Liz Scott: Our 6th Lemon Ball & My Alex's 16th Birthday

Jay wrote the last blog, so this week it’s my turn. We started off 2012 with a bang having held our annual Lemon Ball this past Saturday, January 14. Once again, our amazing supporters did not disappoint and helped us to raise more than $700,000 for childhood cancer research – pretty incredible for one night!

The live auction was something else! Our guest auctioneer, CK Swett, put on a show of his own that helped to raise more than $56,000 from just six items. Among the items were tickets to the Duke vs. UNC basketball game including transportation by private jet with our gala co-chairs, Melanie and Billy King, and a package from Shane Victorino of our hometown Phillies that not only included tickets to a game and autographed items, but a chance to meet Shane on the field and a phone call from the “Flyin’ Hawaiian” himself.

My plate of signature “Liz’s Lemon Cookies” were also a hit, although I can’t take all the credit as we received a great surprise video message from Buddy Valastro, aka -The Cake Boss, who added a selection of his own cookies, a one-of-a-kind lemonade stand cake (check out a picture of the cake to the left) and a tour and line cut to Carlo’s Bakery. Finally, there was a bidding war over an 11-month lease to Alex’s heart painting with it finally going for $18,000, topping previous years’ winning bids. It’s priceless to me, but seeing firsthand how others value a piece of Alex was heartwarming to say the least.

Though the live auction was rather exciting, there were so many poignant and emotional moments throughout the evening that will resonate with me for quite some time. During the award presentations to our incredible honorees (Crystal Cup Awardee -Harry Rose of The Rose Group, Volunteers of the Year - Natalie and Albert Gigliotti, Stand Hosts of the Year – Riley Miller and Family), Riley Miller – a 17-year-old from Bowling Green, Kentucky who has been a staunch supporter of the Foundation raising funds in honor of two baby brothers that her family lost to cancer – received a standing ovation from the crowd. What made the moment even more special was that my oldest son, Patrick, presented Riley with the award since he shared her perspective as someone who lost a sibling to cancer.

Also receiving a well deserved standing ovation was our childhood cancer hero speaker of the evening, 19-year-old Danny Hammond. Danny has been battling “the beast” as he calls it for more than 10 years – we actually met him in the hospital when Alex was receiving treatment at the same time. Danny speaks from the heart and somehow manages to be incredibly moving and hilarious at the same time. Clearly, his words didn’t just make an impression on me as at the end of the live auction, we asked our guests to help fund a research grant in Danny’s name and in no time, nearly $60,000 was raised to honor this courageous young man. Talk about teenagers that are wise beyond their years.

Speaking of teenagers – Wednesday, January 18, was Alex’s birthday in which she would have turned 16-years-old. I miss Alex everyday, but especially as we come across milestones such as the “Sweet 16” – or maybe not so sweet as I hear from some of my friends with teenage daughters. In any case, it makes me think so much about what Alex would be like as a 16-year-old. I’m sure we would have our normal ups and downs like any family (bickering over boys, bathroom time and the car - yikes) but I can’t help but wonder about the amazing things she would have accomplished considering the incredible feats she reached at such a young age.

Although I will never know so many things, I am extremely grateful for her life and being reminded of her beautiful spirit everyday as we continue to help children with cancer through the Foundation. We’ve raised more than $50 million for childhood cancer research with the help of others who were inspired by Alex, and each year that we celebrate her birthday, we come closer to realizing my daughter’s dream of a day when kids won’t get cancer.

A special thank you to our sponsors of The 2012 Lemon Ball as well as all of our supporters who remain dedicated to our cause!

-Liz Scott, Alex's Mom

Jay’s New Year’s Resolutions

It’s always fun at this time of year to hear and read about everyone’s New Year’s resolutions. Whether they be focused on healthier living (anyone else see an increase in people at your gym this week?), wiser spending or more whimsical in nature, they have the ability to inspire us to try and do better and be better.

In addition to some loftier resolutions I have for 2012, making more efficient use of my time and meeting the ambitious goals we set forth here at ALSF in terms of raising funds and distributing them (more on that later)…I’m also attempting to watch the top 100 movies (according to IMDb) and listen to the top 100 albums of all time (per Rolling Stone). Let me tell you, it’s not as easy as you think. I consider myself up on this kind of stuff, but I have a busy year ahead of me in the world of movies and music. Join me! We can do a wrap-up blog at the end of the year to give our two cents on the lists.

So, back to our resolutions and goals at ALSF – feel free to start using this acronym by the way if you don’t already. We’ve set some pretty high fundraising aspirations for this year to help us on our quest of finding a cure for childhood cancer. In 2011, we broke prior records and raised more than $10.5 million – an amazing figure, especially when you consider our roots and that we’re still in the infancy stage of the Foundation. Our goal this year is to surpass 2011 and although it’s a bit ambitious, we know we can do it with the help of all of you out there. We recognize that the current economic climate is not the most conducive to giving and the fact that you continue to support my daughter’s vision despite these trying times, is more than a dad could hope for.

In this spirit, I wanted to remind you of a few simple ways to give to ALSF in 2012…

• MissionFish on eBay – Buying or selling things on eBay? MissionFish is the charitable partner of eBay and allows sellers to donate a portion of the sales from their listed items to a charity. We’ve received a steady and surprising stream of generous donations through MissionFish – check out the ALSF page to view or add items to the list that if purchased, benefit the fight against childhood cancer.
  
  
• Don’t throw away those used ink cartridges! Collect these gems (along with cell phones, laptops, etc…) at home or your office and send them to Funding Factory for recycling. They’ll provide you with a pre-paid shipping label and either send you cash that you can donate, or deposit points directly into our account that we can redeem for items to support the Foundation. From printing pixels to providing hope!
  
  
• Donate your car. This will be in place shortly, but we often receive requests from people looking to donate their car to benefit ALSF. Stay tuned for how you can go about doing this, but in the meantime, hang on to that clunker for a bit longer!
  
  
• Text a donation. Take a break from tweeting, status updating, IM’ing (I’m showing my age) and text the word LEMONADE to 85944. There – you just contributed $10 to Alex’s dream of a world where kids don’t get cancer, it doesn’t get much easier.

For more ideas, check out our website and happy 2012!

-Jay Scott, Alex’s Dad

Major Advances in Childhood Cancer Research in 2011

As 2011 comes to an end, we celebrate not only our brave childhood cancer heroes, but also the dedicated researchers and scientists who continue to work toward better treatments and realizing Alex’s vision of eradicating childhood cancer. These men and women are of all ages and levels in their careers and face significant challenges in the field, most notably that childhood cancer research is vastly and consistently underfunded.

Despite this, we at Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation remain optimistic that a cure will be found and steadfast in our efforts to support this research with the funds that we raise. Although there is a great deal of work to be done, we’re getting there. Case in point, in 2011, results from two research studies have led to major advances in the way two forms of childhood cancer are treated.

Results from a study out of St. Anna Children’s Hospital and Research Institute in Austria showed that a new high-dose combination of chemotherapy drugs significantly improved survival for children with high risk neuroblastoma, establishing a new standard of care. Neuroblastoma, the type of cancer that Alex had, accounts for approximately 15 percent of childhood cancer deaths and about 40 percent of cases are considered high risk, meaning they will probably recur despite therapy. The chemo combo showed such strong results that the randomization in the trial was stopped and all of the children enrolled were given the new regimen. You can understand why this is a big deal.

Another “game changer” this year was when researchers in a Children’s Oncology Group (COG) trial found that a new, higher-dose chemotherapy regimen improved the cure rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), boosting it to more than 80 percent. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common leukemia in children, but relapses continue to be a problem. This new therapy proved to be better than previous treatments at preventing relapses as well as extending survival, once again resulting in a new standard of care for children with high risk ALL.

So, you can see why it is critical that childhood cancer research continues to receive adequate funding to support these studies that are truly saving the lives of children with cancer. Funding is also needed to expand the scope of research to not only prolong life, but also improve the quality of life for childhood cancer patients before, during and after treatment.

We applaud all of the researchers who are working so hard to better the lives of children with the disease and we’ll continue to support their efforts in our fight against childhood cancer. Who knows, maybe 2012 will be the year that leads to the cure….

Have a happy and healthy start to 2012!

On a lighter note…we’re hoping that you’ll provide us with some feedback about our blog as we look to improve upon it for 2012. Are there any posts that you particularly like or others you don’t necessarily want to hear about? Do you like guest bloggers, off-topic blogs, etc…? Leave a comment or shoot us an email so we can help make this more of what you’re looking for in the coming year.

Guest Blog: Two Renowned Chefs, One Great Cause…

We’ve had two incredibly successful culinary events in the past two months raising more than $650,000 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation in the fight against childhood cancer. What’s pretty amazing about these events is that they are truly chef-driven. Although our event staff provides a great deal of support, the group of elite chefs who participate are the ones who have been inspired by Alex’s story and taken it upon themselves to create the fundraiser. Two of the participating chefs, Marcus Samuelsson (Red Rooster, Marc Burger, C-House) and Hedy Goldsmith (Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink), were kind enough to blog about their experience at the recent events (Lemon: NYC and L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade) giving an inside perspective on the wonderful food, collegial spirit, challenging weather and most importantly, the fabulous cause.

Marcus Samuelsson (Lemon: NYC)



Who would’ve thought that a child’s simple lemonade stand could someday become a huge powerhouse nonprofit that raises millions of dollars a year for the sole purpose of cancer research and treatment? Well that’s exactly what Alexandra Scott was able to achieve as her dying wish through her idea for Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is a cancer charity that has raised more than $50 million, funding more than 200 cutting-edge research projects, created a travel program to help support families of children receiving treatment and developed resources to help people everywhere affected by childhood cancer.

Last week, I had the honor of participating in a fundraising dinner for Alex’s Lemonade Stand (Lemon: NYC), with 30 or so of my chef colleagues. The event space was donated by Chef Jonathan Waxman and the organization invited 30 renowned chefs to share their dishes with donors to this great cause. I cooked that night alongside great names like Tom Colicchio, Alex Guarnaschelli, Franklin Becker, Bill Telepan, Jonathan Waxman, Tim Love and Tony Mantuano. Each chef had a table of 10 guests to whom they served a unique menu of the chef’s own creation.

Not only will I always remember this event for its great cause and the amazing talents all in one place, but also the design of the event that was unlike any other tasting I’ve previously attended. At this dinner, we had the opportunity to actually cook our food and put together a 3 to 4 course dinner while the guests looked on around the room. At most tastings, there is very little cooking and a lot of greeting and picture taking. At this great dinner, we were able to really focus on the food and then interacted with individual guests at our tables when we presented our dishes. My menu consisted of a Gravlax Poke with Purple Mustard, Jerk Bacon over Cowpeas served with seared Octopus, Coffee-cured Duck with a Foie Gras Terrine and a Watercress salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette. Finally for dessert we served Sweet Potato Donuts. The food was followed by a beautiful ballet performance of The Nutcracker and a live auction.

I had a great time seeing all my colleagues and definitely helping out such a great cause that helps hundreds of children with cancer each year.


Hedy Goldsmith (L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade)



I had the pleasure of being invited to participate in my first Alex's Lemonade Stand chef event in November. It was Suzanne Goin's L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade shindig, and wow what an experience for my first. Truly unforgettable in so many ways... let's begin with the rain! So it's 8 o’clock in the morning on Sunday, November 6 when we arrive to the tents and the weather is horrendous. The mud was up to our knees.... mud and muck! Jen Davidson from camp Barbuto was wearing flip flops – our honorary Miamian. No one was prepared. From fabulous hunter boots to flip flops and everything else in between, and we of course brought the Chuck Taylor sneaker contingent. It was freezing cold and I was worried that people wouldn’t come to the event. My assistant Trew Sterling and I were on the edge of two connecting tents and I kept telling Trew to layer more cardboard down. Trew along with everyone else would go raid all the boxes from people unloading liquor. We'd break them down, pad the ground, and have to go get more in a matter of minutes. We just kept sinking down! Picture an elegant party, like the most beautiful one you can imagine, then add cardboard, water and mud. I say this right now and it all sounds rather dramatic, but the fact is that, well, no one really cared - what were we going to do? Then a miracle happened. At 11:00 am, when guests were to begin arriving, it became picture perfect. The Scott family got on stage and started with the speeches and it was amazing – pretty spectacular. From the pre-party at Nancy's (Nancy Silverton) to the post party at The Hungry Cat in Santa Monica with David (David Lentz) putting out such a beautiful spread with fresh seafood and spicy steamed shrimp and cocktails, spicy chicken wings and fun bar food; it was so sweet and gracious – like the wet morning never happened. The party went very late and all of us on the Genuine team finished at In-N-Out Burger. I'm now hooked on Alex's and can't wait for my next event!

Thanksgiving...continued

We know…Thanksgiving was last Thursday, but we can’t help to share the moving and inspirational messages of thanks from the hearts of our childhood cancer heroes. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) created a project via our Facebook fans asking our heroes and hero families to submit a photo of themselves or of their child stating what they are thankful for this year. Our heroes never disappoint – the response was overwhelming and the photos are heartwarming to say the least. A select few are below, to view the entire album, check out our photo album on Flickr.

As we enter the final 31 days of 2011, we’re busier than ever here at ALSF. The final preparations are underway for our Lemon: NYC culinary event next week, our Annual Lemon Ball on January 14 and a host of other projects; not to mention trying to get ourselves and families ready for the holidays. However, one look at the dimpled smile on Daniel’s face below or the message from Justin’s family that although simple, resonates to the core, and things get put into perspective pretty quickly. We hope that these snapshots of our heroes living life to the fullest can help instill a sense of calm in your lives as well during this hectic time of year.

Of course, we at Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation are thankful for you and your continued support! We’d love to hear more from all of you of what you’re grateful for – please comment on this post and join us as we honor our heroes this holiday season.



Daniel Cooper
7 years old
Daniel is thankful for the doctors to make him not have cancer anymore and that he lives in a home and has friends.



Matt Schechter
10/26/89 - 3/25/10
Matt's family: "Our family will be forever thankful for having had Matt in our lives"



Tony Salerno
8 years old
Tony is thankful for Alex's Lemonade Stand and video games.



Isabel Carles
9 years old
Isabel is thankful for being (almost) 5 years in remission.



Cole Fitzgerald
7 years old
Cole is thankful for his sisters



Justin Bissett
2/9/00 - 6/26/07
Justin's family: "Justin will always remain in our hearts. We are so thankful for all of the great years we had to spend with him."



Alex Podeszwa
Alex is thankful for LIFE.



Jacob Goeders AKA "The Leukemia Slayer"
10 years old
Jacob has renamed himself The Leukemia Slayer and he is thankful for: his friends and family, the great hospital he goes to and... ham & chutney, and lots of it!!!



Alexandra "Alex" Scott
1/18/96 - 8/1/04

Alex's family: "We are thankful that we have so many wonderful people helping kids with cancer and that Alex had this vision for changing the world for kids with cancer."

- Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

A time of year to be thankful, and inspired…

Every year at this time we are reminded of the things we are thankful for – family, friends, health, good fortune; this year in addition to all of these things, I am thankful for something else – Team Lemon. It may sound odd, to be thankful for an athletic team, but as we all know, Team Lemon is so much more than that. It’s a way for athletes of all calibers to raise awareness and funds for the battle against childhood cancer. Here’s the story of how I accidentally fell into being a member of Team Lemon and how during this season of giving thanks, I find myself being thankful for something I didn’t see coming.

Many of us have been inspired by the story of Alexandra “Alex” Scott, her courage in the face of adversity, and her selflessness when while battling her own cancer she literally stood up for other children facing the same plight. I was not immune to this inspiration, it’s the reason I moved to Philadelphia and have dedicated nearly four years of my life to spreading Alex’s mission, the amazing work of volunteers, sponsors and supporters and the brave stories of childhood cancer fighters. What I perhaps did not anticipate was being inspired by another member of the Scott family, Jay Scott, Alex’s dad. It was in early May of this year that Jay challenged members of the ALSF staff to participate in the Broad Street Run as part of Team Lemon. At the time, the thought of me running a 10 mile race was laughable and improbable at best. If you asked members of my softball team, I often complained about running to first base – fortunately for me, I’m not a great softball player so I barely ever had to run further than that! However, for the purposes of ALSF and in support of kids fighting cancer who inspire me every day, I agreed and told myself (and everyone else) that I would simply walk. Somewhere along the line though, things took an unexpected turn and I decided to accept Jay’s challenge and try to run. What transpired next was a complete shock - I found myself actually enjoying the process and accomplishing things I didn’t think were possible. First it was simply being able to jog half a mile, then a mile, then five; to me, it was a miracle of sorts.

I am proud to say that I completed the Broad Street in 1 hour and 37 minutes and to my surprise when the opportunity presented itself to run the half marathon in Philadelphia as part of Team Lemon, I jumped at it. It was unbelievable to think that in 2010 getting up early to cheer on my coworkers at the marathon was a challenge and this year I’d be running it. However, there I was, raising money for the Foundation and gearing up to run 13.1 miles.

Being a part of Team Lemon has taught me a great deal about life and the limits we set for ourselves. Additionally, it’s shown me so much more than just what I am personally capable of – it’s also provided me with an example of what we are all capable of when we pull together. As Alex knew long before I did, when we combine our efforts, we can do anything. Whether it’s simply pushing ourselves to accomplish things we thought once impossible or becoming part of a team to put an end to childhood cancer, the possibilities are endless.



When Team Lemon gathered at our tent prior to the race this past Sunday, I met some other first time half marathon runners who had been inspired by Alex’s courage, and the courage of so many other children battling cancer. We all agreed that the physical strain we were about to put ourselves through on Sunday though not a cake walk, would be nothing compared to the battles that young children facing cancer experience. For me, reaching mile 13.1 was a huge accomplishment, and with the thousands of steps I took that day, I knew they wouldn’t be my last steps to contribute to the battle against childhood cancer. I’ll be back next year as part of Team Lemon, and probably the year after that. It has been a wonderful experience, and one I am surprisingly thankful for this year. I’d recommend it to anyone, if I can do it, you can do it too.

- Gillian Kocher

3rd Annual Lemon Run Philadelphia Brings Sunshine, Families Fighting Together

The Lemon Run Philadelphia, held on Sunday, November 13, 2011, made for two back to back weekends of successful events for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. After the Foundation’s fantastic foodie event in Los Angeles the weekend before, supporters on the East Coast presented an equally inspiring show of solidarity at the Foundation’s annual Philly 5K Run/Walk and Kids’ Dash.



The brisk and sunny morning brought out nearly 2,000 participants, including runners, walkers, children and those who simply came to show their support in the battle against childhood cancer. The 2011 event was a record breaking year for many reasons, including for funds raised – over $150,000! Intermingled with athletes who came to run the certified course were several fundraising teams honoring childhood cancer fighters.

The fundraising teams created a competition of their own, vying for the top position. Among the teams were Team Gusto, honoring 5-year-old Eli, a resident of Gladwyne village who is fighting his cancer with gusto; Team Mikey Mike, honoring childhood cancer survivor Michael Hoffman; Team Smiley Riley, formed by the family of 2-year-old cancer survivor Riley McComb; and Team Dave-O, honoring the memory of David Theobald, who died of cancer in 1982 at the age of 8. In the end, Team Gusto may have won the fundraising competition, but all the teams were winners knowing that their efforts would go toward the ongoing mission to end childhood cancer. We also want to mention that the top individual fundraiser was 2-year-old Lucy Littlefield, a cancer survivor!



The overall winner of the 3.1 mile race was Rich Burke with a time of 16 minutes and 45 seconds. The overall female winner was Grace Mancini, cruising across the finish line at 18 minutes and 55 seconds.

The morning was a huge success and wouldn’t have been possible without the participation of all runners, walkers, fundraising teams and sponsors. A special shout out to Volvo, and to all those who traveled from out of town to participate in the event. Can you believe that we had people from Syracuse, Houston and even Brazil! Thank you!

For pictures, race results and more information, visit our website: http://www.alexslemonade.org/campaign/lemon-run

- Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation