In the spirit of it being the last day of 2012, we wanted to share with you (our loyal blog readers) the top 10 ALSF moments from the year. In all honesty, we (fortunately) had more than just 10 top moments, but below are some of the big ones in no particular order. These accomplishments were only made possible through your dedication and support of our mission to end childhood cancer - thank you! There’s no denying that 2012 was a great year, but we can’t wait until 2013 as we're planning bigger and better things to help us find a cure for all childhood cancers. Stay tuned... and Happy New Year from all of us at Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation!

1. You helped us to raise more than $13 million in 2012 (what a fitting number as we enter 2013)! We knew this lofty goal was ambitious, but also felt confident that through hard work and your support we could reach it. In true ALSF supporter fashion – you helped us to not only reach our goal, but surpass it.
   
   
2. In 2012 alone, your donations funded 66 new childhood cancer research projects. The projects are diverse, but are all working toward a common goal – to find better treatments and cures for childhood cancers.
   
   
3. Research breakthrough! Early results from a clinical trial found that a drug that was being used to treat lung cancer in adults (crizotinib) was found to eradicate cancer in some kids with a rare type of lymphoma. ALSF provided previous support to the research team that was critical for the translation of the basic research findings into a clinical trial.
   
   
4. We broke the 400 mark in terms of the number of families our Travel For Care Program program has helped (since inception) by assisting with travel costs so their children could receive the best treatment available. This includes more than 200 flights, 1,300 night of lodging and 7,000 gas cards!
   
   
5. Cycling toward a cure. We held our first Lemon Ride in July of 2012 – a new special event where cyclists completed one of three courses raising funds for pediatric cancer research projects.
   
   
6. All 50 states participated in National Lemonade Days (June 8-10, 2012) creating an outpouring of support for childhood cancer research from coast to coast and everywhere in between.
   
   
7. We sold out all 120 Team Lemon charity slots available for the Philadelphia Marathon creating a noticeable yellow tint to the crowd of runners participating in the event.
   
   
8. We launched a new chapter of The Lemon Society – our young professionals group – in New York City. These ambitious group of professionals has made their mark in Philly and we can’t wait to see what NYC will do!
   
   
9. MyChildhoodCancer.org, our research portal looking to find answers to how childhood cancer affects and impacts families, launched its second series of surveys. Through this series of anonymous surveys, we're looking to find common themes among families of childhood cancer (including information about their family history, child's diagnosis, etc...) to gain insights into childhood cancer and the impact it has on families.
   
   
10. ALSF announced two new medical research grant categories – Springboard Grants and our Centers of Excellence program. We continue to work directly with doctors, researchers, and nurses to identify the specific challenges they face in bringing new treatments to and caring for children with cancer and design grants to address these challenges.