Hope&Heroes Children's Cancer Fund
By Shivam Patel and Sid Inta
Mission Statement
“Hope & Heroes Children's Cancer Fund's mission is to support and expand existing therapies at the Herbert Irving Child & Adolescent Oncology Center at Columbia University Medical Center, located at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in New York City. In addition, we support the development of new initiatives and enhance the research that is vital to continuing to fight against pediatric cancer.”
-Taken from the website charitynavigator.com
Introduction
The charity Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund is an exceptional organization which is efficient in meeting its goal of raising money for pediatric cancer. Hope and Heroes has improved to get where it is today and has developed into a stellar foundation, over time. Since their founding in 1996, Hope and Heroes has supported their community through advanced research, medical support, and fundraising, for pediatric cancer. The charity has been very effective in its job as it has raised over 3 million dollars since its founding. All in all, Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund has made a resounding impact on the lives of many with their contributions to pediatric cancer.
Hope & Heroes Walk
Michael Weiner
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What is the Issue or cause the charity Hope & Heroes supports?
The cause that the charity Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund
supports is pediatric cancer, or cancer that occurs in children. Pediatric cancer is the second leading cause of death in children and, over 13,000 youth in the U.S get infected each year. 25 % percent of the kids diagnosed will go on to die. The percentage is too high and, Hope and Heroes is working to reduce the amount of pediatric cancer. Through the past 15 years, Hope and Heroes has funded research to find a cure and they are now one of the top pediatric cancers in the U.S. This is the cause the charity Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund supports.
There are many kinds of pediatric cancer. Of these, Leukemia, or cancer of the blood, is the most common. Over 30% of all children with cancer have a kind of leukemia. Other common cancers in children are brain tumors, Lymphoma, and Rhabdomyosarcoma. No matter which type of cancer a kid has, it will always be a tough battle for them to overcome. Hope & Heroes joins this battle on the side of kids suffering with cancer, aiding kids and their family’s with advanced treatment and emotional support. This emotional help is very important; as it could be the difference from a kid winning or losing the fight to escape cancer. As Leigh Woznik states in her book “Living with childhood cancer”, it is vital that children receive emotional support to keep them fighting. All in all, pediatric cancer is a major problem that the charity Hope & Heroes is trying to uproot. -SI
Leukemia DIagram
Tumors
Leukemia Awareness
How did Hope & Heroes begin and grow into what it is now?
The organization Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund didn’t always have a five star, hundred percent, accountability and transparency rating, but it has grown and evolved into the stellar charity it is now. Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund was founded by Dr. Micheal Weiner in 1996. He had a vision of Columbia offering the best and most effective treatments for pediatric cancer. He wanted all patients, regardless of their insurance or ability to pay, to be offered the top care at Columbia .In 2012 the overall rating for Hope and Heroes was 82.39, but in the following years it has increased to 94.30 proving that the overall organization is improving. The total revenue acquired also shot up one million dollars over the course of three years. And their financial metrics have rocketed, from a 89.3% to a 94.4%. Over the course of three years, Hope and Heroes has evolved from merely a local charity, to one of the top pediatric cancer funds in the country, but they had to undergo many changes to reach this point.
Hope and Heroes Children's Cancer Fund had to change the amount of accessible information to get such great statistics. The first change they made was in 2014 they started documenting board meeting minutes, which created organization, and provided a memorialized chronology of key information such as board actions, elections of officers or directors, and certain reports from committees and staff. The second change that went in effect was the records retention policy, adopting a written document retention policy ensures that staff and volunteers follow consistent guidance about document destruction and that document destruction/deletion practices become a regular business practice of the nonprofit. Lastly the the amount of trust this organization gets is given by the information provided on their website. Over the years they have provided their audited financials on their website and form for Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax . This no doubt has had impact on whose trust this organization has gained and made it into what it is now. Therefore these are the things Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund has done for it to develop into such a great charity. -SP
What does Hope & Heroes do for the community?
The charity “Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund” researches and fundraises for a cure for pediatric cancer. They raise money to fund their research in a multitude of ways. One way Hope & Heroes raises money is through their annual Hope & Heroes walk, which is a big hit for those living in Upstate New York. Another way Hope & Heroes raises money for pediatric cancer research is with their annual luncheon, which raised over $100,000 this year. The final way in which Hope & Heroes raises money is through their annual dinner, a tradition which has raised about $2.5 million over 12 years. This is how Hope & Heroes has raised money for Pediatric Cancer research.
Along with funding research, Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund” also does some researching themselves. The 5 main areas in which the research are Leukemia, Brain Tumors, Hematology, Bone and Soft tissue tumors, and Stem Cell Research. The charity specifically excels in advances for early cancer detection. Hope & Heroes is also looking to the future, and their advanced stem cell research is proof of their goal. Another example of hope and heroes advanced technology is their Taybanz Solid Tumor Laboratory, which explores the growth of tumors in children. Dr.Julia Bane also heads their PCF Developmental Therapeutics Program, one of a handful of programs which can provide their patients with the newest and most effective medicine. Lastly, in the WOLF Foundation Leukemia/Lymphoma Laboratory, Hope & Heroes is leading the research to look for a deeper understanding of Leukemia. With these programs and many more, Hope & Heroes has looked to benefit our community by solving the dilemma childhood cancer presents. -SI
How effective is Hope & Heroes in accomplishing its goals?
Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund has proven to be very effective in accomplishing their missions. As stated on Charity Navigator, “Hope & Heroes Children's Cancer Fund's mission is to support and expand existing therapies at the Herbert Irving Child & Adolescent Oncology Center at Columbia University Medical Center, located at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in New York City. In addition, we support the development of new initiatives and enhance the research that is vital to continuing to fight against pediatric cancer.” Hope and Heroes is aware of the fact that most financing for cancer targets adults, so pediatric cancer is underfunded, and they want to change that. Columbia University Medical Center (funded from Hope and Heroes) is working hard to make this mission possible. Hope and Heroes funded Columbia University Medical Center with about 3.5 million dollars in the previous year for new equipment and bigger practices. As you can see. This organization is already doing its job to spark research and innovation as well as make new discoveries.
With the money raised from Hope and Heroes, Columbia is able to have the newest most cutting edge treatments, and have a customized treatment for each patient. It is also the one of the twenty-one programs in the country that can provide the newest drugs, because of its PCF Developmental Therapeutics Program. Lastly it is the first program in the country to provide a dedicated hematology/oncology care, for pediatric cancer. Columbia University Medical Center is able to have all these branches is because of Hope and Heroes. As stated on hopeandheroes.org, “Funding from Hope and Heroes ensures the every child who comes to Columbia University Medical Center can have access to the newest and most advanced treatment in the U.S.” Therefore based on these achievements and possibilities, Hope and Heroes organization is effective in reaching its goals. -SP
An example of how Hope & Heroes changes lives...
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Works Cited
American Cancer Society. American Cancer Society, 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cancer.org/>.
"Cancer." New Standard Encyclopedia. 2001. Print.
"Charity Navigator Rating - Hope & Heroes Children's Cancer Fund." Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator, 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. <http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=11151#.VTVQVCFViko>.
Gupta, Sumit, and Raul Ribeiro. "Pediatric Oncology as the next Global Child Health Priority." Academic Search Provider. N.p., 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 15.
Hope and Heroes Children Cancer Fund. Hope and Heroes, 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 15. <http%3A%2F%2Fhopeandheroes.org%2F>.
Woznick, Leigh A., and Carol D. Goodheart. Living with Childhood Cancer: A Practical Guide to Help Parents Cope. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2002. Print.