We are here. And we’re fighting alongside you.
"Your child has cancer." Four words that change lives in an instant and forever change the way life is lived.
Childhood cancer is something you think can never happen to your family, until . . . it does. We know because in 2005, it happened to both our families. For nearly twenty years, we have confronted childhood cancer with indefensible, golden hope.
We realize that one organization, physician, or hospital cannot solve the problem of childhood cancer alone. It is only through collaboration, community, and communication that we will solve the problem of childhood cancer. We stand with you today, tomorrow, and always.
-Patrick Lacey (Will's Dad) and Sarah Bartosz (Jack's Mom)
Support Options
The Beat Childhood Cancer Foundation was built by parents, families, and people whose lives have been changed by childhood cancer. We know how overwhelming it can feel to be searching for answers—and how much it matters to know where to look next.
We want to be clear: we are not medical experts. We cannot diagnose your child, provide medical advice, or direct the best course of treatment or action for you and your child.
What we can do is help you connect with the physicians and researchers of the Beat Childhood Cancer Research Consortium, offer guidance from our own experiences navigating the healthcare system, and connect you with personal support options.
And, most importantly, we can make sure you and your child don't have to navigate this alone.
We are sorry you're facing childhood cancer at all. But we're glad you're here.
Below, you'll find Beat Childhood Cancer's clinical trial resources, including information about current treatment studies, participating hospitals, and resources to help you better understand the options that may be available for your child.
You don't have to know exactly what you're looking for yet, but you can start here.
Explore Clinical Trials & Resources →
Dedication Programs
WAYS TO HONOR, REMEMBER, and HELP CHILDHOOD CANCER PATIENTS
Everybody knows someone whose life has been forever changed because of childhood cancer. If you are here today because you have been impacted, or because you want to honor the memory or celebrate the survival of a child or loved one, we are grateful and are eager to help.
Our dedication programs give family members and loved ones a way to remember, celebrate, and share the courageous stories of their childhood cancer inspirations. Together, we can celebrate survival or honor the memory of angels by working together to beat childhood cancer once and for all.
If you’re looking to remember or honor your childhood cancer hero but aren’t sure where to start, take a look at some of the programs that have been started by other members of our growing Beat Childhood Cancer family.
Because Of_ Program
Through the Because Of_ Program, families and supporters can create a personalized fundraising page in honor or memory of a child they love. You’ll become part of the Beat Childhood Cancer community: parents and children, friends and families, fighters and supporters, all working toward the same goal of better treatments and cures for kids with cancer.
We believe your energy should go toward making a difference, not navigating the challenges of starting and managing a nonprofit. The Because Of_ Program gives you a simple way to rally your community and raise funds that help move childhood cancer research forward.
Getting started is easy. Create your Because Of_ child page, share your story, and invite others to be part of it.
Whether you’re celebrating a survivor, supporting a child still fighting, or honoring the memory of a child who should still be here, your story can help create more options and more hope for the children who come next.
Choose Hope
In honor of cancer fighters everywhere, and especially Sam and Dirk, two survivors in the Beat Childhood Cancer family, Choose Hope brings the Grand Rapids community together each year for an evening of hope and impact.
The event features a cocktail hour, silent auction, dinner and program, all benefiting Beat Childhood Cancer and helping fund childhood cancer research and clinical trials across 50+ children’s hospitals and research institutions nationwide.
Over the past five years, Choose Hope has raised more than $330,000 to help advance more effective, less-toxic treatments for children with cancer.
team parker for life
In 2013, Parker was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma in San Diego. He went through years of treatment and participated in a clinical trial using a drug called DFMO.
It worked, and Parker has been cancer free ever since.
But his family didn’t walk away from the fight when his treatment ended. They started Team Parker for Life, a foundation that now helps fund the same kind of research that helped Parker. Their community rallied around them, and the work continues.
Team Parker for Life partnered with the Beat Childhood Cancer Research Consortium to fund lifesaving research and move the science forward for children with cancer. Their extraordinary commitment will help transform neuroblastoma research and clinical care over the next six years, while expanding the study of DFMO in clinical trials.
Parker’s story is proof of what research can make possible. Now his family is helping create that possibility for the children who come next.
Maxwell James Oskam Foundation
On September 18, 2017, Maxwell James Oskam entered the world and filled it with joy, laughter, feistiness, and deep love. He was a healthy, vibrant baby boy who taught his family more about unconditional love in 99 days than many experience in a lifetime.
Just days after his first Christmas, Maxwell unexpectedly passed away. Later, his family learned he had an aggressive form of neuroblastoma.
In the face of unimaginable grief, Maxwell’s family made a choice: to turn their love for him into a legacy that could change the future for other children.
The Maxwell James Oskam Foundation is helping fund critical neuroblastoma research, raise awareness for pediatric cancer, and push forward the breakthroughs children urgently need. Because what we learn, fund, and fight for now can create more options for the next child and family facing this disease.
Today, the Maxwell James Oskam Foundation hosts their annual Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania golf tournament. Every swing, every sponsorship, and every dollar raised helps move neuroblastoma research forward — in memory of Maxwell and for the children still fighting today.
Because of Lola
Lola was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at age 4. She fought hard through her entire cancer journey remaining joyful and determined with her infectious “I can do it!” spirit.
To honor Lola’s memory and her legacy of bravery and hope, Lola’s family has partnered with Beat Childhood Cancer’s “Because Of…” program by participating in the Ragnar Road Northwest Passage in Washington.
With every mile, they’re raising funds and awareness to advance childhood cancer research, help find better treatments and cures, and share Lola’s extraordinary hope with children and families still fighting.
More Ways to Honor & Support Our Kids
Looking for more fundraising ideas, support opportunities, or inspiration from other individuals and organizations in our growing Beat Childhood Cancer family?
Contact our team or use the button below to see more ways supporters like you can honor the memories of our childhood cancer angels and support the little warriors who are still fighting.
Support the Beat Childhood Cancer Foundation
We know our allegiance will cure childhood cancers. We just don't know how quickly.
The most powerful thing we can do is make it possible for parents, researchers, and doctors to work together without the rigid and limiting structures of the healthcare system.
Your support gives our front line doctors, researchers, and pediatric care specialists the resources they need to give more children access to the right options, at the right time, in the right place - and as fast as humanly possible.