3rd Annual Battle of the Bands
Join us for our 3rd Annual Battle of the Bands fundraiser event! This event, held at the awesome Ned’s Irish Pub in Herndon, is always a ton of fun for all. We are excited to bring back some of our favorite bands to battle it out while introducing a few NEW rockin’ bands this year! Entrance is free, donations are collected at the door, we will have our always popular BOTB event merchandise, Alex’s Army merchandise, lots of super awesome raffle prizes, trivia games and prizes, and MORE!
Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow our BOTB event page for exciting announcements and updates — You won’t want to miss this event!
For those who want to make a night of it, we have arranged a room block at the Embassy Suites Hilton Dulles Airport which is only 2 minutes from Ned’s! This atrium style hotel includes continental breakfast in the morning and has a beautiful pond in the lobby. Our event rate is $85.00/night for a double or queen bed room, rooms can be booked directly through the hotel using the group code ‘Alex’s Battle of Bands’.
Spread the word and let your friends know you’re coming on Facebook.
Kids Helping Kids Care Packages
Our 2016 Kids Helping Kids Care Package Donation Drive was a GREAT success! With the donations we received just last year we were able to fill over 350 care packages which were mailed to children and families whose lives have been impacted by various childhood cancers as well as to 6 different Children’s Hospitals in the U.S. Pictures of last years’ event are below.
Hospitals we reached in 2016 included
*Inova Fairfax Children’s Hospital, Falls Church, VA
*Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC
*Pediatric Specialists of Virginia Clinic, Falls Church, VA
*Kosair Children’s Hospital, Louisville, KY
*UVA Children’s Hospital, Charlottesville, VA
*Children’s Hospital of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Our 3rd Annual Kids Helping Kids Care Package Donation Drive is about to kick-off in March 2017, and we are looking for participation from local Northern Virginia Area Schools and Organizations to help us reach even MORE hospitals this year!
Attached on this page are information pamphlets that you can use to reach out to your school or organization. Contact information for this years’ drive can be found on the attached Letter of Support. We will walk through step by step with your school or organization, so that you have everything you need to make your drive a success!
Our Kids Helping Kids Care Package Donation Drive is a GREAT way for kids in the community to GET INVOLVED and to help their classmates whose lives have been forever changed by childhood cancer!
Thank you in advance for your continued support.
It takes an Army to fight Childhood Cancer…TOGETHER we are Alex’s Army!
Alex’s Army Brochure
Letter of Support
Generic Drive Flyer
Elementary School Flyer
Middle School Flyer
$100,000 donated to support REST study
Alex’s Army is incredibly pleased and humbled to have presented a check to Dr. Jeffrey Dome, MD, PhD, in the amount of $100,000.00 to Children’s National on Thursday, Dec. 29th, 2016.
Dr. Dome is the chief of the Division of Oncology and the Division of Hematology and is also the chair of the Renal Tumor Committee for the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). He oversees clinical trials for Wilms tumors and other childhood kidney cancers in more than 200 children’s hospitals. He holds the Thomas Willson & Lenore Williams McKnew Professorship in Pediatric Oncology and has authored more than 30 articles and textbook chapters on pediatric kidney tumors.
Funding from this grant will support the REST study which is an immunotherapy trial for patients with high-risk solid tumors including Ewing sarcoma, Wilms tumor, Neuroblastoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Soft tissue sarcomas, Osteosarcoma, and Adenocarcinoma. The idea behind the study is to harvest T-cells from patients, grow them in a lab, and “train” the cells to target the WT1 protein (and two other proteins called survivin and PRAME). Once the cells are “trained” to target these proteins, they are given back to the patient in hopes of better fighting off the cancerous cells. An impact report will be provided for updates on the study progress.
Witnessing firsthand the harsh effects of chemotherapies on our children, we have great interest in helping to fund less toxic treatments that will reduce long term side effects for pediatric patients. This type of immunotherapy trial was a perfect fit to the type of research Alex’s Army was hoping to support with our 2016 research funding. Our Board voted unanimously on funding this trial and on Thursday members of Alex’s Army traveled to DC on Thursday to meet with Dr. Dome and his team.
This donation was made in memory and honor of our sweet Alex – and too many other children who have had to leave us too soon. This check was ONLY possible because of the ARMY of supporters who this past year have prayed, sponsored, donated, and come alongside our organization to make a difference for children and families impacted by various childhood cancers. We thank everyone who helped make this possible truly from the bottom of our hearts. While this trial came too late for our sweet Alex, who as many of you know passed away in June of this year, we are hopeful and will be prayerful that this treatment will bring researchers a few steps closer to finding cures and that the patients who have the opportunity to enroll in this study will find healing.
It takes an ARMY to fight childhood cancers and TOGETHER we are Alex’s Army!
Alex’s Army is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness to the lack of funding for childhood cancers, to provide funding to further research with a focus on Wilms Tumor, and to provide support for the childhood cancer community through faith, hope, and love.
8th Annual Walk-N-Roll Toward Wellness Results
8th Annual Walk-N-Roll Toward Wellness Photos
Thank You Battlefield High School and ABC 7
ABC 7 News Story
Grizzly/APYFL Scrimmages and Childhood Cancer Awareness Day
Alex’s Army Bowl
On Saturday, September 10th, Alex’s Army was humbled and honored to be made a part of the annual scrimmages – now known as the Alex’s Army Bowl – between the Grizzly and Amercian Pride youth football leagues! The event raises awareness for and honors families who have been impacted by Childhood Cancers.
These are pictures taken from the event.
We were joined by 6 amazing families all who were our “Honorary Captains” and took part in the coin tosses for the games. The families were showered with small gifts of love from both the APYFL and Grizzly leagues as well as from Alex’s Army! It was a (hot) day full of fun, football, and GOING GOLD for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month!
Special thanks to the commissioners for APYFL, GYfl, to all the coaches, players, parents, and referees who welcomed and included the families with open arms! Thank you also to the families involved in adding another level of competition and support to this event by pledging donations per point scored and representing both leagues! Thank you also to our friends at Ellies Hats for the Gold Ribbon eyeblack! Thank you to all our volunteers who worked through the heat to ensure the day was a success!
Finally, thank you to all the families who were able to join us in being “honorary captains” this year – You each hold a very special place in our hearts!
Fighter of the Month: August 2016
Julia is a 15 yr old T-Cell ALL warrior. She has been in treatment since August 2014. Julia has a strong faith in Christ, joy, and a quiet strength. The journey has been long and hard. Julia is expected to finish chemo treatments in December, she will then begin a series of surgeries to repair damage to her joints. At this point, she needs both hips replaced and has a torn meniscus in one knee. She also has joint damage in both knees, although it is not certain if she will need knee replacements at this time.
Julia has a Facebook page: Team Julia
She also has a Caring Bridge page: Julia Fulmer
New Data Shows a Child Is Diagnosed With Cancer Every 2 Minutes
According to new research done by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), about 215,000 children worldwide — from infants to 14-year-olds — are newly diagnosed with childhood cancer each year.
That’s a big jump from their last study, which showed about 165,000 new cases of childhood cancer each year.
On top of that, the new study found that 85,000 adolescents — from 15-year-olds to 19-year-olds — are being diagnosed each year, bringing the overall incidence of childhood cancer to 300,000 kids per year.
But what do these new numbers really mean?
They mean that every two minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer.
They mean that childhood cancer research — and more funding for it — is more crucial than ever before.