Awareness of childhood cancer increasing

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month gets a lot of support from local organizations, but they say they still have a lot of work to do.

With only five per cent of cancer research funding devoted to all types of childhood cancer research, several local organizations and volunteers are devoted to raising awareness and money.

Little Hands Kids for a Cause started three years ago as a lemonade stand and yard sale to help local childhood cancer patient Maiysn Spencer. The charity highlighted the emotional and financial struggle faced by the boy and his family to demonstrate the need to help others in the same situation.

Over the past three years, the charity says the community has been huge in assisting Little Hands Kids for a Cause with its yard sales, door-to-door- canvasing, Lilly drives and T-shirt sales, but it still faces obstacles.

The biggest obstacle, according to Linda Roelens, a volunteer with Little Hands Kids for a Cause, is that “people think it won’t happen to their kids, but it can hit anybody and any family.”

Little Hands Kids for a Cause raises money and support for local families affected by life-threatening diseases – mostly child cancer patients – by providing “My Hero” T-shirts with the child’s name on them for the family to sell and keep the profits. It also provides gas and credit cards for trips to London Children’s Hospital and pays for the family to stay at the London Ronald McDonald Charities House.

Little Hands Kids for a Cause has also sparked families it has helped to start their own organizations to continue helping others.

The Fight Like Mason Foundation and Capes for Kids are both organizations started by parents who found support from their community through Little Hands Kids for a Cause.