Just the Facts, Ma’am
Dear Rally Supporters, Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet was famous for saying, “Just the facts, Ma’am.” I am actually too young to remember the old detective show, but I have heard that line my whole life. Here are “just the facts” about what is happening at Rally. We are continuing our mission of raising money to battle childhood cancer, the #1 disease killer of kids in America. We are doing this from home: though video conferencing, instant messaging, social media, email and phone calls. We are also delivering hot meals to the hospitals and collecting shelf life foods for families whose children are in inpatient treatment. We are processing Family Emergency Fund requests to help families who are financially impacted by this crisis. We are walking alongside families who just received the news that their child has cancer, families who have learned their child relapsed, families who have been...
Newly Elected COG Chair Dr. Douglas Hawkins Shares His ‘North Star’
Rally was pleased when it was announced that the newly elected chair of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) was going to be Dr. Doug Hawkins, a Rally-funded Researcher who has served for the past nine years on the Rally Medical Advisory Board and received funding for early phase trials and biologic specimen collection at Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH). Dr. Hawkins is also the Division Chief of Hematology-Oncology and the Associate Director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at SCH. He transitioned into his role as chair this month, taking the reins from fellow Rally-funded Researcher, Medical Advisory Board member and current COG chair, Dr. Peter Adamson. At Rally, we work endlessly to uphold our mission of funding childhood cancer research in hopes of finding better treatments with fewer long-term side effects and ultimately, a cure. We believe that every child...
A Heartfelt Note of Thanks to Jurrell Casey of the Tennessee Titans
Dear Jurrell, I first had the pleasure of meeting you at our inaugural Nashville Rally On the Runway event four years ago. We were following Rally Atlanta’s template for the fashion show event in order to create something similar and special, yet we faced one significant problem. In Atlanta, the Falcons were the escorts for the Rally Kid models and, at that time, we had no personal connection to our local Tennessee Titans. Fortunately, ‘luck’ was on our side. Wesley Johnson, an NFL player who played high school football with our son, happened to be in Nashville just before spring practice with the New York Jets began. A huge answer to our prayers came when Wesley volunteered to be an escort at our inaugural Rally On the Runway and to recruit a few of his big-hearted NFL friends, too! Thus began our good fortune of getting to know you and your Titans teammates. As the parent of a child...
It’s Fluid: Adjust and Re-Adjust
From Dean Crowe, Founder and CEO Dear Rally Families and Rally Supporters, When I started hearing about the coronavirus and how especially dangerous it is for the immune-compromised population, I immediately thought, “This is what childhood cancer parents live with every single day.” While the majority of the U.S. population is learning the importance and being asked to put into practice the list below posted by one of our cancer moms, she said it well when she said, We’ve been trained for this: Social isolation ✅ Avoiding unnecessary travel ✅ Sanitizing every possible surface ✅ Homeschooling children ✅ Avoiding anyone even remotely ill ✅ Wearing gloves and masks in public ✅ Next-level handwashing ✅ Avoiding large gatherings and crowds ✅ Stocking meds and supplies ✅ Constantly monitoring for symptoms ✅ At Rally we ask that you follow this list and help stop the spread of COVID-19. We...
A Letter from Rally Kid Peyton to Families Battling Cancer
Dear families experiencing childhood cancer and pediatric palliative care doctors, I am a Rally Kid and a first-year student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In my Biology 101 class, we just finished learning about cancer. Sitting in class as one who was diagnosed with cancer when I was teenager (ALL and AML as a sophomore in high school), it was hard to sit still in my seat and listen to my professor explain the traumatic effects of uncontrolled cell division without thinking two things: Cancer is so much more than the biology behind the disease. Wow, I am really blessed to be on the other side of the battle when so many patients and families today are not. And whenever I think about how blessed I have been (yes, blessed) with my particular experience, I am always reminded of how great my care team really was to me. Palliative care was a HUGE part of my...
B.B. Summits Mt. Kilimanjaro and Raising $130,000!
Congratulations are in order for Rally Advisory Board Member B.B. Abbott, who recently summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in order to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer. To date, B.B. has raised just over $130,000 through his efforts! After a week-long climb, B.B. was greeted with 30 MPH winds and freezing temperatures of -20 degrees. The cold, however, couldn’t stop B.B. from smiling as he placed two flags at the summit, one for each organization that he fundraised for: Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research and National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. B.B. began his journey because of the pain and suffering that kids and their families feel when they are diagnosed with cancer. “I sometimes find myself wondering what it must feel like to be a kid who gets the devastating news that he or she has cancer,” B.B. shared in this blog post. “Throughout the 10 years that I have...
Just the Facts, Ma’am
Dear Rally Supporters, Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet was famous for saying, “Just the facts, Ma’am.” I am actually too young to remember the old detective show, but I have heard that line my whole life. Here are “just the facts” about what is happening at Rally. We are continuing our mission of raising money to battle childhood cancer, the #1 disease killer of kids in America. We are doing this from home: though video conferencing, instant messaging, social media, email and phone calls. We are...
Newly Elected COG Chair Dr. Douglas Hawkins Shares His ‘North Star’
Rally was pleased when it was announced that the newly elected chair of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) was going to be Dr. Doug Hawkins, a Rally-funded Researcher who has served for the past nine years on the Rally Medical Advisory Board and received funding for early phase trials and biologic specimen collection at Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH). Dr. Hawkins is also the Division Chief of Hematology-Oncology and the Associate Director of the Center for Clinical and Translational...
A Heartfelt Note of Thanks to Jurrell Casey of the Tennessee Titans
Dear Jurrell, I first had the pleasure of meeting you at our inaugural Nashville Rally On the Runway event four years ago. We were following Rally Atlanta’s template for the fashion show event in order to create something similar and special, yet we faced one significant problem. In Atlanta, the Falcons were the escorts for the Rally Kid models and, at that time, we had no personal connection to our local Tennessee Titans. Fortunately, ‘luck’ was on our side. Wesley Johnson, an NFL player who...
It’s Fluid: Adjust and Re-Adjust
From Dean Crowe, Founder and CEO Dear Rally Families and Rally Supporters, When I started hearing about the coronavirus and how especially dangerous it is for the immune-compromised population, I immediately thought, “This is what childhood cancer parents live with every single day.” While the majority of the U.S. population is learning the importance and being asked to put into practice the list below posted by one of our cancer moms, she said it well when she said, We’ve been trained for...
A Letter from Rally Kid Peyton to Families Battling Cancer
Dear families experiencing childhood cancer and pediatric palliative care doctors, I am a Rally Kid and a first-year student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In my Biology 101 class, we just finished learning about cancer. Sitting in class as one who was diagnosed with cancer when I was teenager (ALL and AML as a sophomore in high school), it was hard to sit still in my seat and listen to my professor explain the traumatic effects of uncontrolled cell division without...
B.B. Summits Mt. Kilimanjaro and Raising $130,000!
Congratulations are in order for Rally Advisory Board Member B.B. Abbott, who recently summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in order to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer. To date, B.B. has raised just over $130,000 through his efforts! After a week-long climb, B.B. was greeted with 30 MPH winds and freezing temperatures of -20 degrees. The cold, however, couldn’t stop B.B. from smiling as he placed two flags at the summit, one for each organization that he fundraised for: Rally Foundation for...