2021

Following the devastating loss of their infant daughter, Francesca “Beans” to ATRT, a rare pediatric brain tumor, on Christmas Eve 2020, Andy and wife, Rachel turned their grief into a mission to impact pediatric brain cancer funding.

They established the Team Beans Infant Brain Tumor Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorder Center and within the first year raised over $2 MILLION dollars to directly impact Dana-Farber’s new Infant Brain Tumor Program that is dedicated to looking for new treatments and cures for childhood brain cancer.

To learn more about this incredible work that Andy and Rachel are leading, visit: www.teambeansfund.com

2021

Cooper was one of the very first big supporters of our family following Callahan’s diagnosis. He raised his hand to develop the initial #CallahanStrong logo and printed hundreds of stickers during the early days of Callahan’s treatment.

Since then, Cooper has driven awareness and fundraising for CMHF through The Vineyard Series, a vintage Land Rover car show he co-founded with friends and runs throughout New England. This selfless, roll-up-your-sleeves-to-help-in-any-way-you-can action is the pulse of organizations like ours. Thank you for supporting pediatric cancer research through our efforts, Cooper!

2022

When Lauren started making custom embroidered sweatshirts and other items as a hobby during summer 2021, she had no idea it would turn into a prosperous pay-it-forward side hustle.

Kate ordered one of Lauren’s designs and then suggested they do a fundraiser together. Lauren, a longtime cancer fundraiser and advocate, took that ask and ran. As Lauren learned more about pediatric cancer through CMHF and the lack of research funding, she was inspired to do more. Instead of running a one-time fundraiser, she has continued to donate a portion of all her sales from her now named hobby, turned business, 1 Little Stitch.

In one year, Lauren has donated over $5,000 from her custom embroidered designs, that she does alongside her full-time job as a chief of staff at a Fortune 100 company.

Lauren’s sweatshirts have been delivered locally and shipped around the country spreading joy and awareness for pediatric cancer research to all that wear them.

Additionally, Lauren promoted her philanthropic efforts to support CMHF through a Corporate Citizenship video produced by her company and shared with employees as a way of spotlighting different charities employees can optionally support through regular payroll donations. Further, she got CMHF added to Nationwide’s verified list of 501(c)(3)s so employees can get volunteer credit hours for participating in our events.

Thank you for your incredible dedication, passion and support, Lauren!

2022

Doug Hare has run the Central Ohio Youth Baseball League for the last 25 years as a passion project alongside his full-time career. In 2010, he created a baseball tournament to raise money for cancer research at The Ohio State University’s James Cancer Center as a way to honor his son, Matt (co-founder of CMHF), who went through treatment and a stem cell transplant for Multiple Myeloma (a type of blood cancer) the prior year. Thankfully, Matt has been in remission for 12 years.

Through 2020, Doug raised over $250,000 for cancer research at The James. When Doug’s grandson Callahan was born and subsequently diagnosed with infant leukemia, Doug decided his tournament would shift focus to benefit pediatric cancer research. In 2021, the Striking Out Pediatric Cancer Youth Baseball tournament raised over $25,000 for pediatric cancer research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Doug is a true advocate for fighting against all cancers. His tireless efforts to raise awareness and funds for research at the incredible institutions we have locally to Columbus are beyond admirable. We look forward to partnering with Doug in the years to come to spread more awareness and continue the great success he has created through the central Ohio baseball community! Thank you for your selfless and generous action, Doug!

2022

Jessie is an extremely talented graphic designer by trade and former co-worker of Kate’s. Jessie wanted to lend her design skills to support CMHF to enable us to show up more professionally and consistently in all we do.

One of Jessie’s superpowers when she designs is her phenomenal thoughtfulness. She doesn’t simply execute, she analyzes. She digs in to the message to pull out a visual concept that translates to the audience in a relevant, effective way.

This is especially important with pediatric cancer. It’s a hard topic to communicate around, particularly when discussing the really tough realities. Many want to look away. Jessie has taken this challenge and helped us communicate so that people are not just looking, they are paying attention.

To date, Jessie has helped us execute a tremendously successful awareness campaign that consisted of billboards and yard signs, along with creating logos and assets for several of our events. The countless hours she has spent developing and creating, she has done pro-bono, insisting her work is strictly volunteer as her way of giving back to the cause.

Jessie’s selfless effort has brought incredible value that’s enabled us to build awareness and further credibility behind our cause. For a small, grassroots organization, that is truly priceless.

Thank you, Jessie, for your dedication to bringing powerful messaging to life so that we can continue elevating and expanding this cause!