Twelve years ago, in 2005, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation gave its first grant to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. As we continue Alex's legacy, ALSF continues to raise funds for cutting-edge research, moving the world closer and closer to cures and more effective, less toxic treatments for childhood cancer.
Recently, we introduced you to future pediatric oncology nurse Taylor, who is alive today because of a breakthrough treatment funded by ALSF. Treatment after treatment failed Taylor, until she met Dr. Nabil Ahmed who gave her an immunology treatment that finally stopped the osteosarcoma that Taylor had battled since she was 11-years-old. Today, Taylor is 20 and in nursing school.
This year, we hope to introduce you to more children and young adults thriving because of the breakthrough treatments they’ve received which were funded in part by ALSF. And here’s how we hope to get there, continuing Alex's legacy, one cup and one research grant at a time.
1. Commitment to Cutting-Edge Research
In 2016, ALSF granted 121 multi-year research grants (meaning we’ve funded over 690 grants since 2005!). As we move into 2017, ALSF will continue to rally behind the scientific community, review grants for all types of childhood cancer and award the best and brightest scientists with funding that will potentially lead to breakthroughs. Our Scientific Advisory Board thoughtfully reviews every project to ensure we fund the most promising research conducted by top scientists. From funding young researchers and helping nurses study quality of life issues to accelerating research towards new standards of care, the ALSF childhood cancer research grant program is bringing us closer to cures than ever before.
2. Accelerating New Treatments
As our funded projects continue, we know we will see more clinical trials for childhood cancer types. The Bio-Therapeutics Impact Award accelerates the development of clinical trials for promising biologic approaches to treating childhood cancer. These approaches include cutting-edge treatment like immunotherapy and gene therapy. The award is intended for investigators who are initiating clinical trials or undertaking the pre-clinical work necessary to move into the IND (investigational new drug) phase.
3. Getting Families To Treatment
Families often have to travel long distances several times to access the most promising treatment for their child. Sometimes, these families are forced to make treatment decisions based on personal finances to purchase airfare, hotel, gas cards and meal gift cards. Our Travel For Care program expanded in 2016 to help families traveling to any medical facility in the United States for treatment. We helped 419 families travel nearly 250,000 miles for treatment in 2016. This year, Travel For Care will continue to help families get to the promising treatments that can offer hope for their children.
4. One Cup At A Time
We will get there like we always do: One Cup At A Time. This year our founder, Alex Scott, would have celebrated her 21st birthday. As we celebrate her legacy, our annual Alex Lemonade Days celebration will expand to include two weekends and be held June 3-June 11. In September, we will host our 5th annual Alex’s Million Mile event — encouraging people everywhere to go the distance for childhood cancer. Alex’s Lemonade Days and Alex’s Million Mile are perfect ways to rally your community towards funding for critical childhood cancer research.
Want to help year round? Join our One Cup At A Time Club and help us find cures for all children battling childhood cancer.
Alex's dream was a cure for all children battling cancer. Her legacy is the amazing work of our supporters, hero families, volunteers, partners and researchers. Together, we will find breakthrough treatments.
