Fundraiser for Families Facing Childhood Cancer– Frances Pope Memorial Foundation
It’s hard to imagine a pain worse than the loss of a child, especially to a disease like cancer that comes with so much suffering, so groups like the Frances Pope Memorial Foundation mean the world to me.
The Frances Pope Memorial Foundation was created in honor of a two year old, Franny (Frances), who passed away in the summer of 1981 from Leukemia. The foundation helps support families caring for a child with cancer by providing financial assistance for expenses not covered by insurance. The assistance takes on a variety of forms, always with the aim of responding to the needs of each family. The foundation helps cover expenses like travel, accommodations, rent, mortgage, car payments and childcare.
The group gathers twice a year for major fundraising events in and around New York. The next event—a happy hour—is an additional event this year and is scheduled for Oct. 24th. It will be the first meeting for the group’s new Young Leaders Chapter. The cause is serious, but the event will be fun, with food, drinks and raffle prizes to make the night more enjoyable. Tickets to the event are $60 and can be bought online by clicking here.
In addition to helping families with expenses related to care for their child, the organization funds the Andrew Baeumler Technology Program at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital. The program allows seriously ill children in the hospital to access friends, family, art, music and the world through computer technology. The group has pledged $20,000 a year since 1999 to provide laptops and iPads and help support the program with a paid technology coordinator. The foundation also provides funds to the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Department at the NYU Medical Center to keep a full-time fellow on staff. Members have also helped remodel homes for wheelchair access and given financial aid for harvesting sperm and eggs for teenagers facing cancer so that they could have their own children one day. You can find out more on the group’s Facebook page.
