Alice. Photo by TV3 Photography.

The Boston Globe published a 5 part series telling some of our story, titled…

The Power of Will

1,165
times Grayson’s Because of _____ page was viewed
$3,760
his family’s raised for research (thank you!)
548+
Likes on Grayson’s mom’s Facebook post that he’s soon going to have a baby sister!
6
families in our Because of _____ program

 
0
new trial locations opened, totaling:
0
institutions operating our research
0
Kids on our trials in 2016
0
Kids treated since 2006
200
Beat Nb runners at the Falmouth Road Race, including Melissa, who said:
“I’m running in memory of my little buddy, Sean, who lost his battle with neuroblastoma this past June. I’m friends with [his parents] Sara & Pete & our children are friends. Sean was a part of our lives & we all think of him every day. My heart breaks knowing how many children fight this horrible disease every day… we need to find a cure!”
112
karaoke stars at our
Karaoke for the Kure
events in NYC and Tampa
536
who wouldn’t sing (◕‿◕)

3,650
DFMO pills Lily-Mae took over 2 years on one of our relapse prevention trials she finished in 2016
3,533
miles traveled each trip by Lily-Mae to come from Ireland to Grand Rapids to participate
3
years she’s now been cancer free

3
other nonprofits founded by neuroblastoma parents who supported our research: Team Parker 4 Life, Christopher’s Mark, and Ethan’s Rodeo

1,312,706
times our Facebook posts were seen

503,900
times our Twitter posts were seen

4,218
times we thought about starting a Snapchat account and then thought, nah

2
new clinical trials opened, for a total of
19
clinical trials opened by our research consortium since 2006
74,000
views of our online nb
community, nbforum.org,
launched in 2016
570
posts on the site… including
the one where her mom
introduced Audrey (pictured)
214
registered users,
mostly nb families
5
years Audrey has now
been cancer free

$500,000
sent to our research consortium in 2016

34
high fives Katie-Anne gets daily for this shirt
Katie-Anne is in our Because of _____ program, and currently in upfront treatment
Thank you.
Thank you for helping us get so much done in 2016.
All these numbers we’ve shared are wonderful, and my constant reminder is this: at the end of everything we do is a kid fighting cancer. A family, like ours, whose life has been turned upside down by cancer. We are changing what that diagnosis means to a family.
Last year we brought 4 neuroblastoma families together who’d founded their own nonprofits to beat neuroblastoma. We became a single national nonprofit – Beat Nb. Our name is our mission. We’ve been proud to have 6 other families join us through our Because of _____ program – a coming together of cancer moms and dads to beat childhood cancer.
What we’re doing is working. Our research consortium, the NMTRC, started in 2007 with 3 kids on a single trial at one hospital. We’ve now treated over 600 kids on 19 trials, and our research is operated in 34 hospitals. But that doesn’t tell the whole story – 7,000 kids have been diagnosed with neuroblastoma since we started, and what we do affects all children who will be diagnosed going forward.
2017 will be our first full year as the new, combined Beat Nb. There’s a lot to do – we’ve set a goal of driving neuroblastoma to a 90+% cure rate by 2027. We can do this. Thank you for your help in making a 90% survival rate possible. As a dad who lost a son (Ezra) to cancer, I can tell you how deeply important this work is. I have spent time with so many families who do not share my wife and I’s story of loss, because of your help and our work.
Thank you.

 

Kyle Matthews
Executive Director, Beat Nb
Ezra’s dad

Lily-Mae
♥