Fall Clean Up for Hero Families
The Saturday before Thanksgiving, four of our families woke up to a crew of volunteers cleaning up their yards. No surprise, but when your child is in treatment for cancer, common household chores are not a priority. The Fish family travel between Richmond and Duke for Moriah's treatment. D'Marco's family have practically lived in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit this fall. Sylvia's family are helping her battle cancer again. SKIP, a service group made up of students from area schools, cleaned Thomas's yard.
Maureen, one of the volunteers said,
"We celebrated National Family Volunteer Day with two of my favorite groups – SKIP and Connor’s Heroes. Our family joined other families to do fall yard clean up for a Connor's Heroes family. This simple activity was meaningful and fun. It was great to know we could lessen the stress and burden of everyday chores for a family who needs to focus on the health of their child."
This day was part of our program, Helping Heroes. Erin works with our families and offers help with yard work, housecleaning, child care, maintenance. Connor's Heroes is in the midst of its end-of-year giving campaign. When you give to Connor's Heroes, you will fund our Helping Heroes program and the other support we give our families. Give in honor of your favorite hero!
Christmas Mother Fund Help Hero Families
Thank you to The Richmond Christmas Mother Fund for granting us $1,000. We will use the money to buy gifts for our neediest families. Erin is busy getting Wish Lists from the parents. She has dozens of "elves" who will make sure the presents arrive in time for the holidays. This is the second year we received a grant from the Christmas Mother Fund. Here's a photo of the parents of Cooper and the wonderful gifts they were able to give their family last year. This is another example of how Connor's Heroes makes a difference to a family with a child battling cancer.
If you are in the spirit of giving, now’s the time to make your annual gift to Connor’s Heroes. Your donation stays within the community. It will help the 100 families who register with us. We will spend time getting to know them. Because Connor’s Heroes was started by a family who went through their son’s cancer treatment, they understand what it’s like to journey with childhood cancer.
Shop on smile.amazon this holiday
Make the most of your holiday shopping and help the families with Connor's Heroes. If you shop on Amazon, make sure you use their charitable site, smile.amazon. You log in with your same credentials but you must be on the smile.amazon site. Shop like you normally do and we'll receive a check. Remember to bookmark http://smile.amazon.com/ch/20-4992632
Lifting Up Landon
Landon was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in February. Like most families, they set up a Facebook page. They call it “Lifting Up Landon.” Close to 3,000 people follow this brave boy. Landon has a strong network that his parents lean on. So, how could Connor’s Heroes help?
We understand the challenges and sensitivity of childhood cancer - especially when a family is in the hospital or clinic. Children love the Heroes Backpack because it's filled with toys, playdough, electronics that they can play with on their hospital beds. Our Parent Tote has a thermometer, journals, thank you cards and vouchers for meals and housecleaning – all items recommended by the parents who’ve had a child in treatment. The Bone Marrow Transplant Unit can be very isolating to our families. Our Room Of Possibilities is their family playroom with Wii, board games, books and videos. We know the names of the restaurants and food trucks on campus. Know one of the biggest stresses on a family? Driving around the MCV parking deck and not having cash to pay for parking. We figured out how to purchase parking passes for families.
All these details make a difference to our families.
Since Landon registered with Connor’s Heroes in March, we reached out to his family thirty times. That’s a month full of caring! It had been a quick call. An email. A visit in clinic. “How’s Landon doing?” “How can Connor’s Heroes help?” Volunteers surprised him by decorating his hospital room with Mario and Minions for his admission to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit. His Day Zero was a milestone. A $25 or $50 gift card for groceries and gas meant the family had money for other expenses. And, most appreciated, weeks’ worth of parking passes!
Landon is in the maintenance stage of his treatment. The posts on his Facebook page are positive. I’m happy his mom and dad took the time to register with Connor’s Heroes. I am thankful for the opportunity to take my family and other parents' experience so we can pay it forward to help the children who are battling cancer in Richmond today. Thank you for supporting Connor’s Heroes. Happy Thanksgiving.
Photos of Ultimate 80s Bash!
Our first Ultimate 80s Bash was totally awesome! Thank you to Celia, Courtney and all the Young Professionals who threw a great party. If you attended, you helped raise money for the children in treatment at Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU who look to Connor's Heroes for help. A big thank you to Northwestern Mutual, our event sponsor, and the CHF Board members and parents who joined the fun. The committee will meet in January to plan the next event!
Shopping Day to help our Teen Heroes!
Make Nov 19 an evening to shop at South Moon Under in Short Pump from 5 - 9 p.m. They are donating portions of your sales back to Connor's Heroes. They also are collecting needed supplies for the teenagers in treatment for childhood cancer. We're thinking of our brave teens in treatment: D'Marco, Caleb and Rachel. You'll find all the details on South Moon Under's event facebook page. You can mark as going or interested so you don't forget about this special offer. Join us!
Our Heroes Love The ‘80s!
We are so proud of Campbell and how she's come to represent the hundreds of children who are being treated for cancer in Richmond. Campbell was diagnosed with Leukemia (ALL Ph+) in 2012. She is officially a cancer survivor though the side effects of treatment do take their toll. She is a big part of the Connor's Heroes family and an inspiration to many of our newest Heroes. She's smiling because she's excited about the upcoming ULTIMATE 80's BASH, November 21, at the Science Museum of Virginia. This is a new fundraising gala for Connor's Heroes. It is hosted by our Young Professional committee and sponsored by Northwestern Mutual. It will be a fun-filled night celebrating the 80's. Your $80 ticket gets you open bar, food and music from the premier 80's tribute band, The Breakfast Club. VIP tickets allow access to a VIP bar, signature cocktails and a bag of 80's swag. Proceeds from the night will raise the money Connor's Heroes needs to help the children registered with our programs. Are you ready for the 80's to come back!
Celebrity Golf Tournament
Thank you to the participants and volunteers who made the Jim Coates Celebrity Golf Tournament a success. We believe it will become an annual fund raising event. Big thanks to The Harmon family. Connor's Heroes is helping their 10-month-old son who is in treatment for a rare form of eye cancer. The proceeds will fund our programs and allow us to offer personalized support for The Harmons and other families in treatment right now. If you have a fund raising event that you want to partner with children battling cancer, contact our Director of Development, Tom, at (804) 897-1272 or tom@connorsheroes.org.
Jim Coates Golf Teams
Thank you to everyone who formed a team for the Jim Coates Celebrity Golf Tourament. Proceeds from the team registration directly benefitted the programs offered by Connor's Heroes to the hundreds of children who are in treatment for childhood cancer this year. One family is the Harmon Family who's 10-month-old son is battling a rare eye cancer. The family is travelling between Richmond and Philadelphia for treatment.
CHF receives grant from Altria
What an honor for Connor's Heroes to receive $25,000 in a grant from Altria Companies' Employee Community Fund (ACECF). ACECF awarded $2.5 million in grants this year to 91 organizations in Virginia. More and more of you are recommending Connor's Heroes as a non-profit worthy of your company's charitable giving. From Capital One stuffing backpacks for the teens in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit... BB&T employees taking our Hero families to a baseball game... Northwestern Mutual giving a grant to fund our Helping Heroes and Superheroes and Backpack programs. Your talents, treasures or financial gifts will make a difference in the life of a child battling cancer. If you'd like to learn more, contact Tom at (804) 897-1272 or tom@connorsheroes.org. He'd be glad to meet with you and tell you more about our 10 years of helping families in Central Virginia.