Go gold for childhood cancer

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and although the month is almost over, the fight against pediatric cancer is not.

If you didn't go gold for children's cancer yet, it's OK. There's still time.

The most important thing is that you become a little more aware, and maybe, do a little to help.

Statistics are staggering

• This month, an estimated 14,583 children will be diagnosed worldwide with cancer.

• In the United States, 1 in 5 of those children will not survive.

• 50 children die from cancer each week.

• 75 percent of children who survive childhood cancer face long-term health problems and handicaps from treatment.

• 80 percent of children's cancers have metastasized by the time they are diagnosed.

• A child has a 1 in 320 chance of being diagnosed with cancer.

• Every school day, the equivalent of two classrooms full of kids are diagnosed with cancer.

• Although the major types of cancer affecting children are leukemia and brain and other central nervous system tumors, which make up more than half of all new cases, there are over a dozen types of cancer that affect children and young adults.

• Brain cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in children.

• Caucasian and Hispanic children are afflicted more than any other racial or ethnic group.

• Despite years of research, there is no known reason why children get cancer and there are no routine screenings, such as mammograms or colonoscopies, like there are for adult types of cancer.

• Some children are born with cancer or diagnosed shortly after birth; some have genetic conditions that can increase their chances of getting cancer, but no one really knows for sure.

Want to help?

Malcolm Sutherland-Foggio of Florham Park, New Jersey, was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma when he was 10 years old. He realized there was very little awareness for children's cancers, so he decided to "make some noise."

Malcolm also realized that because so little money is dedicated to research for children's cancer on a national level, money needs to come from private sources.

He began speaking out and raising money by selling wristbands and donated all of the money to his pediatric hospital's cancer research facility.

Malcolm realized, however, that he needed to do more if he was going to make a difference, so he went national, and created the Make Some Noise Foundation.

Big donations are great, but there are lots of small things you can do too.

You can help by simply downloading a song from iTunes. Two years ago major recording star Taylor Swift penned a song titled "Ronan" in honor of Ronan Thompson, a beautiful little boy who died three days before his 4th birthday. Swift wrote the lyrics from words his mother, Maya, had penned on her blog.

After Swift contacted her about the song and asked permission to sing it at the Stand Up To Cancer telethon, Maya wrote this on her blog:

"How that girl, with the most sparkling blue eyes, that remind me so much of you … is about to finally give a face and a voice to childhood cancer that it needs so desperately. Now, people will want to pay attention. Now, maybe childhood cancer will get the awareness/funding/and attention that it deserves. Now, maybe less children will die in the future due to somebody huge, stepping up and caring."

You can be that someone just by downloading the song on iTunes for $1.29.

Here's another fact: According to the nonprofit group "Kids V Cancer," Americans spend 20 times more on potato chips than on pediatric cancer research. This is an easy one. Donate the same amount you spend on potato chips.

Or just buy a glass of lemonade the next time you see an Alex's Lemonade Stand. This foundation was started by 4-year-old Alexandra Scott, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma before her 1st birthday. By the time she passed away at the age of 8, Alex had raised more than $1 million to help find a cure.

Through her family, her foundation continues to be a major contributor for pediatric cancer research.

Want to spend a bit more? Atlanta Braves pitcher Craig Kimbrel wore a specially designed pair of gold cleats earlier this month to bring awareness to childhood cancer. The cleats are currently being auctioned on eBay and all the money raised will be donated to Curing Kids Cancer, an organization Kimbrel supports.

There are four more days to bid; as of this morning, the cleats were going for $1,655.

Or you could just write a check to one of several foundations, some are listed below, that focus on funding pediatric cancer research. Whether it's $5 or $500, research is the only path to a cure.

Learn more

For more about childhood cancer and what you can do to help, log on to any of these websites and learn about what you can do to save a child.

www.stbaldricks.org

www.alexslemonade.org

www.makenoise4kids.org

www.goldinseptember.com

theronanthompsonfoundation.com

Information for this article came from the National Cancer Institute, The Ronan Thompson Foundation, Make Some Noise Foundation, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, St. Baldrick's Foundation and Gold in September.