A Grantee Stops By

As we continue our quest to find cures for all childhood cancers, we are constantly amazed by the dedication of the researchers who receive funding from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. Through our grants program, we see firsthand how passionate they are about improving the lives of children facing cancer, and we want to share this with all of our supporters, including our own staff and Board of Directors. The funds that are raised in the name of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation are allowing these grantees to lead the way to a day when cures become realities.

During one of our recent Board of Directors meetings, we invited one of these grantees to talk about his childhood cancer research, and the path that led him there. His name is Donald W. Parsons, MD, PhD, of Texas Children’s Cancer Center. Dr. Parsons, or Will as he likes to be called, was awarded a Young Investigator Grant by the foundation in 2007, and more recently was among the first recipients of our prestigious “A” Award. During his visit, we learned many things about Will, and maybe even something a little surprising – he did not plan to go into pediatrics. In fact, Will didn’t even initially plan on becoming a doctor. However, his path would eventually lead him there, and during his first rotation in residency, he chose pediatrics as a specialty, and has been dedicated ever since to making a difference for the amazing children he meets every day.

Funding from us has allowed Will and many other pediatric oncologists to pursue their passion and stay in childhood cancer research. Now, Will finds himself both treating patients and doing research in the lab. He is equally focused on patient care, and his patients inspire his determination to research genes that may be related to brain tumors. His research is promising, and has resulted in the identification of numerous mutated genes that contribute to tumor initiation and growth. It seems he is well on his way to uncovering the keys to unlock the causes and cures for brain tumors.

We are so thankful to Dr. Parsons and all of our grantees for their amazing work. Like us, these individuals have dedicated their lives to eradicating childhood cancer, and though you may not hear a great deal about them, they are working every day behind the scenes on behalf of children. We wanted to share this experience with all of you, and below you will find a short video of Will’s visit.

- Liz & Jay Scott, Alex's parents

2010 ALSF T-Shirt Contest

There are so many exciting things happening at Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation as part of our 10th Anniversary Year – and we want to involve all of you as much as possible. As we went through our initial planning stages for the year ahead, we thought why not give our supporters the opportunity to design our 2010 commemorative t-shirt?!

So, that’s exactly what we did! Starting on Wednesday, February 3, we issued a challenge to all of our supporters - design our 2010 t-shirt. The only requirement– submit a unique design that would help us commemorate our milestone year. Initially, the contest was slated to run for only 10 days, but when a nor’easter blew through much of the country, we extended through Sunday, February 9.

From there, the ALSF staff worked fervently to narrow down the submission to the top 3. It wasn’t long before the submissions, created both by hand and electronically, took over our conference room as the staff gathered to vote. Collectively we were able to identify our top three and we sent the final vote back to our supporters. With over 2,000 votes, the winning design was crowned:

>> PRE-ORDER THE SHIRT TODAY!

We would like to thank all those who participated and congratulate the winning designer, Brad Hosbach. Hosbach is a middle school art teacher who paints and designs t-shirts in his free time. Not only will Brad have his design featured on our 2010 t-shirt, but he will also receive an ALSF prize pack along with the other two finalists.

Here are the other top designs:

Follow us on twitter and facebook for more opportunities to contribute to our 2010 celebratory year!

- Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

Introducing the Hero Ambassador Program

As you probably know by now, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is dedicated to finding better treatments and ultimately cures for all childhood cancers. To reach that goal, we know that we not only need to raise lots of money but we also need to increase understanding of what childhood cancer is, what it means for families fighting the disease, and just how many children and families it affects.

Although at times it is very difficult, Jay and I feel very lucky as parents to share our family’s story of childhood cancer with thousands of people around the country. Of course we have had some help through the media in spreading Alex’s mission and message, but we also have the opportunity throughout the year to visit businesses, schools, conferences, hospitals and many other venues. While there, we get to share our personal experiences with childhood cancer, and put a face to the cause.

When I give a talk, I always try to express to the audience the fact that we are not unique in our experience with childhood cancer - that there are millions of other families out there who share very similar experiences. Many audiences are surprised by how many families are affected by childhood cancer each year, and that it remains the number one disease killer of children under the age of 15 in the United States.

If you have spent any time on our website, I am sure you have been moved, as I have by the Hero Stories of children with cancer. In their parents’ words, we learn about these smart, cute, brave, and heroic cancer fighters and laugh, cry, and hope along with them. With all of these touching stories to share, along with the incredible network of families of childhood cancer that we are lucky to be a part of, we decided to create a program that would allow these families to share their stories, advocate for the cause, and take an empowered role in the fight that means so much to them.

So, with the help of Shirley, our Resources Coordinator, and input from some parents of children with cancer, we have created a program to allow family members of childhood cancer fighters to go out into their communities, represent the cause as no one else can, and talk about their personal experiences. In that regard, we are excited to introduce the “Hero Ambassador Program,” launched last week on our website. In just one week, we already have dozens of parents who have signed up to become ambassadors for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, for the cause, and for the cure!

To find out more about the Hero Ambassador program, or how you can become involved in it, visit:

www.alexslemonade.org/hero-ambassador

- Liz Scott, Alex's Mom

Kicking Off Our 10th Anniversary Year

As you may know, 2010 marks 10 years since Alex held her very first front yard lemonade stand. We are hoping that this year will be the biggest yet for the foundation, and last week our family was in Miami for what I think was an appropriate kick off!

Late last year we got an invitation from the NFL to set up a lemonade stand at The Pro Bowl, which would be held on Sunday, January 31, 2010. The Pro Bowl would be a little different this year, held at the same venue as the Super Bowl the week before. At the NFL's request, the concessionaire for the event, Boston Culinary Group, not only agreed to hold a lemonade stand, but took it the next level by suggesting we leave the stand up for the Super Bowl to capture two crowds, two events, and raise the most money! I was amazed that, with all of the planning, hype, and football mania surrounding these two events, that the NFL and Boston Culinary Group would take this on! When we mentioned that this would be the kick off for our 10th anniversary year, they considered it an honor.

Dreaming big, like Alex, my original thoughts were that we would make a big media splash, get players, and other celebrities to come by, with visions of a stand that would surely rival the Super Bowl experience itself. Our family, Jay, myself and Alex’s brothers, planned to be at this important and potentially big event. As the plans started to materialize, I learned to appreciate the sheer magnitude of planning and communicating that it takes to make them such a success. We prepared for our stand, and received confirmation from David Krichavsky, who heads up NFL Community Relations, that he would join us for a celebratory toast that morning. As the stand approached, it became obvious that my big vision was going to be a little more low key, but I looked forward to attending and seeing what might happen!

The day before the Pro Bowl our family went to Sun Life Stadium to bring our banners and finish setting up; we were met with smiling faces and staff willing to help, even as they raced to finish before the big day. It was powerful to see the banners go up at our stand, right in the middle of the event, knowing what some brands and companies go through for that type of real estate during the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl.



When the day of the stand arrived, I have to admit I was nervous and not sure what to expect from the staff that was working at the stand. I also worried that our celebratory toast would feel empty without all of the hype I had originally imagined. We arrived, circled for parking, and already I thought that the day wasn’t going well. However, once we arrived at the stand, we were greeted with huge smiles and handshakes. I quickly shared Alex’s story with the staff manning the stand and not 5 minutes later the enthusiastic staff were repeating the story, handing out flyers, and serving lemonade as if they were longtime supporters of the foundation. As noon approached, David from the NFL approached with two football players from the San Francisco 49ers, Takeo Spikes and Patrick Willis, who took time out of their busy day to make a toast with us.



Once again, we shared the story, and then it was time to grab some lemonade. As we raised our glasses, I said a quick “To a cure within the next 10 years.” And so it went off without a lot of fuss, and I couldn't help but think that Alex would have loved to be there. Always humble and a little shy, she enjoyed meeting people who just wanted to help. She didn't expect lots of attention and didn't need it to make a connection with people. She just needed people who cared, took the time to stop and help, and of course lemonade!

I look forward to hearing about the Super Bowl stand this weekend and I will watch the game, knowing that Alex had a small presence there and more importantly, that pediatric cancer was acknowledged at one of the most famous sporting events in the world.

A special thanks to Mary and David from the NFL, and Tom and the entire crew from Boston Culinary Group, as well as Country Time Lemonade for sending enough lemonade to supply thousands of cups. For your support ~ here's to a cure in 10 years.

- Liz Scott, Alex's Mom