Category Archives: Thanks

Alex's Army Research Initiatives, Announcements, Thanks, Updates

2023 Donation

It’s that time of year again…and we are honored to share that because of your financial support and donations throughout the year as we closed out 2023 Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation wrote a check for $30,000 towards furthering research which we believe will bring the scientists and researchers one step closer to finding cures for our children!

With the guidance of the team at Children’s National, this year’s contribution will be allocated towards the genetics research program at Children’s.

“33% of children with Wilms tumor have an underlying genetic predisposition that makes them more susceptible to developing the disease. In some cases, the predisposition may also affect other family members. This discovery highlights the need for greater partnership and referrals to genetic counselors. Due to the increased recognition of underlying genetic causes of many childhood cancers, our cancer genetics program has grown tremendously in the past few years. Unfortunately, much of the care coordination for cancer genetics is unfunded and we rely on philanthropy to sustain and expand our program.” – Dr Jeffrey Dome Research Profile – Jeffrey Dome, M.D., Ph.D. | Children’s National Research and Innovation

Some of our sweet friends are helping us shout from the rooftops this announcement and our sincere appreciation of your support to make this happen:

Adam, Derreon, Camila, Niko, Ella, Ella’s big sis Madelyn, and Alex’s little sis Caitlyn – as well as all of us at Alex’s Army want to say a huge THANK YOU for your support of our mission to Fund Research, Raise Awareness, and to provide support and encouragement through faith, hope, and love!

Driving for a Cure, Photo Gallery, Thanks

Golf Tournament 2022

Thank you as always to all who took part in our 7th Annual Driving for a Cure Golf Tournament! We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day in July to play 18 holes fundraising to support our mission. Thank you to our 2022 Tournament Sponsor Chick-fil-A and to all our sponsors who supported this years event and to all who continue to support our mission every year! Thank you to Piedmont Golf Club for hosting a wonderful event this year and to all our amazing volunteers who spent the day making the tournament a success once again! Please enjoy pictures from this years’ event – stay tuned for information about our 2023 Tournament!

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Driving for a Cure, Photo Gallery, Thanks

2021 Driving for a Cure

Thank you so much to everyone who made our 6th Annual Driving for a Cure Golf Tournament a huge success!  While the temps were hot, our golfers, volunteers, and sponsors were as amazing as always and contributed to another fun day of golf!

Together we raised a whopping $36,486.83 towards our mission!!! 

We’d like to once again thank our Tournament Sponsor Thrivent Financial Dulles Group for their support and incredible generosity in sponsoring our event.  From handing out extra waters/snacks on the turn to raffling off their own Yeti cooler to raise additional funds – each year they have been a proud supporter and we are grateful for Marty, Dave, Kim & group!

Thank you to all of our Sponsors:  Brilliant Remodeling / Mosaic, Branscome Paving Company, A1 FloodTech, Brown & Brown Insurance, Cardinal Business Products, Chick-fil-A, Dewberry, EastCoast Insulators, Ennis Electric, FVC Bank, GD Flight Ops, General Dynamics, Greco Masonry, Haymarket Kings Basketball Team, Invisible Fence Brand by Clark Associates, Jennifer Young Homes, One Hot Mess, Park Valley Church, Patriot Auto Glass, Primis, R&S Services, RHOLC, Superior Paving, & The Thomey Family.

Thank you to our friend Niko’s dad Juan for joining us and sharing their families story with all of us.  We know Juan touched many hearts and what he did isn’t always easy to do.  Please keep the entire Chavarriaga family in your thoughts and prayers as we know too well that a cancer diagnosis is life-changing, we pray for Niko’s continued good health and healing from all he & his family have been through over the last few years.

Thank you to all of our in-kind donors who helped contribute toward auction and raffle items, our awesome team of volunteers, all our participants, and of course to the staff and team at Piedmont Golf Club. Each of you contribute to the success of this event year after year, and we are so grateful.

And a big Thank You once again to our Golf Tournament Director Franz Ferstl for 6 years’ of awesome events!  We wish you, Leslie, & your family all the best in the next chapter of your lives together!

Congratulations to the following teams for placing in this years event:
1st Place
Bryce Corbett, Tate Corbett, Gavin Furlong, Austin Nevins

2nd Place
Todd Keener, Tony Gourley, Steve Hardt, Tim Juran

3rd Place
David Branscome Jr., Thomas Whitsman, Josh Baird, Cody Reeves

And of course to the recipients of our first ever Hackers Award:
Steve Bloom, Ernest Bush, Charlie Patten, Chris Pool

Congrats to our contest winners:
Longest Drive
Ladies – Beth Foster
Mens – Bryce Corbett

Closest to the Pin
Nick Yates

Closest to the Pin
Jason Brunetti

We hope you enjoy the pictures from this event – shout out to Raishad & Hollie along with a few of you who tagged us in your own pics on social media!

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Alex's Army Research Initiatives, Announcements, Thanks, Videos

$500K – Together We Can

On the last day of what has been a difficult year for us all – our hearts are beyond grateful to all of you who have continued to support our mission day in and day out.

We are honored and so humbled to announce that with this year’s contribution of $60,000 in continued support of the Phase II REST Immunotherapy Trial at Children’s National Hospital, Alex’s Army has to date provided a total of $500,000 in research funding since becoming a 501c3 in 2014!!!

While we certainly aim to do whatever we can to make a difference for families impacted by childhood cancers, we remain committed to funding research with the hope that each contribution will bring researchers closer to cures for our children.

We truly could not do any of this without the incredible generosity, love, and support from each of you who have come alongside us time and again.Together we can do more, we can be more, we can LOVE more, and we can give more. It takes an army to fight childhood cancer….thank you for being a part of Alex’s Army!

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HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY!!!

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!

In the Spotlight & Awards, Thanks

Thank You to Regency Women’s Club of Dominion Valley

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.

In the Spotlight & Awards, Thanks

Thank You Apple Federal Credit Union

September 5th we had the honor of meeting the wonderful team at Apple Federal Credit Union as one of the 2018-2019 Apple Community Impact Grant Program recipients.

When we learned earlier this year that we were nominated for the Apple Community Impact Grant Program, we were incredibly excited for the opportunity alone! Little did we know that the nomination would lead towards our Foundation being chosen and later granted $30,000 in funding towards furthering our mission to support the families we serve who are going through so much in the fight against childhood cancer.

We are so thankful for the sincere compassion, generosity, and excitement that we felt from the entire team at AFCU, the AFCU Golf Committee, and the AFCU Foundation. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you Apple Federal Credit Union for believing in the mission and vision of Alex’s Army and for your support of families fighting childhood cancers.

Thanks

Thank You to Wort Hog Brewing Company

Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation would like to thank Wort Hog Brewing Company for their incredible generosity, compassion, and support of the childhood cancer community. The brewing and distribution of the Kid Strong Barley Wine successfully raised both funds and awareness for childhood cancer. Alex’s Army is proud to have been chosen as a recipient of the proceeds from sales of Kid Strong along with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Alex's Army Research Initiatives, Announcements, Medical/Research, Photo Gallery, Thanks

2017 Research Donation – REST Study Phase II

Our hearts are overflowing with thankfulness! Yesterday, a few of us from our Alex’s Army team went to D.C. to present Dr. Jeffrey Dome and Children’s National Medical Center with a check in the amount of $100,000.00!!!

Because of the successes the Phase I study is seeing, one of the trials Alex’s Army helped to fund last year, this years’ donation will continue to directly fund the REST Immunotherapy study as it goes into Phase II and will be opened to even more families!

Dr. Jeffrey Dome, MD, PhD, is Vice President of the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Chief of the Divisions of Hematology and Oncology, and Associate Director of the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research at Children’s National Health System in Washington, DC. He also is Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences and the Thomas Willson and Lenore Williams McKnew Professor of Pediatric Oncology. He has chaired the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Renal Tumor Committee, which oversees clinical research on kidney tumors at more than 200 children’s hospitals around the world, for more than 10 years and has authored more than 150 articles, books and chapters on pediatric cancer. Dr. Dome was one of Alex’s Oncologists and we are so incredibly honored to be able to come alongside him and the researchers of Children’s to help fund new treatments for children and families still fighting.

Please know that today and EVERY day we are humbled and filled with such gratitude for YOU, Alex’s Army, for making this happen. We know that it is from YOUR support, that we are able to not only help equip the brilliant researchers fighting childhood cancer on the frontlines with the necessary funds they need, but that through your support we are able to bring a little bit of HOPE to the families who are fighting and to those who will be fighting in the days to come!

Beyond the funding presentation though, the day was special for another reason. Yesterday was the day we met Matthew and his family in person. Matthew is a Wilms Tumor Warrior who is currently on the Phase I REST Immunotherapy trial. To say meeting Matthew and his family was a blessing is an understatement…meeting the McDonnell family in person was EVERYTHING to our team. To have the opportunity to see Matthew full of energy, hugs, and smiles…was bittersweet…and he gives the BEST hugs! Inspired by Alex, Matthew, and all the children like these amazing kiddos are why we work so hard day in and day out to raise funds for research – to provide HOPE, to see SMILES, and to one day by the grace of God see CURES!

This was a GOOD day and we are so very thankful for the GOOD days!

On behalf of our Alex’s Army Board Members, our Alex’s Army team, Derek, Jacob, Caitlyn, myself and of course our sweet Alex…THANK YOU for having a heart to make a difference for our children fighting cancer…Thank YOU for being a part of Alex’s Army!

With Faith, Hope, and Love Always,
Jenni Green
President & Co-Founder
Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation