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#20forHope
Social Campaign to Raise Awareness of Neuroblastoma
on September 20
Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation
invites people to post dance videos that day on social media
to help raise $700,000 by year’s end to fight aggressive
childhood cancer
During
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, neuroblastoma, an
aggressive childhood cancer, will be the focus of the #20forhope social
media campaign created to raise research dollars and
awareness of a disease more common in infants than leukemia
but sorely lacking in funding.
On
September 20, people everywhere – best buddies, neighbors,
co-workers, dance troupes and cast members – are being asked
to spread the word about neuroblastoma by posting dance
videos of 20 seconds or more that day to social media using #20forHope,
tag @cncfhope and their followers, and invite them to donate
online at cncfhope.org and share their own dance videos on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Proceeds will benefit the Children’s
Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (CNCF),
a nonprofit founded by the parents of a neuroblastoma victim
that funds research and educational programs for families.
CNCF
officially launched the #20forhope promotion
today with a video featuring
neuroblastoma survivors and kids still in treatment or
dealing with the after effects, which can be severe and last
a lifetime. The objective of #20forhope is
to move CNCF closer to its goal of raising $700,000 by
year’s end on behalf of the estimated 700 children diagnosed
in the United States with neuroblastoma every year. Funds
will be used to support research grants, like the $35,000
CNCF recently awarded to a neuroblastoma researcher at Texas
Children’s Hospital in Houston to conduct a stem cell cancer
study, as well as education programs aimed at raising
awareness about neuroblastoma and potentially life-saving
treatment options and clinical trials.
Neuroblastoma has been called “the great masquerader”
because it mimics common childhood illnesses. It originates
from immature nerve cells and manifests as a solid tumor
most commonly in the adrenal glands above the kidney and in
nerve tissues in the neck, chest, abdomen or pelvis. Its
primary victims are under age 5. Survival rates for patients
in advanced stages of disease is 40 percent, and there is a
high rate of relapse.
Since
2005, CNCF has contributed nearly $2.5 million to fund
neuroblastoma research, helping to fill funding gaps that,
unfortunately, are typical for lesser-known childhood
cancers. In the U.S., the majority of cancer research
dollars go to fight cancers most commonly found in adults.
Less than 3 percent of the American Cancer Society’s funding
is designated for childhood cancer research.
“It
comes down to this: We can do more with more. But the
reality is the way cancer research is funded, our children
are largely being left out,” said Pat Tallungan, president
of CNCF. “There are neuroblastoma researchers on the cusp of
major breakthroughs that would give the youngest cancer
victims a real chance at survival and a better quality of
life. On September 20, we’re asking the public to care
enough to give a few dollars and hope to children and
families suffering with this terrible disease.”
When
Tallungan’s son Nicholas was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in
1995, there was very little information available on the
disease. Tallungan co-founded CNCF in 2000, one year after
Nicholas died at age 10. In 2002, CNCF held its first Parent
Education and Medical Symposium to connect families with the
leading neuroblastoma researchers to learn about the latest
treatment therapies and clinical trials.
“CNCF’s
motto is hope unites us,” Tallungan said. “On September 20,
we hope that people who care about children’s health and
well-being everywhere will dance with us to give children
with neuroblastoma a fighting chance.”
For more
information on CNCF and neuroblastoma visit cncfhope.org.
Follow CNCF on Twitter and Facebook
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