With the close of CURE Childhood Cancer’s fiscal year on June 30, 2016, we are eager to share with you the incredible difference you made over the past 12 months for children with cancer and their families. With your help, we raised more than $5.2 million to advance our mission!
This year, CURE awarded nearly $2.7 million in grants to support research initiatives all with the goal of improving survival for those battling childhood cancer. We are focused on moving the needle ever closer to a cure for all children with cancer and advancing immunotherapies and other treatments which are safer and less toxic for children. Our grants funded 20 pediatric cancer research labs at top institutions around the country.
Supporting patients and their families is paramount to us, and you enabled us to do this well.
In total, our busy patient and family services team – with the help of dedicated volunteers – served dinner to 2720 and lunch to more than 6000 hospitalized patients, parents, siblings, nurses and survivors. They delivered 638 brown bag lunches to parents of hospitalized children in Atlanta and Savannah, more than 1060 snack bags to patients and families in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta and Macon and 342 toiletry bags. More than 300 families received CURE totes at diagnosis full of practical items and tips from other families who have walked the childhood cancer journey. We assisted 229 families with emergency financial assistance grants totaling $114,747, and provided $20,000 in transportation assistance to 44 families. We distributed an additional $14,395 in gas, grocery and pharmacy cards.
CURE recognizes the incredible psychological and emotional hardships of childhood cancer and offers families the opportunity to receive professional counseling. In the last year, we provided 56 counseling sessions. We also hosted more than 100 parents at bereavement weekends.
Families let us know the difference this support made to them. One mother wrote, “Thank you for all you have done during this difficult time in our lives. Without your help, many donations, meals, gas cards, Publix grocery cards and financial support when we had no money… we would have never made it this far. We are utterly indebted to your organization and plan to pay it forward as you have graciously shown us how to.”
We also hosted fantastic holiday parties in both Atlanta and Savannah and provided holiday assistance to 76 families, ensuring their holidays were special. And so much more – all because of you!
We could not do what we do without the help of each and every one of you. YOU are CURE and we are so grateful.
