St. Baldrick's Foundation Aims to Take Childhood Back From Cancer

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Feb 01, 2017, 09:15 ET

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Neuroblastoma. Immunotherapy. Malignant. These are words no child should know. Unfortunately, kids with cancer know them all too well. When a child suffers from cancer, a piece of their childhood is taken away, and their lives will never be the same. Together we have the power to do something about it. The St. Baldrick's Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, is proud to announce its Take Childhood Back From Cancer campaign, launching today.

"Cancer steals a kid's childhood," said Kathleen Ruddy, St. Baldrick's CEO. "It's the number one disease killer of children in the U.S., and for those who do survive it, their lives are changed forever. That is unacceptable. I believe St. Baldrick's is a kid's best chance at living a healthy and happy childhood free from cancer. Our national campaign to Take Childhood Back From Cancer is raising awareness about childhood cancers in a way that focuses on restoring and preserving the carefree, innocent nature of childhood for children around the world."

St. Baldrick's first brand awareness campaign - Kids Are Special – launched in 2015. That campaign sought to change the narrative around pediatric cancers by showing kids as their truest selves – fun-loving, carefree, refreshingly honest, and always a little goofy. In this next evolution, Take Childhood Back from Cancer highlights St. Baldrick's Honored Kids with cancer, some in treatment, some in remission, all of whom have had their childhoods disrupted by their diagnosis. The Foundation aims to show what is lost when kids have cancer – a piece of their happy childhoods – and hopes to inspire people to take action to conquer childhood cancers once and for all.

In addition to featuring kids with cancer, the campaign will evolve with additional educational pieces hosted by St. Baldrick's Scientific Advisory Committee Chair Dr. Jeffrey Lipton.

Kids should be on playgrounds, not in hospitals. Help St. Baldrick's give every kid the childhood they deserve by making a donation, participating in a head-shaving event or joining the conversation online by using #TakeChildhoodBack.

Take Childhood Back From Cancer video assets can be viewed here. For media inquiries, please email Cristine Lovato at [email protected]

About St. Baldrick's Foundation
As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick's Foundation believes that kids are special and deserve to be treated that way. St. Baldrick's funds are granted to some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts in the world and to innovative explorers who bring with them the promise of a future free from childhood cancers. Kids need treatments as unique as they are – and that starts with funding research just for them. Join us at StBaldricks.org to help support the best cancer treatments for kids.

SOURCE St. Baldrick's Foundation