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Midwest Heritage Poke Prizes and Character Bandages Donation Drive

Every time an oncology patient at Blank Children’s Hospital receives a “poke” or other painful procedure, they are invited to come select a toy from the poke box provided by Children’s Cancer Connection. These toys can help make the procedure a little less ouchy, and help children focus on the toy and not the upcoming poke.

Now through December 31^, you can drop off a toy or character bandages at any Midwest Heritage Bank, Insurance Services, or Financial Services location. 

Find a branch or service location at www.mhbank.com

Thank you to Midwest Heritage for supporting this hospital based program provided by CCC!

Every Kid a Hero

Katelyn Cinnamon is a senior at West Des Moines Valley High School. She started project Every Kid a Hero and has raised over $4,000 for children affected by cancer. Below is her guest blog. Donate to Katelyn's Campaign by visiting http://philanthropig.com/ChildrensCancerConnection/EveryKidaHero

My name is Katelyn and I’m currently a senior at Valley High School. In addition to my fundraising this year, I’m also involved in Best Buddies and I play tennis in the spring. I love to read, but two of the things I love most are being around kids and volunteering!

I have always had an interest in childhood cancer, and have found the kids and their families to be a source of great inspiration. My project stemmed from my experiences I have had shadowing in the clinic with Dr. Woods, whom I met two years ago as a requirement for a research project. Never would I have guessed I’d be where I’m am today because of that particular project.

 I first heard of Children’s Cancer Connection through Dr. Woods when she said I should volunteer at camp and that I would love it. I looked into the organization more and loved everything about it (and couldn’t wait for camp!) It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I had this bright idea and set my ambitious goal to raise $10,000 for childhood cancer and to truly make a difference in these kids’ lives. 

Once I had the idea I couldn’t shake it and it was literally all I could think about. I knew I wanted to split my goal between the clinic and the Children’s Cancer Connection. I talked to the social workers at Blank and decided that I would use a portion of the funds raised to purchase 6 iPads for the clinic so they could have one in each room and so the kids could always look forward to using their favorite toy every time they came to the clinic. The other half of my project is sending about 20 kids to camp and to send those attending for their first year with a backpack of general camp items to get them excited for camp! And as a little side project on top of all this is collecting fleece tie blankets for the Children’s Cancer Connection.

Once I started to get going, I asked my friend Casey Drake, who shares the same passion as I, to help. Together, every day we get closer and closer to our goal. In the mere 5 months since we started, we have raised nearly $4,000 and donated 21 blankets. We have had a tremendous amount of help and working beside those of the Iowa Health Foundation and Children’s Cancer Connection has been an incredible experience. We also have some great help coming from a couple of DMU students, Jen Lommel and Meghan Young. Our goal for this project is to raise $10,000, but we want to do more than that; we want to get as many people involved as we can to truly make it a community effort and to raise awareness for childhood cancer.

I have absolutely loved every aspect of our project; but the greatest part has been meeting so many great people and seeing the direct impact of what we’re doing. It’s honestly one of the greatest feelings. Without all the help from friends, family, and teachers, we would not have reached the level of success we have already reached.

My plans after graduation are undecided at this point. It is my hope to attend University of Missouri—Kansas City as a part of the 6 year combined BA/MD program. But until April 1^st, I will be waiting anxiously! But no matter where I end up, I will continue to do all I can for those battling childhood cancer!

Join us at the Survivorship Conference

Children’s Cancer Connection will host the 3^rd Annual Survivorship Conference on October 20. Keynote Speaker Dr. Lillian Meacham is the Medical Director of the Cancer Survivor Program at the Aflac Cancer Center. Dr. Meacham is also a Professor of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine where she holds the Kathelen V. Amos Children’s Chair for Cancer Survivorship.

The Survivorship Conference is part of the Survivorship Connection, a program of Children’s Cancer Connection that serves young adults survivors of pediatric cancers. The conference will address a variety of survivorship issues for adult survivor sand their loved ones including late effects of cancer and preparing to become a young adult survivor.

The conference is intended for both young adult survivors and their loved ones, as well as parents of survivors under 18, healthcare professionals, and anyone interested in learning more about survivorship.

To learn more or to register for the Survivorship Conference please visit www.ChildrensCancerConnection.org/SurvivorshipConference or contact Channon Timm at 515-243-6239 ext. 3.

CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHEN: October 20, 2012  8:00 a.m. to noon.
WHERE: Student Education Center at Des Moines University - 3200 Grand Ave. Des Moines, Iowa
COST: $10

Ironman for a Cause

On September 9, 2012, Caleb Pike will compete in Ironman Wiscosin. Pike has not only been training for this event over the past year, he has been raising both funds and awareness for Children’s Cancer Connection at the same time. Caleb is the founder of IM4RM, an organization of “everday average people” who enjoy testing their limits in endurance sports. The group adopted Children’s Cancer Connection as their charity in 2011 and have raised almost $15,000 through fundraising and their signature event, IRONGLUT.

Caleb Pike with is family at Camp Heart Connection Guest Night in August 2012.

Guest Blog by Caleb Pike, IM4RM founder and CCC donor.

I decided to take on an Ironman event last year while in the run portion of the Hy-Vee Triathlon. An Ironman race consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. That's all in one day, back to back. A friend of mine was going to be racing in Ironman Wisconsin 2012 and he had been trying to talk me into joining him. I really didn't feel too comfortable taking on something so huge until my run in the Hy-Vee Triathlon. I had been having fun with my training and everything came together really well in that race and I decided that I could take on Ironman in the following year, 2012. 

My training started almost immediately. I had a 3 month off season training program I followed that prepared me for my 9 month training plan that would take me all the way to race day and also the finish line. Still kind of riding on the high of finishing the Hy-Vee Triathlon and also signing up for Wisconsin, I thought that maybe I could do a little bit more.

Earlier that year my Grandfather had passed away after a short battle with cancer. My Grandpa and I were pretty close for a lot of my life. I always looked up to everything about him; he was a business owner, father, grandfather, friend and just an all-around great person. He treated everyone he met like they were important and they mattered to him. That's how he ran his business and treated his employees as well as his customers. He would go out of his way to take care of someone that struggled to do so themselves. So losing him was a huge blow to our family, myself and in my opinion, our community. So I wanted to turn my Ironman training and race into something larger than myself. I wanted to do something in his name to make an impact in our community. 

I didn't want to fundraise for just any charity, I wanted it to be local and I wanted to know where the money we raised was going to be used. I researched and met with some charities and ended up deciding to go with Children's Cancer Connection. Not only did I feel a personal connection to the cause, but I also felt a connection with the staff. They really seemed to be excited about what I wanted to do and also what they are already doing. So after meeting with Mark, I felt that we were all very excited and I pretty much knew that was the charity we would be going with. And being the father of a 4 year old beautiful little girl, I couldn't help but see her face on all of the kid's in the brochures that Mark had given me as well as on the site. 

So over the past several months we have been able to raise nearly $14,000. My original goal was to reach $10,000 but we realized that we would have to raise that fairly early in our efforts. We are hoping to reach $15,000 before our race in Wisconsin on September 9th. 

As well as the fundraising, the training has been a great amount of dedication and effort. Not only by me but my entire family. Training is typically done before and after work during the week and the weekends are the long workouts. Some training days can get up to 8 to 9 hours long. That pretty much means my entire day is spoken for since that much work wipes me out and all I want to do is sleep afterwards. The physical and mental toll that the training has taken really starts to show this late in the game. With the race only a few weeks away now, it becomes harder and harder to stay motivated to stay on track. To keep pushing hard and to keep working toward the starting line. When I start to feel bad for myself or like I want to just take a day off I think of my grandfather and the kids that benefit from Children's Cancer Connection and also the folks that make Children's Cancer Connection work. I want to make them all proud and I want them to know that I'm not only doing this for myself and my family, but for them as well. I know I have a choice in the suffering I'm putting myself through and I know that there is a lot of suffering that people don't have a choice in. That inspires me to keep going.

What I'm most excited for about this race is, finishing. I want to hear Mike Reilly's voice as I cross the finish line, "Caleb Pike, from Des Moines, Iowa. YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" And then to see my family and friends at the finish will just make this the best day of my life, I'm sure. Aside from the day my daughter was born of course. The second thing I'm most excited about is, not living my life according to my Ironman training plan. My next goals will be much more social and fun. Next year I will be doing one Half Ironman and other shorter distance Triathlons. I am also planning on doing the GoRuck Challenge at the end of summer next year.

Learn more about Caleb and IM4RM at www.im4rm.com

Children’s Cancer Connection would like to wish Caleb the best of luck at Ironman Wisconsin! Please leave your well wishes for Caleb below or send them to socialmedia@childrenscancerconnection.org

Friday at Camp Heart Connection

Friday was the last full day at Camp Heart Connection. Campers enjoyed a full day of activities followed by one of the most special nights all week.

Each week of camp, a graduation ceremony is held for senior campers. The night is bitter sweet for our oldest campers since it is the final summer they will attend as campers, although many will return in staff positions.

Also held Friday night was Wish Night. This camp tradition allows campers to share their wishes for the coming year with fellow campers. The night is a mixture of lots of laughter and a few tears, but always a camper and counselor favorite.

Thursday at Camp Heart Connection

Thursday morning started out cool, but that didn't stop campers from enjoying the day's outdoor activities.

Tie-dye was the craft of the day and was held on the basketball court. Many campers brought white pillowcases, t-shirts, and even some socks to dye. The all-camp basketball tournament was also held on Thursday.

Elly brought up a special lunch of Subway sandwiches that everyone enjoyed. After rest hour the afternoon activity was for the youngest boys.

Mortimer's Boys Only Party was held in Chase for boy campers ages 5-12.Campers enjoyed a snack and burned off some energy with a game of tag.

Thursday night the all camp dance was held. Before heading to the party girl campers went to Glam Slam held in the Arts and Crafts area. Campers had their hair and makeup styled while they posed for pictures. The dance lasted until lights outs and everyone had a great time!

Wednesday at Camp Heart Connection

Wednesday's theme was Showdown at Camp Heart Connection. Many campers dressed in cowboy and cowgirl gear to show their camp spirit.

Instead of the usual camp activities opening after breakfast, the LIT's (Leaders in Training), planned an all-camp activity. Camp Heart Connection Olympics was held on the open field by Pioneer.

Cabins were paired up and given a country to represent in CHC Olympics. They competed in M&M races, tug-o-war, a three legged race, wheel barrel race, and hula hoop competition. Paper metals were presented to the top three teams, but everyone got to enjoy an ice cream sandwich!

Camp activities opened after lunch with a special activity for the youngest girl campers. Aunt Fifi's Princess Party was held in Chase for girl campers ages 5-8. Campers dressed in their finest camp attire (donated prom and formal dresses) and paraded their way through the cabins down to the Tea Party site in Chase. Here they participated in Princess themed crafts and enjoyed some Tea and Pastries, aka Juice and Little Debbie Snack Cakes.

After dinner campers headed to the main stage to watch the all camp talent show. Each cabin presented a skit, making for quite a show! 

An extra special event was held Wednesday night. Campers and all of the support staff headed out into the woods to wait for a visit from Aunt Fifi. She appeared and spoke to the campers about their accomplishments for the week so far. It was a late night and everyone was ready for bed!

Tuesday at Camp Heart Connection

Tuesday's theme was Every Day is a Holiday. Campers dressed up in their favorite holiday attire. We saw everything from holiday sweaters to Halloween masks. (Mask making was also the craft of the day in Arts and Crafts!)
 

The pool was Tuesday's most popular activity. Campers enjoyed swimming, the water slides, and a little water basketball. Another popular activity on Tuesday was Creek Stomping. Campers, lead by their counselors and members of the programs staff, walked along the creek that winds through camp. Although this activity was a little messy campers didn't seem to mind (what's camp without a little mud, right?)

Campers enjoyed a baked potato bar for dinner followed by a movie in Chase for the youngest campers and a movie on the outdoor screen for teen campers.

After a relaxing movie and great great day at the pool and stomping down the creek, campers were ready to call it a night.