Whether you hosted a lemonade stand, attended an Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) special event, shared a post on social media or made a donation, your support of ALSF has made 2018 remarkable and hope-filled for children battling cancer.
This year, you turned lemonade into clinical trials at 13 different institutions. Dr. Steven Dubois, pictured above, is leading a multi-site trial to treat resistant types of childhood cancer.
An international group of 90 researchers gathered in Philadelphia for the first meeting of the Crazy 8 Initiative.
Our amazing supporters take a stand all year round by hosting lemonade stands, attending special events and sharing the ALSF story!
To accomplish this enormous mission of helping all children have access to safe, more effective treatments and cures, we need a formula. Our Formula for Cures begins and ends with the inspiration of people everywhere and in-between it requires an approach that empowers each one of us to make a difference.
Whether you hosted a lemonade stand, attended an Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) special event, shared a post on social media or made a donation, your support of ALSF has made 2018 remarkable and hope-filled for children battling cancer.
Earlier this year, we introduced ALSF’s Formula for Cures (check out the slideshow above to learn more!) which represents our philosophy that each of us has a role in making cures for childhood cancer a reality. We know curing childhood cancer is not the product of one lemonade stand or one breakthrough in a lab. It is not just one successful treatment for one child or one donation that makes cures possible.
Curing childhood cancer is a combination of all of these elements and the people working together for one purpose that will save generations of children. The ALSF mission began with Alex’s front yard lemonade stand and has driven us on the path toward cures.
At ALSF, we have you to thank for turning your passion into progress and lemonade into cures. Here’s what you helped make possible this year:
1. Accelerated Clinical Trials
One of the critical steps in finding new treatments is the opening of a clinical trial. In 2018, supporters made early phase clinical trials possible at 13 institutions, including the opening of a multi-site clinical trial led by Dr. Steven Dubois. Dr. Dubois is leading the study of a drug called ALRN-6924, which shows promise for suppressing several types of resistant childhood cancer types including lymphoma, leukemia and some solid tumor cancers.
2. The Roadmap to Cures
This September, 90 rock-star researchers gathered in Philadelphia for the first-ever meeting of the Crazy 8 Initiative—an innovative effort to draw the roadmap to cures for childhood cancer. This international group spent 3 days identifying the obstacles to cures and then collaborating in small and large groups to find the answers. ALSF has committed $25 million to making the Crazy 8 roadmap the path to cures.
3. Thousands of Supporters Taking a (Lemonade) Stand
Our roots are in the ordinary lemonade stand—but our supporters have taken that concept and made it extraordinary! In 2018, supporters all around the world hosted over 4,750 lemonade stands. Each stand raised valuable funds for childhood cancer research and invaluable awareness about the need for more research. Hosts like the Lemonettes, who have raised more than $15,000 for ALSF since 2012, keep the lemonade stand tradition going strong!
4. Accessible Childhood Cancer Research Data
There is enough publicly available disease data at the National Institute of Health to fill up several hundred Libraries of Congress and through ALSF’s investment in technology, the Childhood Cancer Data Lab (CCDL) is translating that data into one consistent format for researchers to access and use. This year, the CCDL provided access to decades worth of that data through its data refinery, refine.bio. The data is accessible to all qualified researchers and has the potential to save thousands of research hours by being the one-stop shop for childhood cancer data.
5. Unprecedented Collaboration
In addition to the collaboration of the Crazy 8 group, over 70 ALSF-funded researchers gathered in October for the 6th Annual Young Investigator’s Summit. The summit brought together young scientists with more established scientists for three days of collaboration and networking. This event is held each year and fulfills the ALSF commitment to supporting young researchers in their early career research, ensuring they are able to stay committed to childhood cancer.
6. Helped Kids Travel for Care
Sometimes lifesaving treatments are hundreds or thousands of miles away and families are left deciding between gas in their tank and paying their electric bill. At ALSF, we know first-hand how families sometimes struggle to reach cancer treatment. The ALSF Travel for Care program is available to provide access, hope and potential cures to kids. So far in 2018, you’ve made it possible for us to serve over 820 families with 1.38 million miles of gas, more than 300 flights and 2,000 nights of lodging.
7. Journeyed the Extra Mile
This September, during The Million Mile event, over 1,500 teams made up of more than 8,000 individuals raised $1.3 million for childhood cancer research. However, our supporters inspire each of us to go the extra mile all year round! From supporter Jim who canoed over 3,500 miles down the Mississippi to raise money for ALSF to Rik who used his GPS to run routes that spelled out the names of childhood cancer heroes to raise awareness, supporters keep inspiring all of us to use our talents towards cures.
Thank you for making 2018 an amazing year for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. We are so grateful for your part in making cures for childhood cancer a reality.
