Help and Hope Happen Here

Mandy Spielvogle Powell is the Managing Director and Steve Passagno is the Treasurer of the non-profit  the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer. Mandy and Steve will discuss the many programs that this world wide organization has implemented to make their non profit a major factor in the fight against Pediatric Cancer. 
With their focus being on coming up with less toxic treatments, pediatric cancer awareness and survivorship, research and treatment, and family support, their non profit brings people in from differing backgrounds to collaborate with each other to find the best solutions for these most difficult problems that face pediatric cancer patients and their families.

One of the reasons that Lily Pevoto wanted to attend Penn State University was that she was so impressed with their Dance Marathon known as THON. This event is the largest student run philanthropy in the world. Now approaching its 50th year, this fundraiser has 700 dancers who take to the floor at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College and dance for 46 straight hours. More than 16,000 student volunteers make certain that this event runs as smoothly as possible. Lily is the Executive Director for the upcoming THON to be held in February of 2023, and will talk about this fundraiser which has raised over 200 million dollars for the cause of Pediatric Cancer. 

Lorna Day's son Sam was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in 2010 and went through an arduous treatment ordeal that included losing his left leg and right foot to amputation. After Sam's very unfortunate passing in 2016, Lorna set out to help other pediatric cancer patients and their families as she set up her Sam Day Foundation in honor and memory of her beloved son.  As its' core principal, this foundation focuses on trying to fund research for the most difficult pediatric cancers including many of the Sarcomas and Brain Cancer.
Nicknamed the "Hope Junkie," Lorna will talk about the many programs that she has initiated through her foundation in the Pacific Northwest, as she strives to accomplish a goal of getting as many people as possible involved  in this Pediatric Cancer fight from that area of the country, and especially in her home state of Oregon. 

Rich Nardiello suffered a hemorrhagic stroke at the age of 55 and fortunately was one of the 4-6 percent of people who survive that condition. After relearning how to speak, swallow, talk, and walk, he went back to work and then at age 60 decided that he wanted to focus his attention on making lives brighter for Pediatric Cancer Patients.
As a result, Rich started his own non profit called PopPops Kustom Kars. For this non-profit Rich designs and builds Custom Coupes and distributes them to pediatric cancer patients. He has now delivered close to 50 of these kustom kars to individuals and also is working on kindness kars, which he has delivered to local hospitals with global hospitals possibly on the horizon.

In 1988  iconic actor Paul Newman started the Hole in The Wall Gang Camp to help kids who were suffering from both pediatric cancer and other illnesses to be able to have fun and "Raise A Little Hell" for one week each summer.
On today's podcast Jimmy Canton, who has been with the camp since its inception and has been its CEO for the past 20 years, will talk about how this week away from treatment and hospitals is so therapeutic  and what this camp has meant to so many kids  and their families. 

While home during college break Kylee McGrane watched the movie Frozen. As she saw  the Princess Elsa, and also thought about how Taylor Swift  did so much for Pediatric Cancer patients , Kylee thought it would be fun to dress up like a princess herself, and visit a pediatric cancer patient in the hospital. After she and her roommate went to a hospital on Long Island  dressing up as Princesses Anna and Elsa, Kylee decided to continue what she started , which ultimately led to to her non profit A MOMENT OF MAGIC.

This non profit, which features college students from around the country dressing up as princesses and interacting with pediatric cancer patients is now in 350 hospitals, has helped 110,000 kids, and has 29 chapters in colleges and universities in the United States. 

During the time period that David Hagan's son Ben was going through his battle with Leukemia, a battle that he unfortunately was not able to recover from,  David joined the Worcester , Ma. based non profit WHY ME to help him cope with what Ben was going through. This non profit affected David to the point where he eventually gave up his career in banking to become the Executive Director of this non profit, trading his focus from profit and loss to helping children and their families. 

Jaclyn Murphy was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma when she was 9 years old. During her treatment, the Women's Lacrosse Team from Northwestern University found out about what Jaclyn was going through, and "Adopted" her as a team member. This act of kindness proved to be a special one for both Jaclyn and Northwestern, so much so that Jaclyn's father Denis and the Murphy family started the Friends Of Jaclyn Foundation. 

The central theme of this Foundation centers around its Adopt A Child Program, in which colleges and high schools around the country "Adopt" a Pediatric Cancer patient and make them a team member. This foundation was started in 2005 and is nearing 1000 patients that have been adopted with many more to join them in the future.

Jaclyn is now 27 years old and is able to live a life of good health as she and her dad give so much back to kids who need it the most.

After having trouble learning how to ride her bicycle when she was 6 years old because of accidents and balance issues, Terry Calvin's daughter Claire was diagnosed with DIPG in the spring of 2020, just as the Pandemic was raging across America and the world. 
Terry will talk about  what Claire has had to go through since that time, the support that has been generated for her in their community, and how Claire is doing now as she is 23 months past her original diagnosis. 

Laurie Strongin's son Henry passed away at the age of 7 from the blood disorder Fanconi Anemia in 2002.  During Henry's battle with this disorder and after he passed away  Laurie worked very hard with the United States Congress, which included  polar opposites Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich to try and pass the Stem Cell Enhancement Research Act which would have helped Henry during his health crisis. Laurie appeared on Nightline, wrote an op-ed piece in the Washington Post criticizing then President Bush for vetoing the legislation, and eventually took part in a White House Ceremony with President Obama who lifted the ban on the funding of the desired bill in 2009.

Laurie also started the Hope For Henry Foundation which directly impacts Pediatric Cancer patients as it looks for ways to make their hospital stays as comfortable and pleasant as possible. This foundation has helped 74,000 kids and the  Hope For Henry Program is now in 20 hospitals around the country with definite expansion plans on the horizon.