About the Fun Walk

Join us for the 2021 Fun Walk benefiting Candlelighters. Candlelighters serves children with cancer and their families receiving treatment in the Texas Medical Center and provides all of its services and programs at NO COST to these families.  Monies raised from the Fun Walk help fund all of Candlelighters programs and services for childhood cancer families, including Candlelighters Camp CLIFF – our annual family camp for children with cancer as well as their siblings and parents - because one day, cancer will be gone, but families will be here forever.

Walk where you are on Saturday, September 11, 2021!

This year, we're challening you to take 4,265 steps on Walk Day (about 2 miles) - each step represents a Candlelighters family - a family who Candlelighters has provided support for during and after their child's cancer treatment; support for the child with cancer, the parents, and their siblings!

Join the VIRTUAL conversation! - Facebook Event link coming soon!

Partake in the ONLINE WALK RAFFLE! - Link coming soon!

Get your family, friends and company involved! Here are the ways YOU can participate: 

1. Candlelighters Family Team (family walking in honor of their child who has/had cancer)
2. Community Team (family or group other than one directly affected by childhood cancer walking in support of Candlelighters mission)
3. Corporate Team (office, company or large corporation walking together for Candlelighters mission)
4. Individual Walker (not on a team but still want to help fundraise)

TEAM CAPTAINS - when you start your team, we encourage you to recruit at least 10 friends or family members to register and walk with your team!  Remember, the more friends and family members you recruit, the more team members you have fundraising! Don't forget to set a goal for your team!

TALKING POINTS:

Who we are

Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Family Alliance provides emotional, educational and practical support to families of children with cancer.

Candlelighters began in 1989 with two parent support groups from the Texas Medical Center: one at Texas Children’s Cancer Center and one at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Children’s Cancer Hospital. The Texas Children’s Hospital group sought formal incorporation, and in 1992 Candlelighters was legally formed.  In the fall of 1992, they invited the MD Anderson Parent Group to join them and the two organizations merged into one.

Why get involved

In the United States, cancer is the number 1 killer of children by disease. On average, one in every four elementary schools has a child with cancer, and the average high school has two students who have or have had cancer.  Each day 43 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer. Currently, one in every 330 Americans develops cancer during childhood or adolescence before the age of 20. Childhood cancer occurs randomly and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class or geographic region. Candlelighters helps those families who face the devastating diagnosis of childhood cancer.

What does my walk donation support

All of our programs and services are the direct result of the vision that our founding families shared – we have faced childhood cancer and we want to make the journey easier for those who come after us.  

The Fun Walk raises money for our services and programs which are offered FREE to children with cancer and their families. This has obviously changed quite a bit since COVID-19 hit, and I'm so proud of how we've adapted our processes to continue our mission throughout this trying time. 

Here's what Fun Walk donations will be used toward this year:

1. Hospital Parking Assistance - we've still been able to provide hospital parking financial assistance to families digitally
2. Emotional Support - families more than ever before are nervous to leave their homes, feeling isolated, being torn apart (thanks to hospital visitor restrictions) and we've been ramping up all our peer-to-peer support efforts. Our weekly support group meetings have grown, and our Parent Consultants are working around the clock to touch base and check-in with our families and their needs.
3. Gas Cards & Grocery Cards - these have probably been our top request throughout the COVID-19 crisis as families more than ever are strapped for basic needs thanks to furloughs and layoffs.
4. Memorial Funds - cancer hasn't quit unfortunately. Children are still being diagnosed and earning their angel wings. Candlelighters provides financial assistance for families to hold memorial services for their children. 

In addition to our daily efforts, we're staying on top of the CDC and American Oncology Camping Association message boards to make the best decision for our weekend family camp, Camp CLIFF. This is my favorite weekend of the year, a weekend I get to spend with my amazing family and friends where our lives are changed for the better. I truly hope we get to do some type of camping activities this year, and Fun Walk funds will help us accomplish some type of experience for our childhood cancer families as well.

When talking to a company or business that you’d like to work with, here is what they can do:

• Sponsor your walk team or make a donation
• Form a walk team of their own, or have their employees join yours
• Host a gift card drive for Candlelighters families (target, wal-mart, amazon, cvs, walgreens, kroger, HEB)
• Summer Jeans Days: employees donate $5 in order to wear jeans on Fridays - Candlelighters will provide Gold Ribbons for them to wear in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness 

Questions? Email kelseyt@candle.org or call (713) 270-4700 for help setting up a personal fundraising page, joining a team or managing your account.