Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
Student Fires Police Officer’s Handgun On 
Northern Virginia School Bus
A student accidentally shot a police officer’s handgun on a Northern Virginia school bus on Monday. Four students were on the bus at the time, along with the police officer, the bus driver and a bus aide, and no one was hurt. (via Huffington Post)
Bed rest during pregnancy could worsen risk for premature birth, study shows
New research is raising fresh concern that an age-old treatment for troubled pregnancies – bed rest – doesn’t seem to prevent premature birth, and might even worsen that risk. (via Fox News)
Video Game to Help Kids Fight Cancer
Re-Mission 2 is a collection of six free online games–accessible via Web browser or Apple iPad–that share the theme of taking the fight to cancer. They do this by arming patients with a virtual arsenal of chemo, radiation and targeted cancer drug attacks designed to crush advancing malignant forces. (via Yahoo News)
Philadelphia doctor guilty of murdering infants in late-term abortions
A Philadelphia abortion doctor was found guilty on Monday of murdering three babies during late-term abortions at a clinic serving low-income women. (via Yahoo News)
Buena Vista School District Officially Closes For Year, Offers ‘Skills Camp’
For the 400 or so students in Buena Vista, Mich., school is over, even though the academic year isn’t supposed to end until the middle of June. Instead, they will likely attend “skills camp.” (via Huffington Post)
Categories: GoodyBlog | Tags: abortions, bed rest, camp, cancer, education, Gun, gun safety, guns, health, pediatric cancer, Pregnancy, premature birth, school, school bus, skills camp, study, video games
Monday, April 29th, 2013
As parents we understand a love too deep for words to capture; 
a love so immense, it physically hurts sometimes. We know what it feels like to forget about our own fears to protect our children. But every year, thousands of children face a battle that their parents cannot fight for them.
“I vowed, as all fathers do, to protect my child at all costs and I was not able to. I tried so hard and fought with so much hope and it just was not enough. I am not one who accepts failure and will keep getting up, trying again and again, harder each time. But how I get up from this loss and continue to fight I do not know. What am I fighting for when I have already lost what is unimaginable and immeasurable?” These are the words of Larry Witt in a letter to his son Liam who lost his battle with cancer at the age of 6 years old.
Pediatric cancer is the most common cause of death by disease for children and adolescents in the United States. According to The America Childhood Cancer Organization, approximately 13,400 children between the ages of birth and 19 years old are diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. each year.
Like so many other children, little Liam was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare cancer of the nervous system, on February 26th, 2007. For the next four years, Liam’s parents helplessly watched their son endure surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, and antibody treatments in the fight for his life.
On her website CookiesForKidsCancer.org, Liam’s mom, Gretchen, writes: “On this odyssey, we have learned that pediatric cancer robs families of more children than any other disease. We learned about the vast disparity between funding for pediatric cancer and other cancers. We learned of the lack of interest on the part of pharmaceutical companies to invest research and development dollars in treatments and cures. And after we learned all of these shocking facts, we decided to do something about it.”
Cookies For Kids Cancer is a non-profit organization created by Liam’s parents dedicated to funding the development of new and better treatments. Gretchen and Larry got to work after finding that all types of pediatric cancers collectively receive less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s multi-billion dollar budget. With the help of 250 volunteers, Gretchen baked and sold 96,000 cookies in her first larger-than-life bake sale raising over $400,000 for pediatric cancer research. Through their bake sales and events, CFKC has raised over $6 million in just over four years.
An extension of the movement and a book for those inspired to hold their own bake sales, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer: All the Good Cookies, is a cookbook/manual/inspirational guide-hybrid that includes everything from delicious cookie recipes, clever packaging points and hosting tips, to 50-PLUS bake-sale success stories and creative ideas that reach beyond baking to a ladies-night-out-with-a-cause or a carwash. All author proceeds from the book go directly to CFKC.
CFKC has given parents the power to join their children in the fight for their lives.
You can pick up your copy of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer: All the Good Cookies when it hits stores on April 30th. You can also create a giving page, purchase cookies, and find many other ways to help at CookiesForKidsCancer.org.
Wednesday, September 12th, 2012
Nearly 13,000 kids under the age of 21 are diagnosed with cancer every year and, according to the American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO), nearly 25 percent of kids diagnosed per year will not survive the disease. This is why September is dedicated as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Even though President Obama’s proclamation this year revealed that ongoing research and treatment has led to outstanding progress (the five-year survival rate for all childhood cancers has increased from less than 50 percent to 80 percent over the past several decade), there is still much work to be done.
Below are ways to learn more about the disease and to engage with affected communities:
More information about childhood cancer can be found on Parents.com:
Image: Awareness Ribbon – Bone, via Shutterstock
Categories: GoodyBlog, Health & Safety | Tags: 46 Mommas, American Childhood Cancer Organization, awareness, awareness mo, child health, childhood cancer, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, children's hospitals, gold ribbon, health, Health & Safety, Noelia de la Cruz, pediatric cancer, Pediatric Cancer Foundation, St. Baldrick's Foundation
