RVA Cures in Richmond Magazine
Thank you to Richmond Magazine reporter, Tharon Giddens, for the interview with Kristin Seward about the photography exhbition downtown called RVA Cures. An excerpt is below, and be sure to read the full article at: richmondmagazine.com/life-style/health/faces-in-the-crowd/
Faces in the Crowd: A new exhibit seeks to broaden the view of pediatric cancer
by Tharon Giddens, September 21, 2017... Seward became a chronicler of kids' cancer in 2015 after hearing that her obstetrics doctor, Katie Tyson, had a son, Callen, who had leukemia. She didn’t know Tyson well at the time, but reached out to the physician to see if Tyson would be willing to share her family’s story in a blog that Seward was writing at the time on people she found inspiring.
Seward spent time with the Tysons, and a friendship developed. They talked about what life is like for families battling cancers in their children, and how most people never saw what was going on beyond the photos of smiling, bald kid patients sometimes seen in fundraisers for various hospitals and nonprofits. They wanted to show “a different, a very real side of it, and do it in a way that preserves their dignity,” says Seward. “People don’t see behind the scenes.”
She started following Callen’s story. He’s now in remission, she says.
Tyson in turn introduced Seward to other families in similar situations. They’re a “tribe of families,” Seward says: “When you’re going through the same thing, you band together.”
Our Heroes
More kids helping kids! Ruby, Audrey, Felix and Ben raised $555 by selling lemonade, baked goods and homemade dog treats. They held the sale in memory of their neighbor Con Beausang. Also, here's Tallulah. To celebrate turning 8, she asked her friends to give gifts for our patients and not to her. Little acts of kindness from our littlest friends make a big difference to our childhood cancer heroes. Thank you!
More Zebrafish
Iin preparation for the opening of RVA Cures, kids and siblings worked on the small zebrafish. They painted over 80 wooden zebrafish. You can see these colorful school of fish swimming downtown at our exhibit, RVA Cures. RVA Cures is open, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. at University of Richmond Downtown. They are located at 626 E. Broad Street. If you work downtown, take a moment to stop by. You can purchase these fish for $100 each, all of which will directly support the zebrafish research happening in Richmond and that is supported by your donations to the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund.
Caleb’s Room
Caleb was admitted to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit for his second BMT. Volunteers Ashley Wright and Tara Horne tag teamed to decorate his room in time. Ashley and Tara had help from Freya Koehne and Caleb's grandfather. Caleb's grandfather and his dad are fire fighters at a local fire house. Caleb's grandpa made the banner and the firefighters at the house signed it. Firefighters are Caleb's heroes, lifting his spirits as he goes through another round of treatment. It touches our hearts when our volunteers are attentive to these details. See the volunteer page of our website if you are moved to help childhood cancer families in Richmond.
NBC 12 Features Connor’s Heroes
For close to 2 minutes, NBC12 VP and General Manager, Kym Grinnage told why he believes that Connor's Heroes is making a difference for our childhood cancer heroes, and all of you who support us.
Watch Viewpoint hosted by Kym Grinnage
Amazon Promotes Childhood Cancer
If you shop using Amazon, you can find a wish list of items we need to help our families. It has a variety of toys, toiletries, and electronics. You can order from home and ship it directly to our office. (Maybe it will arrive in a gold ribbon box!) As always, use Amazon Smile and a percentage of your purchase is sent to us as donation to fund our programs. Bookmark these links:
CHF Wish List
Smile.Amazon for CHF
RVA Cures Is Coming
Behind-the-scenes peek of photographer Kristin Seward and CHF Board Member, Katie T., setting up the RVA Cures exhibition at University of Richmond downtown. They took a break to do an interview with Amy Lacey, too. RVA Cures tells the stories of children, caregivers, and researchers in our community who are facing childhood cancer. Special moments are captured in the exquisite photos of Kristin's Lens Of Hope series. RVA Cures runs September 1, 2017 - January 19, 2018. The highlight of RVA Cures are the walls covered with more than 100 wooden zebrafish ranging in size from 18 inches to 8 feet long. Richmond artists, well-known and emerging, along with our own young cancer patients hand-painted each fish in their creative styles. Every fish is available for sale or auction. Your purchase is given straight to the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund.
Learn about the exhibit and hours its open, visit. http://downtown.richmond.edu/gallery/rva-cures.html
Learn more about RVA Cures and how it will bridge the gap in funding for childhood cancer research, visit: www.connorsheroes.org/rvacures
See the catalog of zebrafish available for sale or auction: www.501auctions.com/rvacures
New Era In Treatment
Big news! The FDA approved CAR-T therapy for treating ALL in pediatric patients. The FDA approved its use for our childhood cancer treatment before adults.This is the beginning of a new frontier in medical innovation as doctors reprogram a patient’s own cells to attack a deadly cancer. WWBT interviewed Dr. Corey to learn more about how this treatment is already helping several of the young patients helped by your donations to Connor's Heroes. Watch the interview. Learn how this therapy will cure childhood cancer patients.
#myRVAhero
Our summer intern, Sarah who is a rising senior at Glen Allen High School, created the #MyRVAHero campaign. You can make it go viral and raise awareness of childhood cancer. Share your heroes (on either Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) and text to donate to childhood cancer research!!
1. Take a picture holding a sign that says #myrvahero or with your hero.
2. Use the caption: #myrvahero is ___ because ___! I tag (two of your friends) to share their hero and donate $5 to the pediatric cancer kids helped by Connor's Heroes. You can text MYRVAHERO to 77948 to donate.
3. Donate and make sure your friends complete the challenge!!
Watch WRIC news report on why Sarah created this campaign.
Stay Tuned for #RVACures
Kristin Seward Photography is using her talents to once again share beautiful stories of the children who are inspiring us to fight against childhood cancer and the researchers who are giving us hope. She is preparing something amazing that will debut for September's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It focuses on a very small fish that you have probably seen at pet stores. It's the zebrafish. The zebrafish represents pediatric cancer research that is happening in Richmond. You helped fund Dr. Corey's team of scientists through the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. Thanks to you, they have a lab with tanks full of zebrafish swimming around, which, hopefully will lead to breakthroughs for our kids.