait for tickets to go on sale to be a part of the 13th Annual Heroes Art Ball. Here are three ways you can join in today.
1 – If you work or own a company who cares about children — especially children in your community — this is your year to be a corporate sponsor. Sponsorship levels start at $1,000 and give you generous perks, like a reserved table for your guests. Contact Celia Martin at celia@connorsheroes.org for more information.
2 – If you have a product, service, or talent, you can donate to our online silent auction. Email admin@connorsheroes.org to arrange your donation.
3 – If you like volunteering, join the Heroes Art Ball Planning Committee. Meetings are about once a month in person or on zoom. Email Celia at celia@connorsheroes.org and tell her you’re interested.
Mellow Mushroom Pizza Party
Childhood Cancer Heroes Love Pizza!
Connor’s Heroes hosted its 4th Annual Make and Bake Your Own Pizza Party at Mellow Mushroom. It is one of our most popular events with our childhood cancer hero families. We invite children in treatment for cancer and those who are now post treatment. More than 100 hero family members came! Everyone had a great time because, who doesn’t love pizza?
Mellow Mushroom staff were so kind and generous to every family. They showed the secret to rolling out the dough. They set each family’s table with sauce, their favorite toppings, and plenty of cheese. With their cute aprons and chef hats on, the children carried their pizzas to the kitchen. The kids loved to see their pizza slide into the hot oven and come out exactly as they wanted it.
Our childhood cancer hero families thank you for giving them this fun event!
Thank you to Susan and the staff at Mellow Mushroom in Midlothian.
Helping Hero volunteers: Wade Hysell and Angela for taking photos and Katie Tyson and Olivia for helping the families.
Childhood Cancer Heroes: Alvion, Ariana, Augustine, Austin, Brianne, Charlotte, Dayanne, Javi, John, Joshua, Kennedy, Nalani, Nikola, Owen, Shyann, TayNeise, Valentin
Check out Mellow Mushrooms website https://mellowmushroom.com/location/va-midlothian-1409-huguenot-road-23113/ for their hours, menu, and delivery.
2023 Hero Squad Soiree
Hero Squad Continues Its Streak
The 2023 Hero Squad raised an incredible $45,444 for local children battling cancer and Connor’s Heroes. Double it’s initial goal of $20,000. The money they raised will be used to give a Heroes Bag and Backpack to a family after their child’s diagnosis, a gift card for their favorite grocery store, and decorating a hospital room when a child is admitted for a bone marrow transplant.
The Hero Squad donors will support the important work done by Connor’s Heroes to help every child registered and in active treatment.
With a fundraiser this successful, we had to celebrate. We hosted a party at The Urban Roost Garden in Scott’s Addition in honor of the 2023 Hero Squad and their donors. The popular bluegrass group, The Hot Seats, were the perfect fit for the party.
Because He Wore His Be A Hero Shirt
Thomas Block was a member of the 2023 Hero Squad. He joined to give back for the support his family received from Connor’s Heroes throughout his daughter Charlotte’s treatment. Thomas told us about when he left the gym this morning, someone stopped him in the parking lot. She recognized his Be A Hero shirt. He used the moment to tell her about Charlotte and Connor’s Heroes. He thanked his fellow Hero Squad for being heroes to his daughter and every child in treatment today.
Celia, Executive Director, proudly recognized the top three fundraisers: Joe Dyer, Eric Strahs, and Virginia Podboy.
2023 Hero Squad
Bridget Reardon • Brooke Hall • Colleen WInfree • Connor Goodwin • Eric Strahs/ Once Upon A Child • Greg Colizzi • Jennifer Tolley • Jennings Dawson • Joe Dyer • KK Harris • Lauren Edwards • Lindsey Hollett • Liza Shands • Maggie Wilhelm • Mary Gleeson • Mike Koontz • Reilly Monroe • Tim Dearing • Tom Block • Virginia Podboy
Join The Hero Squad
The Hero Squad is made up of professionals who have a heart for philanthropy. As a member of the Hero Squad, you commit to raise $1,000 for children with cancer in September for September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The Jr. Hero Squad is open to preschool through high school students who try to aise $500 during the summer. READ MORE: www.connorsheroes.org/hero-squad/
Honoring Their Fathers
Honoring Their Fathers
On a weekend in October, two families held their events to raise money for our childhood cancer families. The Heizer Family had their 2nd annual Opie Open Golf Tournament. The McDonald Family hosted the 8th Annual Tailgate for Timmy.
What did these two events have in common?
They held the events in loving memory of their fathers: Paul “Opie” Heizer and Tim McDonald. Opie and Tim’s lives were cut too short by cancer.
The Heizer and McDonald families decided to carry on their father’s legacies by helping children with cancer. Our mission — to make sure no family will face their child’s cancer alone — stuck with them. They turned their grief into a blessing to help our childhood cancer hero families.
Opie Open
The 2nd Annual Opie Open was on Friday, October 13th at Hanover Golf Club. 23 foursomes signed up to play. Congrats to Tim Kelley’s team for winning the tournament.
The Opie Open raised more than $35,000 for our Holiday Heroes Fund. If there was one holiday Opie loved, it was Christmas! With the money raised from The Opie Open, every child in active treatment registered with Connor’s Heroes will receive hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards and presents. Connor’s Heroes will host a Holiday Open House for the families. We can give a hero family hope over the holidays thanks to the generosity of Cathy, her children Paul, Brett, and Meredith, their friends, and sponsors. We are honored to have Opie’s wife Cathy on our Board of Directors.
Tailgate For Timmy
Even a rainy Saturday (dumping buckets of rain) didn’t stop the friends and the McDonald family from having their fun Tailgate For Timmy party. Families set up tents and “tailgated” with food, drinks & decorations. Guests went from tent to tent and voted for their favorite tailgate by donating. The tent with the largest amount of money raised was the winner! Congrats to The Dietz Family. There was live music, a bounce house for the kids, and t-shirts. It is like a true tailgate party without the parking lot.
Tailgate For Timmy raised $19,000 — the most amount of money ever raised at their event. Tim’s son, Thomas, and (his very pregnant wife) Hannah were visibly moved by the outpouring of support from their friends and families.
If your family is philanthropic like the Heizer and McDonald families, you can turn your party into a giving party. Here are some of the ways you can easily raise money for children with cancer and Connor’s Heroes: https://www.connorsheroes.org/ways-to-give/
October Heroes Art Session
Childhood Cancer Heroes Halloween
At the October Heroes Art Session, we turned the courtyard at the Visual Arts Center into a pumpkin patch! Celia carted in dozens of pumpkins from a local pumpkin patch. The childhood cancer hero families painted the pumpkins in the craziest colors – blue, black, orange! At the next table, they painted pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies. Hero Artist Mentor Nancy Jacey helped the kids make silly masks. The October Heroes Art Session was a great way to get in the Halloween spirit.
Hero Artists & Volunteers: Patricia • Morgan • Monica • Nancy • Sheldon • Swara • Jack • Hanan
Picture Credit: Sheldon
About Heroes Art Session With Childhood Cancer Heroes And Their Families
Our Heroes Art Sessions provide a supportive environment in which childhood cancer heroes and their siblings can make art and build community with other hero families. At the sessions, you feel a collective sense of healing by creating and being together. We are grateful to Visual Arts Center for giving us the space for an open studio. And to our donors who allow the Heroes Art Sessions to happen at no cost to our families and to supply the artists with their materials.
2023 Circle Of Heroes
We closed out September Childhood Cancer Awareness Month by thanking the members of our Circle Of Heroes. The Circle Of Heroes are people who generously commit an annual gift of $1,000 or more for the childhood cancer heroes who need Connor’s Heroes.
Reynolds Gallery graciously hosted the event. The gallery is well-known throughout the art world for its contemporary art collection and exhibition. One of the directors, Julia Monroe, is a new member of our Board Of Directors. Thank you to Julia for hosting the event.
Our guest of honor was Katie, Augie’s mom. Augie was diagnosed with cancer in both his eyes before he turned one years old.
“As I looked into the eyes of my five month old child, I wondered how long he had not been able to gaze at me in return. Was I disappearing before his eyes?”
Katie also shared her gratitude for the guests — members of the Circle Of Heroes. She looked around the room and said:
“Generosity, of course, is what you see before you in this room tonight. You are truly heroes in my family’s eyes and your miracles are making a real impact on the world around us.”
If you want to be a part of our Circle of Heroes, contact Celia, Executive Director. You can email her at celia@connorsheroes.org or call (804) 897-1272. You can easily give online — even setting up monthly payments to make giving easier. Click here for our secure website.
You may want to leave a lasting legacy to children with cancer. Visit our website to learn how you can donate securities, donor advised funds, or planned gifts. https://www.connorsheroes.org/legacy-giving/
September Heroes Art Session
PAINTINGS FOR THE NEW HOSPITAL
We called in the “big guns” for the September Heroes Art Session. Connor’s Heroes was given the distinct honor to create paintings for the Connor’s Heroes rooms in the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. We were so happy when our artist mentors: Jennike Duignam, Frankie Slaughter, and Sarah Cross jumped at this chance.
Frankie took a tour to get a feel of the rooms. Jennike knew her painting must feature a turtle (the mascot of the 12th floor). Sarah did what Sarah does best — concept a piece that draws out the artist in every child.
100 donors funded five rooms in the new Children’s Tower. We designed each room for the care and comfort of childhood cancer heroes, their families, and care teams who support them. We called them the ROOMS FILLED WITH HOPE — because that is what they will do — Give hope to a family and a child battling cancer. The rooms are located on the 12th Floor of the Children’s Tower.
“I didn’t hesitate when Celia asked if I could help the kids create a painting for a Connor’s Heroes hospital room. The heroes painted in their favorite colors, channeling positive energy in every brush stoke. We talked about normal kid stuff, but they were so excited to hear where this artwork was going. You could see their intention changed — they were painting for everyone who will sit in that hospital room. So many feels!” — Sarah Cross, Hero Artist Mentor
ART BY HEROES FOR HEROES
The children who painted were childhood cancer heroes who are in treatment right now, others are a few years out of treatment, and some lucky enough to be called a “survivor.” By their sides were their parents, brothers, sisters, and our volunteers.
We can’t wait for you to see the paintings in the hospital rooms. Thank you to everyone who donated for our capital campaign to open the five ROOMS FILLED WITH HOPE in the new Children’s Tower. And to the hero family who made a major gift which, in part, funded the paintings for the rooms.
Childhood Cancer Heroes: Sydney • Augie • Everette • Tay • John • Lucy • Valentin
Volunteers: Patricia • Gurbani • Vishnu • Hannah • Lauren • Damien
Hero Artist Mentors: Frankie Slaughter, Jennike Duignam, Sarah Cross
Picture Credit: Wade Hysell, Hysell Photography
About Heroes Art Session With Childhood Cancer Heroes And Their Families
Our Heroes Art Sessions provide a supportive environment in which childhood cancer heroes and their siblings can make art and build community with other hero families. At the sessions, you feel a collective sense of healing by creating and being together. We are grateful to Visual Arts Center for giving us the space for an open studio. And to our donors who allow the Heroes Art Sessions to happen at no cost to our families and to supply the artists with their materials.
2023 Jr. Hero Squad
To get ready for September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Connor’s Heroes hosted an ice cream celebration at Gelati Celesti in Stony Point. Hero families were treated to a scoop (or two) of their favorite ice cream.
Also, we celebrated the amazing Jr. Hero Squad. The Jr. Hero Squad were 18 kids — from preschool to college — determined to help kids with cancer. The 2023 Jr. Hero Squad smashed their fundraising goal. They raised a whopping $18,000.
A big thank you to the 2023 Jr. Hero Squad: Otis, Pauline & Major, Caroline, Peyton & Madeline, Becca, Mark, Hal & Maren, Nadia & Layla, Poppy, Alia, Annabelle & Isaac, Julianna, Roland. You were the hero children with cancer needed.
First Place: Julianna
Second Place: Otis, Pauline & Major
Third Place: Mark
The Jr. Hero Squad is one way you can raise money for children with cancer using the power of your social network. Connor’s Heroes makes it easy for you to set up a personal fundraising website. You share the link and watch the donations roll in.
You can:
PLEDGE YOUR BIRTHDAY (or any special event in your life)
HOST A GIFT CARD DRIVE (from our Amazon wishlist)
JOIN THE HERO SQUAD (for young professionals, college students, or retirees)