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September is Sickle Cell Awareness and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
The Valerie Fund creates special Red & Gold Campaign to salute September as Sickle Cell Awareness and Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
The Valerie Fund Walk & JAG Physical Therapy 5K Run to be held in
Essex County's Verona Park on Saturday, June 10, 2017
[Maplewood, NJ]- The popular use of various colored ribbons to promote disease awareness is expected to provide the perfect synergy to The Valerie Fund's kickoff of fundraising activities leading up to the 2017 Walk. Red ribbons for Sickle Cell Awareness and gold ribbons for Childhood Cancer are powerful symbols of the non-profit organization's Red & Gold Campaign. The Campaign begins on September 1st and is timed to take advantage of an increase in charitable giving that typically occurs following this kind of public recognition.
The Valerie Fund treats more than 5,000 children in our area battling cancer and blood disorders. There are seven Valerie Fund Children's Centers located in New Jersey, New York and metropolitan Philadelphia staffed with educational liaisons, social workers, psychologists and child life specialists. The Sickle Cell program at the Center within Newark Beth Israel is currently the largest one of its kind in New Jersey and serves to educate the child and family members to help them deal with treatment, self-care and related medical and social issues.
The Red & Gold Campaign focuses on town-wide fundraising initiatives involving as many schools, houses of worship, restaurants and other businesses in the communities where Valerie Fund patients and their supporters live. Over 200 Walk team Captains have access to fundraising tools that will enable them to "paint their towns Red and Gold". Their extraordinary efforts during past Walk events have yielded amazing success---over $5,000,000 has been raised sine 2010 at The Valerie Fund Walk and JAG Physical Therapy 5K.
Over the past decade, this premier fundraiser has grown steadily in attendance, number of donations and sponsorship participation, now over 75 strong. The day is a celebration of the hope and courage of Valerie Fund patients and their families. Local sponsors provide complimentary food and beverages and entertainment includes carnival activities, live music, and face painting.
The event is promoted by WCBS-TV 2 HD, WCBS 880, Outfront Media and NJ Advanced Media and The Star-Ledger who donate public service announcements, radio spots, billboards and full page ads.
After their nine-year-old daughter Valerie succumbed to cancer, Sue and Ed Goldstein were determined that no family should have to travel great distances to receive state-of-the-art medical care. Along with a group of close friends, they began fundraising efforts from their living room---tireless work that would lead to the 1977 opening of New Jersey's first pediatric oncology facility at Summit Overlook's Hospital. Today, the seven centers within top pediatric hospitals in the area make up one of the largest network of healthcare facilities for children with cancer and blood disorders in the country.
The individuals and businesses donating to the Walk have made it a priority to strengthen their local communities and to be there for residents in need. The Red & Gold Campaign looks to increase this support and plans to reinforce the messages educating the public about sickle cell disease and childhood cancers...and the resulting willingness to giving back.
For more information about the Red & Gold Campaign, please contact Bunny Flanders, The Valerie Fund's Director of Marketing and Communications at bflanders@thevaleriefund.org or call the office at 973-761-0422.