Volunteer Spotlight: Troop 705
Local Girl Scout Troop 705 dropped off boxes of what they call, "Port Pillow." A port is the small tube that a doctor surgically implants under the skin of a child's chest. The child receives medicine directly into the port. A port reduces the number of needle pokes that our young Heroes may need (though they still need a lot of needle pokes!). The Port Pillow is a soft cushion that protects the skin around the port. The girls lovingly sewed and made 297 port pillows. They "wowed" Lisa and Erin with a presentation about why they did the service project. These young ladies achieved the Silver Award, the highest award in Girl Scouts. We are honored that they felt it in their hearts to help other children who are battling against cancer.
RVA Hero: Dominion Chiropractic
When a Hero Parent opens up the Parent Tote Bag, inside is a gift certificate for chiropractic care. Dominion Chiropractic Clinic and Dr. Richmond are donating their services to help our caregivers. They also sponsored the upcoming Brandermill 7.4k. Wait, there's more! They held a supply drive and collected enough donations to fill two large boxes. We are overwhelmed by their outpouring of support. If you feel inspired to support the brave childhood cancer heroes who are helped by Connor's Heroes, email erin at connorsheroes dot org.
Alex’s Lemonade Funding RVA Research
Look for another pin on the map of research funded by Alex's Lemonade. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Innovation Award gave a $250,000 grant to Seth Corey, MD, MPH and Hrishikesh “Rishi” Mehta, PhD, who are conducting research through the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. The award is for their proposal entitled, “Predictive Modeling of MDS Disease Progression from Inherited Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes Using Novel Branching Process and Next Generation Sequencing to Improve Patient-Specific Survival.” What does that mean for our families? Like meteorologists who use computer programming based on laboratory-derived data to predict the weather, Drs. Corey and Mehta seek to predict when pre-cancer states will become cancers in children with inherited bone marrow failure syndromes. The goal of the research is to make personalized precision medicine a clinical reality. The proposal seeks to prevent life-threatening complications by using liquid biopsies. They want to create software to screen those children who are at risk, diagnose the presence of cancer clones, and monitor for disease progression toward cancer. It will hopefully indicate the optimal time for a transplant before chemo-resistant leukemia arises or develop prevention therapy.
As Dr. Corey says, pediatric cancer research cannot happen without support from philanthropy. We are excited for the team to receive this Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Innovation Award. Stay tuned for a big announcement about our fall fundraising campaign that will support Dr. Corey and his research.
Primrose Spring Fling
Once again our friends at Primrose School rallied for children with cancer. They donated proceeds from their Spring Fling that was held at two locations.They raised $2,750! Our #HeroesofRVA families thank the families at Primrose for helping the kids.
Another BMT Room Surprise
Lelia was admitted for her third of four bone marrow transplants. She's battling the most common malignant brain tumor in children known as Medulloblastoma. Any Hero parent will tell you that one stay in the BMT is hard enough, but three and possibly a fourth?! The treatment is all-consuming requiring the family to shuttle between their home in Ashland and the hospital. Every time that Lelia was admitted, she found her room decorated with new and exciting surprises. This time, our volunteer Freya filled it with the cheerful pink, Peppa pig who Lelia loves so much. It is because of your support that Connor's Heroes can help a family every step of the way.
Aaron’s Bake Sale
In honor of his Bar-Mitzvah, Aaron is working hard to raise as much money as possible for Connor's Heroes. He's off to a good start. His first month of bake sales raised close to a $1000. He plans to host bake sales for five months; baking a different cookie each month. Kids helping kids is very special to our families with Connor's Heroes. Thank you to Temple Beth El for supporting his fundraising campaign.
Hero Art For Sale
You can now purchase online an assortment of products featuring the art lovingly created by our childhood cancer heroes. 100% of your purchase will support our programs such as the Heroes Backpack and gift cards for out-of-town travel and daily expenses. We are happy to ship directly to you. Right now, you can purchase:
Coasters
Notepad
Notecards
Mousepad
Your gift will support all the children who are in treatment and registered with Connor's Heroes.
7th Annual Heroes Art Ball - The Hero Room
While you were enjoying the Heroes Art Ball with your friends, our Hero families were having a party of their own. The Heroes Room is a space where our Hero kids played together and prepared for walking the stage with their inspirational art created for the auction. The children (and parents) had a great time together. Thank you to the volunteers who played with everyone in the Hero Room. A big thank you to the Strum Group for providing all the fun by sponsoring the Hero Room! The Hero Room shows the true spirit of our community of heroes.
7th Annual Heroes Art Ball - The Night
The 7th Annual Heroes Art Ball was an inspirational and fun-filled night. See all that happened in our four hours together. This year's gala raised $265,000, which is $65,000 more than last year's highly successful Heroes Art Ball. This year, Connor's Heroes committed to doubling the amount of support we offer our Hero families throughout all stages of treatment. In addition to our many other programs, families now receive a new ipad mini in the Heroes Backpack, up to $1,000 towards travel expenses for out-of-town treatments or second opinions, $500 for gas, groceries, and daily expenses for each year of their child's treatment, and $1,000 to the funeral home on behalf of a grieving family. Your generosity during the Heroes Art Ball will make a difference in the lives of our childhood cancer heroes.
7th Annual Heroes Art Ball - Our Friends
The Heroes Art Ball is a fun-filled night not only for our childhood cancer families, but the community who support them. Our guests include people from all over the area - including a few who travel from North Carolina, Georgia and NOVA just for the gala! Doctors, researchers, and former patient families enjoy the evening with our board members, business leaders, and event sponsors. We all come together with the purpose of supporting the Heroes of RVA and research conducted in Richmond through the Connor's Heroes Pediatric Cancer Research Fund.