lch24 Foundation proudly announced a $1.5 million commitment to Carolinas Healthcare Foundation in May 2016, of which $300,000 of the funds will be put towards expanding the Childhood Cancer Champions Program at Levine Children’s Hospital (LCH).

As a new local beneficiary, 24 Foundation is excited to further its mission to inspire and engage communities to actively support cancer patient navigation and survivorship programs, as well as make an impact in the pediatric cancer community. Nationally, cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15. According to the National Cancer Institute, each year approximately 13,500 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer.

“The community was and always will be a big part of this hospital,” said Mark Griffith, Fund Development Director of The Children’s Fund at Carolinas Healthcare Foundation. “We are the community’s hospital. We are made better by the community and by organizations like 24 Foundation.”

Levine Children’s Hospital consists of 12 floors, in which the 11th floor is home to pediatric cancer patients. Each year, the staff at LCH diagnoses 150 new children with cancer and provides  follow-up care to thousands of pediatric cancer survivors. Of these patients, 80% will become long-term survivors. However, three out of five pediatric cancer survivors will experience late effects or consequences of their disease and/or treatment including that have physical, neurocognitive, or psychosocial impact that can be persistent or degenerative in nature.

The battle with cancer does not end when a survivor is deemed in remission. LCH is committed to providing continued compassionate support of patients and their families through a survivorship clinic focused on wellness, special needs and preventive care for childhood cancer survivors to ensure the highest quality of life. Young adult survivors of childhood cancer can have moderate to severely diminished health status as a result of their cancer treatment and often experience related physiological and psychological illnesses. To effectively address these special psychosocial needs of pediatric survivors, it is essential to monitored them and ensure they receive comprehensive, long term follow-up care, including surveillance for recurrence and second cancers, management of late effects, coordination of ongoing health maintenance and prevention and important psychosocial elements integral to the healing process post cancer treatment.

Expansion of the Childhood Cancer Survivors Program at LCH with funding from 24 Foundation plans to address improving long-term health and well-being of childhood cancer survivors by promoting adherence to follow-up appointments and screening tests, enhancing education of patients, parents and healthcare providers about long-term effects of childhood cancer treatments, providing timely referrals to necessary specialists, offering readily available psychological counseling for neurocognitive concerns and facilitating the transition to adult care at Levine Cancer Institute.

“Your support of the survivorship program helps ensure that wherever a child is in their diagnosis or journey, that they are being cared for,” Griffith said.

The Childhood Cancer Champions Program powered by 24 Foundation will greatly increase the number of children and families who are able to receive timely intervention, in turn increasing the number of patients whose needs are met and comprehensively served.

“I focus on making each child the happiest and healthiest they can be,” said Dr. Jen Pope, hematology-oncologist at Levine Children’s Hospital.

Help us reach our 2016 of $1.8 million dollars and support survivorship programs provided by Levine Children’s Hospital. Donate here. 

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