By: Trish Adkins
While the world recognizes September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we all know that childhood cancer does not just happen in September. Every day, 43 kids are diagnosed with cancer. Every day, every month, you can make a difference for those children and help researchers get closer to cures.
Here are some simple ways that you can help kids with cancer this fall:
1. Go Gold — All Year Round
The Gold Ribbon, which signifies childhood cancer awareness, is the perfect accessory all year round. Visit Alex’s Shop for your Gold Ribbon gear. You can also learn and share all the reasons and ways to go gold and raise childhood cancer awareness. Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) has a handy Go Gold guide filled with everything you need to know about the fight for cures.
2. Shop on Amazon Smile
As you fill your Amazon cart with all your Thanksgiving and holiday essentials, be sure to use Amazon Smile! When you shop at Smile.Amazon.com and select ALSF as your charitable organization, the Amazon Smile Foundation will donate .5% of your eligible purchase price to us. While that may seem like a small number, every amount has added up and allowed ALSF to fund over 100 hours of research through Amazon Smile shoppers each year.
Click here and start giving back while you shop today! You can also download the Chrome extension, Smile Always, to redirect you to Smile.Amazon.com every time you shop.
3. Shop for (or Sell) Items on eBay for Charity
Sellers on eBay can donate a percentage of their sales to ALSF and buyers can also make a direct donation at checkout. All donations on eBay are tax-deductible. Select ALSF as your favorite charity and start shopping products that help kids with cancer!
Psst! If you’re a seller, the most popular categories for charity listings are nonfiction books, women’s clothing, laptops and tickets or experiences. eBay will also credit back a portion of your seller fees. It’s a win-win!
4. Take a Stand for Cures
Every season is a great time to host a stand and fundraise for childhood cancer research. You can turn your lemonade stand into a hot chocolate stand or move the fun indoors and host a gathering for your friends and family that benefits ALSF! Here are several great ideas for winter lemonade stands that will warm your hearts and help kids.
5. Download Those Apps!
Take out your smartphone and head to the App Store to download two apps that benefit ALSF! On SurveyMonkey, you can sign up and choose ALSF as your designated charity. SurveyMonkey will donate 50 cents for each quick survey you take!
On the Good Cents App, you can turn the time spent on your phone into a donation for ALSF! Simply download and install the Good Cents app, select ALSF as your charity and set your donation amount per hour and your monthly maximum giving. The Good Cents app will track your hourly screen time, and at the end of the month, it will equate your usage into your charitable donation to ALSF!
6. Donate a Vehicle
There are always great deals on new cars — so get rid of your old car! Your old car, truck or boat can benefit kids with cancer! Through our Cars that Cure program, you can donate anything with an engine, from construction equipment to snowmobiles. The process is quick and easy! Fill out the online form or make a toll-free call to (855) CAR-ALSF or (855) 227-2573.
7. Give Month After Month
This fall, you can make a sustaining gift to childhood cancer research by joining the ALSF One Cup at a Time Club! Joining is easy — sign up, select the amount you’d like to give per month and then ALSF will automatically deduct that amount from your preferred payment method each month. Monthly giving not only provides support for research projects, it also allows ALSF to sustain those efforts month after month, year after year, until there are cures for all children.
Check out more ways to get involved and help kids with cancer, here.