Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

To close out September, we want to remind everyone that while raising research funds is our top priority, advocacy is the other big piece of the puzzle in fighting childhood cancer. Throughout Georgia's journey, we have been involved in numerous letter-writing and social media campaigns that draw attention to the state of affairs in the childhood cancer community and urge the powers-that-be to join us in taking action. Many of you have contacted your representatives on Georgia's behalf regarding funding gaps, drug shortages, and access to treatment issues, and we THANK YOU so much for your support! Sharing information with those that can make a difference - and demanding action - is critical to finding cures and safer, less-toxic treatments for all kids in the fight, so we will continue to raise funds and our voices and long and as loud as we have to. 

Make sure to read this blog post from the St. Baldrick's Foundation, written by a Momma friend of mine, that highlights the ways advocates have shed much light on our community during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. And don't forget! A super easy way for you to raise awareness AND funds is through the You Are My Hero campaign! Here's how:

1. Print & write a message on this sign: http://bit.ly/yamh-pdf
2. Take a selfie holding the sign
3. Post on Twitter, Instagram and/or Facebook.com/BNCollege
4. Use #YouAreMyHero in your post

And voila! Barnes & Noble College will donate $1 for every post, up to $25,000!

 

Get Into the Act

In these last five days of September/Awareness Month, here are some simple ways you can take ACTION in the fight against childhood cancer:

1) Share a selfie!

From now until October 5, share a supportive message to kids with cancer by taking a picture of yourself holding a sign with the hashtag #YouAreMyHero. For every photo posted to Facebook.com/bncollege or Instagram, Barnes & Noble College will donate $1 (up to $25,000) to the St. Baldrick's Foundation. So easy - just say cheese!

2) Enhance your calm.

For the month of September, buy two bottles of "It'll Be OK," and Our Nature Nurtures will donate $2 to St. Baldrick's. This company is owned by a dear college friend, and all of the products are created by hand for a luxurious skincare experience in your own home. Try it - it'll be more than ok!

3) Be Honest.

At the 46 Mommas shave in Boston, we received a selection of eco-friendly home and family products from The Honest Company. Now they're helping raise money for our pals at MaxLove Project, too. Just add #HonestLovesMax to your posts on Instagram, Twitter, or the Honest Company's Facebook page, and they will donate $1 per post (up to $30,000) to MaxLove and their whole-body health initiatives! We honestly love Max and this generous offer!

As always, we're also asking that you consider becoming a regular blood donor and registering as a bone marrow donor and organ donor. We know countless people who have benefited from these selfless gifts, Georgia included, and you really just might save a life.

And as we near the end of another successful year of fundraising, our determination to find cures and safer, less-toxic treatments has only grown. We've almost hit our goal for '14 and would love to close out September with that 100% - or more! Click here or on the Momma icon in the sidebar to support our efforts - we thank you very much!

Midway

A little over two weeks into September, and we have much to report! Saturday, some dear friends hosted another blood drive in honor of Georgia and other cancer fighters, and we collected 20 units of blood, $57 from Georgia and Ivy's lemonade stand for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, and $250 from a raffle for Stand Up To Cancer - big success! Thank you, Vore Family!

Cousins Claire and Vivian helped with the lemonade stand

 

Then Tuesday night, we set up a pub quiz to raise even more funds and awareness. It was another unique opportunity to reach an audience that might not otherwise be know of and/or be involved in childhood cancer advocacy - and we're happy to enlist new allies all the time. It was a ton of fun, and we added $500 more to our total for the year! The highlight was the raffle for this St. Baldrick's t-shirt, autographed by writer/director Joss Whedon, which was won by our good friend, Joie!

And THEN, yesterday, the 46 Mommas made the New! York! TIMES! One of the photographers at the Boston event submitted a short blog post about us and included some of the Before and After shots she took that day. There are some great ones in there, and the exposure is huge for our mission. Because the original post got shared so many times, we got bumped to the front page online and then to the NYT's Twitter feed! Especially during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the more we can get the call for research funding out there, the closer we'll be to finding cures and safer, less-toxic treatments for our kids, and what a day that will be!

Powerful collage from the blog post ...

 but this is my favorite! Crazy, amazing leadership team!

In Georgia news, she is taking 9th grade by storm! She is loving swim team, landed a role in the fall play, and is - gulp - visiting with colleges! Throughout the fall, she has small group interviews set up with schools like Trinity, Rice, and Austin College and will visit with others (Tulane and Loyola, to name a few) at the College Fair on September 22nd. She is also preparing for the PSAT in October! And before we know it, she'll be taking the actual SAT! We enjoyed meeting all of her teachers at Back-to-School Night last night, and we're looking forward to another stellar year for her!

We're Still Standing

Friday night was this year's Stand Up To Cancer telethon, and it was another hopeful and inspiring event. The highlight for us was the update on the Pediatric Dream Team, a collaboration with the St. Baldrick's Foundation. Once again, "immunotherapy" was the word of the day and, we believe, truly the word of the future in the fight against childhood cancer. Here's the latest on the amazing Emily (Emma):

 

Progress like this is why we support St. Baldrick's and the collaborative effort to end childhood cancer. And it's why we'll continue to stand up for all kids in the fight and hope you'll continue to join us!

Proud Momma

So many things to be proud of and grateful for the last couple of weeks, but especially the last few days. Today, Georgia had her first swim team practice, and she had a ball! She is really looking forward to improving her skills and getting to be part of a team, which includes some of her closest friends, so even better! She has completely recovered from the bug that felled her right after camp, and she is full-steam ahead with school. She's even signing up for college visits over the next few weeks - wow!

Meanwhile, Ivy started school yesterday - FIFTH grade! She is very happy to be "back," although we're actually at our new campus. It's truly a magical place, and we're all looking forward to many years of learning there.

Three guesses what her favorite color is ...

Finally, I am SO proud to share this news and this number: $1.5 MILLION!

We have worked very hard to get here, but we're not stopping until we conquer childhood cancer! To learn more about the history and the mission of the 46 Mommas, click here for a great blog post from St. Baldrick's. And if you'd like to help fund lifesaving research, especially in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, click here for my donation page. I'm fundraising through the end of the year, but I'd love to hit my goal this month. We're so grateful that Georgia is happy and healthy, and we want all childhood cancer families to enjoy these same milestones, so thank you, thank you for your continued support!

It's Time to Go GOLD!

It's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and we're going GOLD again! We've got a blood drive and trivia night planned, and if you're looking for a way to do something, check out these great suggestions from the St. Baldrick's Foundation. We'll be sharing lots of info and maybe a surprise or two, but the focus of it all is raising awareness, hope, and funds for all kids in the fight against cancer. We hope you'll join us and go GOLD as well!