Back to School and Childhood Cancer

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While children with cancer often experience disruptions in their education as they are coming back to school after being diagnosed/treated, there are alot of different valuable resources for parents, children, suvivors and teachers as they go through this process.  View this episode, "Back to School and Childhood Cancer," as a part of Simply Connected brought to you by Children's Cancer Connection, to learn about a few of these resources!

New Intern - Marina Shawd!

Children’s Cancer Connection is excited to welcome Marina Shawd as their new communications intern. Marina is currently a sophomore attending Drake University in Des Moines, with majors in magazine journalism and graphic design. She is involved on campus with Kappa Alpha Theta, Society of Professional Journalists and writing for the campus magazines.


“I am looking forward to all the experiences that Children’s Cancer Connection has to offer,” said Shawd. “I love that I not only have the chance to use skills from both of my majors, but that I will also be helping an organization that benefits numerous families in the surrounding community.”

In her time here at Children’s Cancer Connection, Marina hopes to increase her knowledge of marketing and design while benefiting the lives of children and families dealing with cancer.

Vote for Children’s Cancer Connection in the Quad City Times 10,000 Fan Challenge!

The Quad-City Times asked their readers to nominate deserving charitable organizations that benefit the Quad-Cities. Children’s Cancer Connection was among the 19 organizations that were nominated!
In effort to complete the 10,000 Fan Challenge on Facebook, the Quad-City Times created a competition among supporters of the 19 organizations. When their Facebook page reaches the 10,000th follower, the Quad-City Times will donate $1,000 to the charitable organization that has received the most votes.
Are you interested in helping Children’s Cancer Connection win the competition? Here’s how:
1. Log on to Facebook and search for the Quad-City Times page.(http://tinyurl.com/2bdy59t)

2. Click on the button to become a fan of the Quad-City Times.
3. Click on the “10,000 Fan Challenge” tab at the top of the page.
4. Vote for the Children’s Cancer Connection!

Kids' Summer Lemonade Stand Donates Profit

What’s better than a glass of ice cold lemonade on a hot summer day? Knowing you helped give back to the community while doing so!

In early August, $40 was donated to Children’s Cancer Connection by a few kids who held a lemonade stand in their neighborhood. Morgan, Clara and Leo Stuedemann along with their friends, Sydney and Tommy Ross (all of West Des Moines) worked really hard all day to sell lemonade and brownies.

They began the day by making signs and hanging them up all over the neighborhood. The kids felt very good about raising the money that would help others and so did the customers, who were glad to support Children’s Cancer Connection (some even gave a little extra for their treats!). By the end of the day, the kids had sold the goodies to friends, neighbors and even the FedEx driver!

Thank you for thinking of Children’s Cancer Connection on a hot summer day!

Two Events to Benefit Children's Cancer Connection on Saturday

Children's Cancer Connection is excited to have two great events that will benefit us this weekend. The 7th Annual Brinks Co-Ed Kickball Tournament as well as Maddy Cunningham's Classic Volleyball Tournament will both take place on Saturday, August 28.

The Brinks Kickball Tournament will be held at Raccoon River Softball Complex in West Des Moines starting at 8a.m. and continue throughout the day. Hosted by Brinks Social Club, this event has donated funds to various organizations. The members of this networking group began the event in order have fun while giving back to the community. This year, Brinks is continuing their two-year partnership with Children's Cancer Connection in order to benefit as many families as possible.

Maddy Cunningham's Classic Volleyball Tournament is taking place at Sands Volleyball Club from 9a.m.-7p.m. and is hosted by Coconut Castaways. After receiving support from Children's Cancer Connection, Maddy's parents wanted to create a fundraiser that would give other families the opportunity to experience that same support. Coconut Castaways, a local non-profit community service and social club, hosts the event and provides many of the volunteers.

External events that benefit Children's Cancer Connection are essential to our fundraising efforts. If you are interested in creating an external event, contact Tiffany Spinner, Director of Doner Relations at tiffany@ChildrensCancerConnection.com

7th Annual Brinks Co-Ed Kickball Tournament benefiting Children's Cancer Connection

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The 7th Annual Brinks Co-Ed Kickball Tournament will be held on Saturday, August 28 at Raccoon River Softball Complex. View this episode of "Simply Connected" to learn more about the kickball tournament, Brinks Social Club and about their connection with Children's Cancer Conneciton.

Run, Rock & Stroll 2010

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Run, Rock & Stroll is Children's Cancer Connection's largest annual fundraiser, which includes a 1-mile fun run, 5K, 10K, Kid's Village, face painting, homemade baked goods and more! Listen to this episode to learn more about Run, Rock & Stroll and to learn more about our presenting sponsor Wellmark BlueCross BlueShield.

Sibling Camp 2010 Recap: Sunday, Aug. 15 - Tuesday, Aug. 17

Over 180 sibling campers, a record number, are attending Children's Cancer Connection's 23rd Annual Sibling Camp at the Y-CAMP in Boone from June 13-19. Camp Heart Connection’s Sibiling Camp is one of the largest and most exciting programs Children’s Cancer Connection operates. And thanks to generous donors, including The University of Iowa Dance Marathon, which is The Presenting Sponsor for 2010, and the 100 member volunteer staff, campers are able to participate for free.

Here's an update on what has happened at Camp Heart Connection's Sibling Camp this week!

• Sunday, August 15 - Campers arrived to check-in at Camp Heart Connection's Sibling Camp. During check-in we had day volunteers running carnival games, prizes and making cotton candy! There was also a rock wall brought to Camp by The Iowa National Guard for the sibling campers to scale. As tradition goes, the all-camp photo was taken, and that was followed by Superhero Training, which consited of an all-camp game, lots of other games to work on superhero skills, all while trying to avoid the super-villains. The night was rounded out by s’mores by the campfire.
• Monday, August 16 -This year's Camp theme is, "Superheros Super Camp." Because of the theme, a helicopter and ambulance from Blank Children’s Hospital came to Sibling Camp as a part of our "Everyday Heroes" program. The kids were in awe when the helicopter landed at the YCamp's field. The afternoon was filled with a Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament in Chase Lodge, temporary hair dying in Arts & Crafts, swimming in the pool, archery, and rifelry. There were also seven photographers at Camp from Flashes of Hope to take photos of the sibling campers. To round out the day campers enjoyed karaoke and the Teen Dance in Pioneer!
• Tuesday, August 17 - There was a lot of rain on Tuesday throughout the day but it didn't hinder the fun that the sibling campers had. Because of the weather, Arts & Crafts was a busy place and a water balloon fight broke out because the kids were already soaked from the rain. There was a large kickball tournament, a West Des Moines fireman stopped out to talk to the children as a part of the "Everyday Heroes" program and the kids participated in a "Minute to Win It" game in Pioneer. At the end of the night the campers watched "The Incredibles" and had the option of having a “sleep out” in Pioneer, which was supposed to be outside but due to the rain was moved inside.

To view pictures from the week, please click here and look through the Camp Heart Connection's Sibling Camp photos. Thanks to Phil Lee, our resident Camp photographer, these great pictures are updated daily.

Maddy Cunningham's Classic Volleyball Tournament

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On August 28, 2010 the Maddy Cunningham's Classic Volleyball tournament will be held at the Sands in Des Moines benefiting Children's Cancer Connection. View this episode to find out about the tournament, Children's Cancer Connection, the Coconut Castaways, and how you can get involved.