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Dean’s Reflections

Dean’s Reflections – August 2021

Dean’s Reflections – August 2021

by | Aug 29, 2021

Hi Friends, Can you believe the kids are already back in school?  Summer flew by! It is great to see some normalcy returning. I mean, who wants to miss another season of college football? I’ll be honest: this summer was a rough patch with our Rally Kids. Too many relapses and too many kids earning their angel wings. But, there was great news too! Rally Kids finishing treatment and ringing the bell, some moving onto survivorship clinic and plenty of Rally Kids graduating from high school and headed to college. Even wedding bells rang—so sweet. The end of summer means Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is almost here! Fasten your seat belts. Below is a link to a blog that is All Things September. #GOLDSTRONG™ is quickly becoming the universal battle cry of the childhood cancer community. Please feel free to use #GOLDSTRONG in September and all year long. DRUM ROLL, PLEASE! As you know,...

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Dean’s Reflections – June 2021

Dean’s Reflections – June 2021

by | Aug 29, 2021

Hi Friends, The Rally Team came to me with an idea. And you know at Rally, if there is one thing we like, it is new ideas! They wanted to do a quarterly newsletter that would be concise and let Rally, our community as a whole, know what was happening. They asked me if they could call it Dean’s Reflections. I personally think Rally Reflections would have been better, but I finally agreed. So welcome to the first Dean’s Reflections. My first reflection is looking back on 2020 and at the first half of 2021. I honestly have to tell you that I am so proud and humbled by Rally and our amazing community. In the middle of a pandemic, your generous support allowed us to support 352 families in 30 states through the hardships of fighting childhood cancer and an international pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, you supported our Department of Defense Medical Research advocacy efforts resulting in...

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Dear Presh

Dear Presh

by | Jun 30, 2021

Dear Presh (a.k.a. Sarah), My heart gets a little heavy this time of year. I start to wonder why and then realize that it means another year has passed since I last saw you. Last held your hand. Last hugged you. You fought Ewing’s Sarcoma with such poise, grace and unwavering faith in the Lord that I could only stand in awe. I didn’t meet you and your family until after your first battle with Ewing’s. I actually remember exactly where we met and how we immediately hit it off. I remember we laughed and laughed. From there our friendship just grew. You visited the Rally office, filmed videos and spoke at Rally events. There were Subway and Chick-fil-A lunches. There were also relapses, hospital visits and doctor’s appointments that you invited me to. There are so many Presh memories. Indulge me as I recall a few. You found it so funny that any medical procedure, while it fascinated you,...

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Dear William

Dear William

by | May 22, 2021

Dear William, There are so many memories. So many. You were the inspiration for Rally. The first Rally Kid. Your driveway was the prayer circle driveway. The driveway where, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning at 9:30, God took a minimum of six to as many as 15 women on an unbelievable journey to pray you and your family through your first relapse with medulloblastoma—a pediatric brain tumor. We were an interesting crew made up mainly of baseball moms from all different faiths, denominations, neighborhoods and schools. We had ladies who “named it and claimed it” and ladies who said, “This is God’s will” and ladies who said, “We just don’t get it, Lord” and ladies who never said a word but faithfully showed up. Where Rally Started From your driveway to your hospital room, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research was birthed. Rally was never about one kid, one type of...

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Building a Bridge: Expediating and Advancing Pediatric Brain Tumor Research

Building a Bridge: Expediating and Advancing Pediatric Brain Tumor Research

by | May 10, 2021

When to Build a New Bridge I love Rally. I love all the unique opportunities it provides—like building a bridge. Who knew? But first, a little background. A few weeks ago, my husband Reid and his good friend Marty built a bridge across the creek in our backyard. The landscape and topography around the creek changed through the years, and our low-profile bridge had washed away. So, to get to the other side of the creek, Reid would put on his waders and trudge across the water. It wasn’t very efficient, but it worked. The new bridge is higher, sturdier and stronger. It makes crossing to the other side much easier. And now that we can get to the other side of the creek, guess what? There is more work to be done in that part of the yard. Today at Rally, we have a unique opportunity to build a bridge together, so some very important work can be done on the other side. How cool is that?...

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“See You On Monday”

“See You On Monday”

by | Mar 15, 2021

A year ago Friday I looked at the Rally staff and said, “See you on Monday.” On Saturday, I spent the day doing research on COVID-19. By Saturday night I was looking up best practices for working from home. On Sunday, I called the leadership team together. Within two hours we had three Zoom accounts and a meeting scheduled with the whole team. I told the Rally team we would be sheltering in place and meeting by Zoom each morning and afternoon. I broke the news that we would not have any of our three scheduled Rally On the Runway events and that the advocacy team would not be going to Washington, D.C. the next week as planned. I shared that we were going to take our inspiration from our Rally families, who adjust and readjust almost on a daily basis without seemingly missing a beat. One team member said, “Childhood cancer isn’t going to take a break because of this pandemic, and neither...

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Dean’s Reflections

Dean’s Reflections – August 2021

Dean’s Reflections – August 2021

by | Aug 29, 2021

Hi Friends, Can you believe the kids are already back in school?  Summer flew by! It is great to see some normalcy returning. I mean, who wants to miss another season of college football? I’ll be honest: this summer was a rough patch with our Rally Kids. Too many relapses and too many kids earning their angel wings. But, there was great news too! Rally Kids finishing treatment and ringing the bell, some moving onto survivorship clinic and plenty of Rally Kids graduating from high school and...

read more
Dean’s Reflections – June 2021

Dean’s Reflections – June 2021

by | Aug 29, 2021

Hi Friends, The Rally Team came to me with an idea. And you know at Rally, if there is one thing we like, it is new ideas! They wanted to do a quarterly newsletter that would be concise and let Rally, our community as a whole, know what was happening. They asked me if they could call it Dean’s Reflections. I personally think Rally Reflections would have been better, but I finally agreed. So welcome to the first Dean’s Reflections. My first reflection is looking back on 2020 and at the first...

read more
Dear Presh

Dear Presh

by | Jun 30, 2021

Dear Presh (a.k.a. Sarah), My heart gets a little heavy this time of year. I start to wonder why and then realize that it means another year has passed since I last saw you. Last held your hand. Last hugged you. You fought Ewing’s Sarcoma with such poise, grace and unwavering faith in the Lord that I could only stand in awe. I didn’t meet you and your family until after your first battle with Ewing’s. I actually remember exactly where we met and how we immediately hit it off. I remember we...

read more
Dear William

Dear William

by | May 22, 2021

Dear William, There are so many memories. So many. You were the inspiration for Rally. The first Rally Kid. Your driveway was the prayer circle driveway. The driveway where, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning at 9:30, God took a minimum of six to as many as 15 women on an unbelievable journey to pray you and your family through your first relapse with medulloblastoma—a pediatric brain tumor. We were an interesting crew made up mainly of baseball moms from all different faiths,...

read more
Building a Bridge: Expediating and Advancing Pediatric Brain Tumor Research

Building a Bridge: Expediating and Advancing Pediatric Brain Tumor Research

by | May 10, 2021

When to Build a New Bridge I love Rally. I love all the unique opportunities it provides—like building a bridge. Who knew? But first, a little background. A few weeks ago, my husband Reid and his good friend Marty built a bridge across the creek in our backyard. The landscape and topography around the creek changed through the years, and our low-profile bridge had washed away. So, to get to the other side of the creek, Reid would put on his waders and trudge across the water. It wasn’t very...

read more
“See You On Monday”

“See You On Monday”

by | Mar 15, 2021

A year ago Friday I looked at the Rally staff and said, “See you on Monday.” On Saturday, I spent the day doing research on COVID-19. By Saturday night I was looking up best practices for working from home. On Sunday, I called the leadership team together. Within two hours we had three Zoom accounts and a meeting scheduled with the whole team. I told the Rally team we would be sheltering in place and meeting by Zoom each morning and afternoon. I broke the news that we would not have any of our...

read more

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