September is an action packed month. School begins again, sports start again, and the seasons will begin to change. Although it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of school, sports, friends, and anticipating the fall season when I will get to go apple picking, September means more to me than these things.
Each year in the U.S. 15,780 children under the age of 21 are diagnosed with cancer and September is a time to raise awareness for those children. This number may seem abstract, but it hits close to home for me. Earlier this year, I lost my friend Michelle to a rare form of childhood cancer, so not only is September a month to raise awareness, every day is for me.
I think it is great that September is childhood cancer awareness month, but I don’t think people realize that it means more than just changing your profile picture on Facebook to a superhero. It means taking the time to understand what childhood cancer is, how it impacts families, and what you can do to help. Something I found inspiring was that this month when people did change their profile pictures to superheroes, many people who knew Michelle changed theirs to picture of her, because, in fact, this girl was a superhero.
Childhood cancer research is something that I am passionate about supporting. Not enough money raised for cancer research goes directly to childhood cancer research. Actually, only 4 percent of federal funding goes directly to childhood cancer research. There’s a large and inexcusable funding gap between funds used to research adult cancer and funds used to research childhood cancer. So this month, I decided to honor childhood cancer awareness month, and my friend Michelle, by starting a Love Your Melon chapter at Stonehill College. Love Your Melon is a charitable organization that raises money for childhood cancer research through selling hats. 25 percent of the net proceeds go to CureSearch for Children’s Cancer and 25 percent goes directly to a family in need of immediate support for children battling cancer.
Love Your Melon ambassadors will sell hats and fundraise money for childhood cancer research. Eventually we will be able to go into hospital oncology units and deliver hats to children undergoing treatment, and we will dress as superheroes. However, we are not the real superheroes, they are.
For me, this September has been a time to reflect on how I want to help children with cancer, and remember my friend and honor her. September is more than an exciting month of new beginnings, it is also a time to be reminded of the struggle that so many families undeservingly have to go through, and how you can help.
It is naïve to think that there is nothing you can do to help. Whether it is buying a Love Your Melon beanie, volunteering at a hospital, or educating yourself on childhood cancer, there is always something you can do to support research and raise awareness. September is a time to raise awareness, but that doesn’t mean it ends when October comes around. Childhood cancer doesn’t just stop, so why should we?
