Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity for all of us to become involved in finding cures and enabling children with illness to live full lives as they fight illness.
You hear the news, and your breathing stops momentarily. Another child has been diagnosed with cancer.
This month is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, but if you know someone whose child has been diagnosed, the name is an oxymoron. How could you be anything but aware of a child’s suffering and a family’s distress?
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is a good time to live out Adlai Stevenson’s famous remembrance of Eleanor Roosevelt: she would light a candle rather than curse the darkness. Doing something about pediatric cancer not only gives us a sense of control but enables us to be part of a solution.
Here are some ideas of things you can do this month to help kids with cancer.
Raise awareness. Post a daily fact about childhood cancer on your social media channels. Google “pediatric cancer memes” for ideas and examples. Use hashtags. Share posts and tweets.
Promote gold. It took a while, but who doesn’t associate pink with breast cancer. We can do the same thing with gold for children’s cancer. Wear gold this month: hair ties and ribbons, shoelaces, crowns (that will stop them in their tracks!), bling with a purpose, and pediatric cancer pins will all do the trick. The object is to get people talking.
Go gold at school. Sell (or give out) golden cookies. Set up change stations where people can empty their pockets for childhood cancer. Pass the pushka (charity box).
Organize a crafts fair or exhibition. We found these suggestions for gold crafts at The Craft Train.
Donate. Yes, money talks. And money helps. Chai Lifeline’s mission is to turn kids with cancer into children who happen to have an illness. Until there’s a cure for pediatric cancer, Chai Lifeline is here to make sure that that children with illnesses can still be kids. Join us by giving this month.
