It's followed by questions like, "Why did Hayley get cancer?" and "What makes cancer better?" and "What did Hayley like?" and sweet declarations like "I love Hayley in heaven."
It is sweet, it is heartbreaking, it is challenging...It makes us smile, and it also makes us mad.
Why? In large part, because curing childhood cancer still isn't a priority in this country. The statistics tell the story.
- Every day, two full classrooms of kids are diagnosed with cancer. That's 46 children each day
- Little progress in cure rates has been made over the last decade and 1 out of 5 of those children diagnosed will die
- As a result, cancer continues to be the number one disease killer of children in our country, more than asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and pediatric AIDS combined
- Yet, only 2 percent of federal funding for cancer research is directed at solving cancers that impact our children. It's simply not enough.
To make a donation in memory of Hayley anytime this month, simply visit http://www.firstgiving.com/curekidhayleythomson. If you happen to be visiting this site on the 17th, look for her smiling face on the home page of curechildhoodcancer.org as well.
***As some of you may know, Alan is fortunate to serve on the board of directors of this wonderful organization. CURE and some of the special families it serves were recently featured on the 11Alive news in a three-part series. You can see the final of these three pieces HERE (or see below). Through this video, you can see how the research CURE is funding is saving the lives of real children. With your help, we truly believe we can find a cure in our lifetimes!
We urge you to donate.
Donate so that no other parent ever has to endure the heartache of losing a child.
Donate so that every little boy and girl can know their sibling through more than pictures and video (no matter how much they love to watch it...)
Donate for one of the 46 children that will be diagnosed today.
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