Bala Cynwyd, PA – The Swifty Foundation has donated $50,000 to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) to co-fund research for better cures and treatments in medulloblastoma. The Swifty Foundation is committed to fighting for childhood cancer research and better, less toxic treatments for children with brain tumors. This gift marks the third year that ALSF and Swifty Foundation will be partnering.

The Swifty Foundation is committed to fighting for childhood cancer research and better, less toxic treatments for children. In partnership with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) The Swifty Foundation has donated $50,000 to ALSF which will primarily fund research for better cures and treatments.

The Swifty Foundation was founded by Michael Gustafson before his death from brain cancer in 2013 at the age of 15. They focus their research efforts on the type of brain cancer Michael fought: recurrent medulloblastoma. The Swifty Foundation is working diligently to facilitate collaboration in the field of pediatric cancer research – collaboration between the many foundations funding pediatric cancer research, as well as collaboration among research institutions and researchers in the field of cancer research.

“Our partnership with ALSF is a seamless extension of our core values and mission,” said Ginny McLean, outreach and communications director for The Swifty Foundation. At Swifty Foundation, we strive to encourage collaboration to be a catalyst for change that leads to a cure. Aligning ourselves with a foundation that exemplifies collaboration and a selfless quest to find a cure has allowed us to leverage our resources and funding; amplifying our efforts. ALSF’s humble inclusion of partners leads to open sharing and trust which enables everyone to remain curious and stay focused on our mutual goal of stopping cancer from stealing childhoods.”

“The Swifty Foundation is delighted and proud to partner with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, working together to support the discovery of better treatments and better futures for children diagnosed with cancer,” said Michael’s dad and board chair, Allen Gustafson. “We recognize the limits of our own resources and knowledge, and it is our priority to find ways to partner with other childhood cancer foundations. There is so much more we can do together!”

Liz Scott, Alex’s mom and co-executive director of ALSF, is also thrilled about the partnership. “We truly believe in working together, sharing information within the childhood cancer community and encouraging collaboration for the sake of making a difference in children’s lives. We are excited to continue joining forces with such an amazing Foundation.”

 

Funding will be designated to the following grants:

2019 Young Investigator Grant
Targeting TGFb Pathways Dependencies in Group 3 Medulloblastoma
(PI) Zulekha Qadeer, Ph.D (UCSF)

2019 Innovation Grant
Targeting Symmetric Division in Pediatric Cancers
(PI) Rosalind Segal, MD, PhD. (Dana Farber Cancer Institute)

To learn more about The Swifty Foundation, visit www.swiftyfoundation.org.  For more information about Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s charity partnerships, visit AlexsLemonade.org/grants/charity-partners.

About Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of 4-year-old Alexandra “Alex” Scott, who was fighting cancer and wanted to raise money to find cures for all children with cancer. Her spirit and determination inspired others to support her cause, and when she passed away at the age of 8, she had raised $1 million. Since then, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement. Today, ALSF is one of the leading funders of pediatric cancer research in the U.S. and Canada raising more than $200 million so far, funding nearly 1,000 research projects and providing programs to families affected by childhood cancer. For more information, visit AlexsLemonade.org.

About The Swifty Foundation
The Swifty Foundation was founded by Michael Gustafson before his death from brain cancer in 2013 at the age of 15. Michael’s “Master Plan” was to donate his tumor tissue to science so a cure might be found for other children. Since that time, the Swifty Foundation has started Gift from a Child, a national initiative to promote post-mortem tissue donation and open-access data sharing. In addition to tissue donation, Swifty focuses on funding brain cancer research and promoting collaboration within the childhood cancer community.