Grassroots and a Grant
The Rally Across America inaugural team. (From left to right: Austin, Claire, Nick and Tom)
In 2006, we gave our very first research grant; $5,000 to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. We delivered the check in the prayer circle driveway. It wasn’t a big check in size or amount, but it meant everything. It was every penny we had, raised through a school fundraiser and by people who simply wanted to help a child fighting cancer. That moment marked the birth of something powerful: a promise to fund better treatments with fewer long-term side effects for kids with cancer.
We were so proud. That $5,000 was a symbol of what’s possible when people care deeply and act boldly. It became the foundation for what was to come.
Soon after, our grassroots efforts began to grow:
- Money in the Mitt, sponsored by Mizuno, began as a bubble gum blowing contest with Major League Baseball players during Spring Training. It eventually inspired what’s now our signature fundraising event, the Benefit Bash.
- Rally Across America was a 5,000-mile bike ride led by a recent graduate of Belmont College, Austin Bauman, and evolved into our RallyFit program, where athletes of all kinds raise money in honor of kids fighting cancer.
- 4 Quarters 4 Research was born at Pope High School, in honor of Matt Hobby, a student battling Ewing sarcoma. Today, this simple change collection campaign is carried out in schools across the country.
We’ve come a long way from that driveway check. Today, Rally Foundation has awarded $40.5 million in research funding, fueling 683 grants across the country and internationally. What began with one small gift has become a movement with real impact.
It started with heart.
It continues with hope.
And it thrives because of people like you.
This is the power of people.
This is the power of purpose.
This is Rally.