February 28, 2017: If you need some positive energy and information in your life right now, go on the website, Chase After a Cure, and read the inspirational and motivational stories of the brave, beautiful children this amazing non-profit organization helps everyday. Chase After A Cure provides support and community awareness for young victims, and their families, of virulent childhood cancers. Rotarians were fortunate to have the Executive Director, Adam White, as our speaker at the February 28th meeting who told us about the mission and activities of Chase After A Cure.
Chase After a Cure (CAAC) was started in 2009 by Summerville, SC, resident, Whitney Ringler and her family after her son, Chase, was given a 30 percent chance of survival. Chase had been diagnosed in 2007 with Stage 4 neuroblastoma, a solid mass tumor that is one of childhood’s most virulent cancers. Executive Director White met Chase and his Mom in 2008, a year after Chase’s diagnosis, at a Children’s Miracle Network fund-raiser for local hospitals–a day that changed Adam’s life.
Adam White, a native Virginian and Brevard College graduate, was not in the medical or health care business but instead had 18 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He was working at the time of that Children’s Miracle Network event at the Renaissance Hotel and was so moved by the work of CAAC he began actively volunteering for the organization.
As Adam tells it, he soon realized that these volunteering activities were becoming his life’s work; that his passion and heightened work satisfaction had merged with the activities and objectives of CAAC. So, in 2010, Adam left his job in the hospitality world to become the first staff member of the newly formed 501(c)3. In this capacity, Adam has used the skills and contacts he garnered from his hospitality industry background to provide leadership and fund-raising for childhood cancer research.
CAAC is “committed to raising awareness and research funds for childhood cancer.” The organization focuses on very rare childhood cancers, such as neuroblastomas, that have historically had low survival rates. As devastating as these diseases are, less that 4% of the national research budget goes to childhood cancers, leaving research universities and institutions underfunded to work as aggressively on treatments and cures as they would like. Survival rates for childhood cancers are improving, but they are still abysmally low and there has been little focus on the very harsh consequences that frequently accompany difficult treatment options. Cardiac issues, motor impairment, hearing and vision loss and loss of limbs can all be outcomes of life-saving therapies. Organizations like CAAC, that help provide public awareness involvement and resources are the hope of these young cancer victims.
In SC, the researchers at the Medical University are working hard to conduct research that will lead to the therapies and possible cures for childhood cancers but a 24% cut in funding from the National Institutes of Health budget over the past 10 years has reduced the hoped-for scientific breakthroughs addressing childhood cancer. Adam’s work at CAAC has helped to fill a small part of that gap. Using his development skills, Adam has created events like the CAAC Annual Gala, gotten approval for the sale of a South Carolina CAAC license plate (on sale soon—watch for them!), and partnered with supportive organizations and individuals to raise over half a million dollars. He believes that by 2020, this amount will exceed $1 million. Seventy-five to eighty per cent of the proceeds from CAAC fund-raising events go directly to MUSC research. Ten years after his diagnosis, Chase’s scans and tests are clear. He is a survivor of one of childhood’s worst diseases.
Take a few minutes to read Chase’s story and those of other children battling rare cancers on the CAAC website. Their stories and courage inspired Adam White to change the course of his life. Adam, in turn, is changing theirs. He and the other staff and volunteers at CAAC devote their time and talent to raising the money to fund the research that develops the tools and medicines that will one-day cure childhood cancers.
These children and CAAC need support and Adam’s heartfelt presentation will doubtless cause some of our Rotary members to consider being vigorously supportive of Chase After A Cure.
— Cheryl Kaynard, Keyway Committee