It's a Team Effort
Our Partners
I gave a brief talk last week at the national conference of the Association of Pediatric Oncology Social Workers (APOSW) in Austin, TX. The pediatric oncology Social Workers are truly our partners in our B+ Family Assistance Program. They are our eyes and ears in the field. As I stood before an assembly of 200, I wanted to share with them the ‘backstory’ of The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation. They know B+ as the charity that they can count on for quick and generous support of their families. But, very few of them knew about Andrew…until now.
This may not make sense to anyone other than parents who have lost a child, but while I LOVE talking about Andrew, it is also a tremendously painful thing for me to do. I knew that I was standing on that stage because my son died. It makes me sad and very angry that my 14 year old son was stolen from us. I couldn’t get through my short remarks without tearing up…which, by the way, I will never apologize for. Ten and a half years later, it still feels like a knife is being twisted and turned in my heart EVERY single time I give a talk. And, I’ve given 915 talks since Andrew went to Heaven. Grieving the loss of a child is not a moment in time, but a lifelong process.
Why do I share this? I seek neither pity nor credit. There are two reasons that I give so many talks. One, it is the best way that I know to CONNECT with people. Simply sharing a sheet of statistics about childhood cancer will not have the same impact. And, secondly, in some strange way, I feel like I’m keeping Andrew alive in some way. I want more people to ‘know’ Andrew. I want more people to “Live Like Andrew” and change the world each day.
Kids Helping Kids Fight Cancer™
It is energizing seeing the passion and hard work that students put in to help The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation fight childhood cancer. The kids from Avon Grove (PA) HS and Chapman University (CA) all enjoyed great success recently with their B+ events. It means so much to me to see that Andrew ‘lives’ on…albeit in a different way.
And, how amazingly cool is it that when these kids graduate, they take B+ with them. Last Friday night, between 350-400 young people (20 somethings & early 30 year olds) gathered for the 4th annual NYC B+ Gala hosted by our NYC B+ Chapter of young professionals. The common denominator for most of these people? Most of them were involved with a B+ event on their campus as undergrads. It doesn’t matter whether they came from Delaware, NYU, Fordham, Northwestern, Villanova, Alabama, or a variety of other schools…they continue to be passionate about helping us fight childhood cancer. And, I say “most of them” because our loyal former students bring their friends out to join B+ Nation. That’s how we’re going to continue to grow and change the lives of families battling childhood cancer and dramatically altering the landscape of childhood cancer through our research grants.
National Siblings Day
A day last week was called “National Siblings Day”. I invite you to visit our B+ Facebook page for a post from Ali.
Brave the Shave
Congratulations to the good folks of North Dakota for a very successful 11th Annual Brave the Shave. Brave the Shave is a collection of 9 different head-shaving events that are held across North Dakota and Wyoming. At this year’s flagship event in Bismarck, nearly 300 people shaved their heads. It was announced yesterday that they exceeded $450,000 in money raised and a portion of that will be given to their research partner --- yes, you guessed it… The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation. It was an honor and pleasure attending & speaking at their event once again this year.
Make it a great week!
Live Like Andrew
Ali & Andrew’s Dad