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According to The National Cancer Institute, Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among US children. Millions of children are diagnosed with pediatric cancer each year and millions will die each year from the disease while promising treatments are ignored merely for lack of funding. To spend one day on a pediatric cancer floor is to have your life changed forever. These children are sick beyond description, scared and in horrible pain. Their treatments haven't changed substantially in decades and are borrowed from adult cancer treatments. While success rates for many adult cancers have surged, survival rates in many pediatric cancers haven't changed in 20 years. The Federal Government provides almost no funding for children's cancer. Children are not politically powerful, don't pay taxes, and don't march on the lawn of the White House. If a difference is to be made in the lives of these children, it will be made by those who dedicate themselves to speaking for them. Without research dollars and public outcry, these children don't stand a chance.
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In May 2003, Taylor Matthews was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer that strikes children. The shock of the diagnosis soon gave way to the horrible reality that the treatments for her disease were modestly successful at best. Shockingly, there is almost no Federal Funding for Pediatric Cancer Research and precious little private philanthropy. Taylor was horrified that millions of children could be suffering from a horrible disease and yet their cries for help could be ignored. Taylor's response was to found tay-bandz, a tax exempt 501(c)3 organization dedicated to finding cures for the cancers that strike children. tay-bandz is a "kids helping kids" organization with community based efforts throughout the US. Kids have made a difference by raising research funds through dance-a-thons, swim-a-thons, walk-a-thons, community service projects, designing products for sale and more. Over $1,000,000 has been raised at tay-bandz events and the donations have supported research at major medical centers including Columbia Presbyterian Children's Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and MD Anderson Cancer Institute. |
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