LI Cancer Charity Asks Schools, Businesses To Give Back Through 'Heart Of Gold' Program

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Whip Pediatric Cancer is asking schools — and even businesses — to have a heart of gold during Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month this September.

Schools and businesses are asked to sign up for a free "Heart of Gold" kit. Participants — in school settings, students — may decorate a paper heart and then bring it back to school with a suggested $2 donation, said Jordan Belous, founder of Whip Pediatric Cancer, a Hauppauge-based charity.

Classrooms or workplaces can proudly display their golden hearts during September and return the funds in the provided pre-sealed envelope.

Belous asked that participants send every single penny directly to new pediatric cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, helping kids who are fighting for their lives right now.

Educators can visit the website and choose the number of students participating. A club can order 25, or a school can order 500 — the number depends on the size of the school or business, Belous said.

Since Whip Pediatric Cancer was founded 10 years ago, the charity has raised more than $1 million for research. Belous estimates that approximately $500,000 to $600,000 has gone to Memorial Sloan Kettering, which is the charity's preferred research partner.

"When I was little, I always thought you had to be an adult to make a difference," Belous told Patch.

She started Whip Pediatric Cancer when she was 16 and realized that people do not have to be affluent adults to make an impact.

"If you’re giving $5, or $2 or $1, that adds up," Belous said. "If everyone gives $1, and there are 100 people, that’s $100. I think that’s an important concept for school-aged kids to know. You can be young and still make a difference."

Belous said she hopes to instill a mindset of giving back and empathy within children at an early age.

"There’s a kid in the hospital wishing they could go to school," she said. "[The Heart of Gold program] is giving kids in school a way to give back to their friends, to the community, to the childhood cancer cause. You never know who’s the next victim. Pediatric cancer can happen to anyone. It doesn’t discriminate. It could be somebody starting school in their class, and then they’re diagnosed the next day. Awareness, funding and having kids exposed to it at a young age in a positive way is super important."

An estimated 4 percent of the National Institutes of Health's federal $47.1 billion budget is used to support childhood cancer research. Belous has been an advocate for increasing that number and has chosen to support the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center through her Whip Pediatric Cancer fundraising.

"Our mission is not only to provide the best possible outcomes for children battling cancer today, but also to drive the research that will improve outcomes for children in the future," said Andrew L. Kung, chair of the department of pediatrics at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Pediatric cancers are rare, Kung said, resulting in "little market incentive" for commercial entities to develop treatments specifically for these diseases.

"That is why we are so grateful for philanthropic partners like Whip Pediatric Cancer, who make it possible to advance critical new therapies for our most vulnerable patients," Kung said.

Donations from Whip Pediatric Cancer will be used to address the "urgent need" for more effective, less toxic treatments for pediatric solid tumors, Kung said.

"At MSK, we are building a portfolio of immunotherapy approaches for these cancers, including neuroblastoma, sarcoma, and brain tumors," Kung said.

One promising strategy involves engineering a patient’s own immune cells to recognize and attack cancer cells — so-called Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapies, Kung explained.

While CAR T cell therapies have "revolutionized" the treatment of certain blood cancers, none have yet been FDA-approved for solid tumors, Kung added.

"Our research is focused on overcoming the unique challenges of applying CAR T therapies to solid tumors, and we expect to launch several new CAR T clinical trials for pediatric solid tumors within the next 12–18 months," Kung said. "We are fortunate to have had the support of Whip Pediatric Cancer for the past decade, and we are delighted to expand our partnership in pursuit of our shared mission: improving outcomes for children with cancer."

Belous said most people do not know that September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month.

Belous said funding cancer research is important because children who die of cancer never get the chance to grow up.

"We don’t know what these kids will grow up to be," she said. "They might be doctors or researchers and continue the cause."