Support Connor’s Heroes® with your United Way pledge!
We would love to have your support through your workplace United Way giving. Simply write-in Code 7090 on your form and the United Way will do the rest. Thanks so much for helping Connor's Heroes® and its community of heroes to provide hope, guidance, and support to children with cancer and their families.
Lunch Bunch
Connor's Heroes® and CJ's Thumbs Up Foundation have collaborated to provide lunch to the pediatric patients, caregivers, and staff at Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU every Thursday. During the month of December, Connor's Heroes® is also providing a gift for every child who is on the inpatient floor on Thursdays. We are grateful to Pepicelli's Pizza for donating pizzas at least once a month. If you have a restaurant or catering business and would like to support Lunch Bunch, please contact us by calling (804) 221-8991 or sending an email to Lisa@connorsheroes.org.
Little Heroes Calendar
Missy Bane Photography had a dress up fundraiser for Connor's Heroes this year. Lots of Little Heroes from the community came into her studio and played dress up to help raise money for Connor's Heroes. The result of those dress up sessions are this fun and fabulous 2013 calendar.
It's not too late to give your support. Buy one for yourself, family, friends or gifts for business clients. It's a great charitable donation and holiday gift all in one!!
Holiday Special!! Just $10 for each calendar!!
(payable directly to Connor's Heroes)
Email or call 804.909.2764 and we can drop them off or put them in the mail to you just in time for the holidays. You can also purchase online by clicking here (be sure to specify in the 'comments' section that you want to purchase a calendar, so we know to send you one or more in return!)
Please forward this email on to all your family and friends. What a great way to support children with cancer and their families!
We are so grateful to Missy Bane Photography and Brown's Volkswagen of Richmond for their support of this project!
DiggityFEST 2012 a HUGE success!
On September 16, over 1500 people attended the second annual DiggityFEST at Westchester Commons. This awesome kids music festival, benefiting Connor's Heroes, was a treat for all! With music from The Diggity Dudes, Hope Harris & The Cousins Jamboree, and Silly Bus, it was sure to be a rockin' good time. Parents and children of all ages enjoyed other activities, such as face painting, arts and crafts, moonbounces, and carnival games. Connor's Heroes invited all of our childhood cancer heroes and their families to enjoy DiggityFEST as VIP guests, too! Thanks to our sponsors and volunteers for helping us put on such a great event! And a big thanks to all the families, friends, and our Heroes that came and made this a day to remember!
National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! We need your help to raise awareness about childhood cancer - the #1 disease killer of our children! Check out our facebook page for links, pictures, articles, and facts about childhood cancer issues and ways that you can get involved. We hope during this month, you will help us spread these messages of hope, challenge, and empowerment with your family and friends. Browse our website to find out more about Connor's Heroes, our programs, and what you can do to help - from volunteering, and donating, to attending childhood cancer fundraisers and events in the area. And while you're at it, check out our 'Back to School, Back to Giving' campaign. There are so many ways that YOU can BE a HERO to children with cancer!
The Heroes Art Ball 2012 a HUGE Success!
The Second Annual Heroes Art Ball on May 4, 2012, was an overwhelming success again this year! We were absolutely inspired and blown away by all of our childhood cancer HEROES and their families, Dr. McCarty and our incredible transplant nurses, amazing donors/guests, fantastic sponsors, Host and Planning Committees, and volunteers! With everyone's help, we raised over $60,000, which will help us to provide hope, guidance, and support to children with cancer and their families. Hope you had as much fun as we did! Thank you for being OUR Heroes!!!
Save the date for the 3rd Annual Heroes Art Ball! This magical event will take place Friday, May 3, 2013 at The Renaissance. Help us conquer childhood cancer!
Superheroes & Sidekicks
The Superheroes and Sidekicks (S&S) program aims to provide support by pairing community volunteers with children who are battling cancer, their siblings and their parents. The entire family can benefit from friendship, assistance and companionship. Community volunteers serve as mentors (Sidekicks) and are paired up with a child battling cancer or one of their siblings (Superheroes). This program was designed to ease the burdens of treatment and last year close to 20 families benefited from their participation. Here's what one Supermom had to say about the program:
"The thing I like the most about Connor's Heroes is the fact that you provide support to our entire family, not just the patient. All three of my children love having a Sidekick and it especially makes my other two feel special to know that they have their own Sidekick. Thank you also for thinking about the parents. As a single mom, I really appreciate that you allow me to enjoy a parent's night out so I can connect with other parents who understand exactly what I am going through." --Mackenzie Geisel
Kids that are fighting cancer not only feel sick and endure tremendous pain and suffering, they also fight isolation from friends, low self-esteem, and the boredom of long, arduous hours of clinic and hospital treatments. Kids are limited in their ability to play due to suppressed immune systems and treatments, and having a supportive, compassionate friend there throughout their treatments goes a long way. Pairing mentors with children during their cancer journey will help them through the toughest of times, and let them just be kids again. Mentor will spend time with them at clinic, the hospital, home, or at any number of special events to play, do crafts, catch a movie or a ballgame, ride a bike, go for a walk or just hang out together.
SIBLINGS ARE HEROES TOO
Often neglected and overlooked when a child has cancer, a brother or sister suffers too. These super siblings need a friend, a "Sidekick," to reassure them that they too are special and important.
PARENTS NEED SUPERHEROES AND SIDEKICKS TOO
Parents of kids with cancer have an unbelievable burden thrust upon them that can be overwhelming. Parents need Superheroes and Sidekicks to help them prepare for the journey that they will undertake with their family, and to help foresee as many of the pitfalls and problems as possible. Parents are focusing on the health of their sick child, while all the other obligations of being Mom and Dad are still present. Knowing that your child and their siblings have a mentor, who supports, empowers and entertains them, can make a huge difference.
Connor's Heroes will carefully screen and select volunteers from a variety of backgrounds. These volunteers will be paired with their own special Superhero. Volunteers will be trained and supported by Connor's Heroes, to provide the best experiences possible, and to maximize the fun that the Superheroes and Sidekicks can have.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer in the Superheroes and Sidekicks program, please click the "I want to Volunteer" link at the top right of this page. We will email the application materials to you at that time. Our next volunteer training session is on Thursday, March 29, 2012 from 6:30-8:00 pm at 3900 Westerre Parkway, Suite 300, Richmond, VA.
To view a more detailed description of a Sidekick's job, click here: CHF_-_SS_Mentor_Job_Description_2011.pdf
To download our complete application materials (including the job description), please click here: CHF_-_Superheroes__Sidekicks_application_2011.pdf
All of these forms should be completed and returned before volunteers attend the training session.
Connor's Heroes is especially grateful to the Altria Companies Employee Community Fund and the Rotary Club of Innsbrook for the amazing monetary grants that allow us to provide this program.
Local Artists Work with Childhood Cancer Heroes
On Sunday, March 4, Arthaus Visual Arts Studio graciously hosted 13 childhood cancer heroes and their siblings so that local, professional artists could help them create masterpieces. Everyone had such a wonderful time and some truly amazing pieces of art were created. Some of the artistic masterpieces will be available during a live auction at The Heroes Art Ball on May 4, 2012.
Providing this informal type of art therapy is one of the many ways that Connor's Heroes fulfills its mission of building a community of heroes who provide hope, guidance, and support to children with cancer and their families. We are so grateful to all of the artists who participated and devoted their time and talents to some amazing kids!
Team Pain Cave Raising $10,000
Not many of us can imagine completing an Ironman triathlon, which consists of a 2.4 mile open water swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run. That wasn't enough for 3 best friends, John Hauserman, Travis Deckert and Danny Royce, though. They also wanted to make their training more meaningful by raising money for Connor's Heroes. Their goal is to raise $10,000 before the Ironman Louisville on August 28, 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky. They are well on their way to reaching both goals.
Why are they called "Team Pain Cave" you might ask? Because they will be spending a lot of time in the "pain cave" over the next several months enduring through many miles and hours of training. If you don't know what the "pain cave" is, just ask them and they'll be happy to share!
Thanks Team Pain Cave for being amazing heroes!!
UPDATE: All 3 members of Team Pain Cave are now Ironmen!! Congratulations to Danny, Travis, and John for achieving your goals!
Christmas in July
Every summer, Connor's Heroes' volunteers visit the outpatient pediatric oncology clinic to spread some holiday cheer. We give a gift bag to every child in the clinic -- whether they are a patient, sibling, or friend there for moral support. We also do crafts with them while they're in the waiting room. We'll be there on 5 different days throughout July to try to catch as many patients as possible. Interested in volunteering? Just click the "I want to volunteer" button on the top right of this page and we'll be in touch.