All posts by Raishad Peoples

Awareness Month 2019, Photo Gallery

Ribbons Are Up

09/03/2019 Raishad Peoples

Ribbons are UP and Alex’s Army is proud to have been able to bring GOLD to our hometown of Haymarket again this year!

Sunday, September 1st volunteers, families, and friends of Alex’s Army helped come together to tie Gold Ribbons on the light posts that line the main street of town. These Gold Ribbons represent LOVE and HOPE for families fighting and aim to raise awareness during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!

We started this last year inspired by our friends at Team Mathias who have been bringing Gold Ribbons to their hometown of Leesburg for several years. Its an honor to bring these Gold Ribbons now to Haymarket and we aim to reach other local Prince William County towns next year (watch out Gainesville, Manassas, Nokesville, and Warrenton)!

It’s an awesome feeling for us to be able to hang up and take down these ribbons but there were a few extra special things that happened this year that we wanted to share.

The first was while putting up ribbons crossed paths with a local Haymarket resident was walking along the sidewalk. She asked what our team was doing and when we told her she mentioned that she had a child who had fought cancer many years ago who is now a survivor and she was so happy to see the Gold Ribbons being put up! It’s a reminder that unfortunately childhood cancer is not as rare as people would like to think and there are no coincidences. What a God-ordained moment that she was taking a stroll at the very same time we were putting these ribbons up!

Second, this year we had several local families of both fighters and survivors sign up to join us which was beyond special. These ribbons are in honor and support of families like theirs and they chose to put their walking shoes on and join us in doing the work! We know they know firsthand what these gold ribbons represent and want to give each of them a shout-out to know just how loved they are!

Lastly, a special friend of Alex’s Army and of our Alex who fought her own battle with Breast Cancer a few years ago, also showed up with her daughter to help us hang our Gold Ribbons. This meant the world to us to have them there proudly rocking their Alex’s Army shirts and hanging ribbons with us. Our hearts go out to anyone and everyone who is touched by ANY type of cancer, a cancer diagnosis of any sort is heartbreaking and life-changing. We are thankful to our Army many who have friends and family also fighting their own battles yet who believe in our mission and see the importance to make a difference for these sweet kids and the families we serve.

Thank you to the Town of Haymarket for believing in our mission and allowing us to bring GOLD to Haymarket. Thank you to Chick-fil-A Haymarket for asking us to include Gold Ribbons on your posts as well and also to our friends at Cookies & Cream Haymarket for not only serving as our starting and finishing post but for also serving up some delicious ice cream, cookies, and bottled water for our group when we were done. Thank you also to Trish at Photography By Trisha and a few of our volunteers for capturing pictures from this event!

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! Go Gold for Kids with Cancer!

Alex's Army Research Initiatives, Medical/Research

REST Study Phase I published in Journal of Clinical Oncology

08/18/2019 Raishad Peoples

In 2016 Alex’s Army donated $100,000 to help fund a Children’s National Medical Center REST Study. In 2017 and 2018, based on the success of Phase I, Alex’s Army donated additional $200,000 towards Phase II of the study. A report on Phase I was recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Thanks

HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY!!!

08/06/2019 Raishad Peoples

On August 6th 2014 (exactly 5 years ago today) Alex’s Army received our official IRS approval designated our Foundation as 501c3 non-profit.

So much has happened in 5 years, we have celebrated victories and we have shed many tears but as we look back our hearts cannot help but to feel full.

Our Alex was a big part of wanting to start Alex’s Army – he was the final say on our Foundation’s name and helped form what our mission would entail. He was proud of the work Alex’s Army is committed to doing and he knew the importance experiencing firsthand what kids go through when diagnosed with cancer. We miss our sweet Alex beyond words and we strive everyday to make sure everything we do would be “Alex approved” and includes little touches of our sweet boy throughout.

Over the years so many people have come alongside us, have helped #BElove for others, and have joined the fight against childhood cancers whether through donating, attending events, volunteering, or helping to raise awareness.

We are forever grateful for each of you…and are so thankful for all who help make up Alex’s Army!

Please help continue to support our mission as we look ahead to another 5 years!

•Like, Follow, and Share our social media pages (how cool would it be if our FB page could reach 5,000 likes in celebration of this anniversary?!?) Facebook Instagram

•Make a Donation to help support our mission (every amount helps and is 100% tax-deductible)

•Volunteer with us (we heart our Volunteers!)

•Host an Event

It takes an ARMY to fight Childhood Cancer…Together we are Alex’s Army!

Couples Retreat

2019 Couples Retreat

06/22/2019 Raishad Peoples

This past weekend was beautiful beyond words. Alex’s Army hosted our first ever Couples Retreat and we truly feel like it couldn’t have been any more perfect.

The couples, the conversations, the weather…all of it…every single part was absolutely perfect in every way.

Life leaves us broken at times and we don’t always understand the “why” when painful things happen. We can be left feeling alone…alone as individuals and alone in our marriages. But then there are people that God brings into our paths, not by coincidence. People to lift us up, to walk alongside us, to hold our hands, to listen, and to love us in our brokenness.

This weekend a common thread was finding the beauty amongst the pain, the light shining through the darkness. It was about marriage, family, healing, and new friendships – it was about faith, hope, and love.

“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT

Driving for a Cure, Photo Gallery

2019 Driving for a Cure

06/20/2019 Raishad Peoples

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make our 5th Annual Driving for a Cure another great success! While the weather may have been hot~hot~hot that didn’t deter our awesome golfers and volunteers from having a great day on the course!
Thank you to this year’s Tournament Sponsor (and awesome grilling team) Dulles Group – Thrivent Financial Martin Cox & David Stach.
Thank you to our friends at Chick-Fil-A Haymarket for providing breakfast and boxed lunches before and during play for our golfers!

A huge thank you to all of our Greens, Tee Box, and Beverage Cart sponsors for your generous support, to all of our donors who contributed items for our silent auction and raffle prize drawings, to our amazing volunteers, planning team, and to our rockstar Tournament Director Franz Ferstl!

We LOVE our golfers who year after year make this such a FUN and successful fundraiser event ~ Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

In the Spotlight & Awards, Thanks

Thank You to Regency Women’s Club of Dominion Valley

06/10/2019 Raishad Peoples

On Thursday, June 6th, Jenni Green and Liz Bush of Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation were invited to join the Regency Women’s Club of Dominion Valley for their annual Dinner Meeting and Presentation of Scholarships and Charity Grants.

Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation together with Feeding Friends, another local nonprofit organization from Prince William County, each received checks for $9,000! The amount given this year was said to be an all time high for the Regency Women’s Club.

Every year, the Regency Women’s Club of Dominion Valley chooses 2 local non-profit organizations and raises funds throughout the year through various fundraiser events in an effort to help support the chosen charities missions. We were so honored to have been nominated and chosen as one of the 2018-2019 beneficiaries. The women in this club are definitely a special group and what they are doing to give back to the community is both inspiring and heartwarming.

On behalf of everyone at Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation, we thank the Regency Women’s Club for believing in our mission, for their kindness, love and support, and for empowering our foundation financially so that we can continue to make a difference for families in our area fighting childhood cancers.

Photo Gallery, Super Siblings

Super Siblings Bowling at Uptown Alley

04/30/2019 Raishad Peoples

Our hearts are beaming from the smiles shared and fun that was had by all on Sunday. Many people don’t realize that siblings can often feel overlooked when a child in the family is diagnosed with cancer. While these sweet children feel sad, scared, or even jealous, they tend to keep those feelings inside in fear of bringing more grief or worry to their already grief-stricken parents.

Alex’s Army knows just how AMAZING these SUPER SIBLINGs are and just how strong the bond between siblings can be – this event was held to CELEBRATE the awesome siblings all around us! You can just feel the love from the pictures that these SUPER SIBLINGS have for each other and we are so thankful to have gotten to spend the day with each and every one of them!

Thank you to Apple Federal Credit Union foundation for choosing Alex’s Army as beneficiary of the 2018-2019 Impact Grant and allowing us to hold events like this! Thank you to Uptown Alley Manassas for helping us put on a wonderful event! Thank you also to Park Valley Church Miracle of Mercy women’s group for not only helping pack gifts for the kids but also for joining our volunteer team to shower the families with love at the event!