Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Foundation dedicated to finding better treatments and cures for childhood cancer expands reach to gather critical information from families

Philadelphia, PA (September 2011) – In an effort to better understand the impact of childhood cancer on families facing the disease, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) has announced a project to gather imperative data entitled MyChildhoodCancer.org - The Childhood Cancer Database. The just-launched initiative will invite parents of former and current childhood cancer patients to take a series of anonymous surveys to gather information about their experience, their child and their family from diagnosis, through treatment and beyond. The information gained will used to learn about childhood cancers and help organizations, hospitals and physicians to identify and share ways to help families as they navigate through childhood cancer.

Since inception, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has been dedicated to finding a cure for all kids with cancer by funding the best and most innovative research. Additionally, the foundation has worked to improve the quality of life for childhood cancer patients and their families by creating resource programs. The Childhood Cancer Database project will serve both purposes by providing information to members of the research community as well as highlight common experiences to better understand the impact of childhood cancer on families.

“Through the years, we have had the opportunity to speak with many parents whose children have been diagnosed with childhood cancer,” said Jay Scott, Executive Director of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation and father of Alexandra “Alex” Scott “We realized that there are common threads through childhood cancer experiences, and that this information could be impactful. With no current place to compile this information, we responded with the creation of MyChildhoodCancer.org.”

In order to participate in The Childhood Cancer Database Project, families will be directed to www.MyChildhoodCancer.org, where the database project is housed. There, all parents and legal guardians of children who have been diagnosed with cancer under the age of 18 will be met with a survey asking questions about their experience with childhood cancer. The first survey in the series is focused on the time period before and early on in a child’s cancer diagnosis.  Additional surveys will include experiences leading up to treatment, during and after, as well as how families coped, and are coping in the time following. The project aims to have at least 1,000 participants prior to the end of 2011.

For more information on the survey, or for families wishing to participate, visit: www.MyChildhoodCancer.org.