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| Les Fountain - 2012 |
BRICK stands for Brain Research In Cancer Kids. It's the name of our new fundraising group. We have joined forces with our extended family to raise money specifically for Brain Tumor Research at the Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego (RCHSD).
Dr. John Crawford, MD, Director of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at RCHSD, desires to do much more for the kids with brain cancer. There are many scientific studies that are possible to try to improve the treatment for cancer patients currently being treated as well as those, like Les, who are survivors.
Many people don't realize that cancer in the brain affects the patient in different ways than cancers in other parts of the anatomy. Think about it - it's your brain - the control center of everything that goes on in your body. The cancer tumor itself messes with the brain and then the treatment to get rid of the tumor also messes with the brain. Though many kids with brain cancer survive the ordeal, they are often left with various "late effects" caused by the cancer itself and the treatments.
As an example, Les has some cognitive and physical limitations that cause him to respond and move more slowly than other kids his age. If newer treatments were explored and found that could minimize the "late effects", then other kids who get brain cancer would have a better, more robust, future.
Our fundraising efforts have consisted of participating in the Shamu and You Family Walk at Sea World in October of 2011. This was a RCHSD fundraiser, and we joined with “Team Believe”. More than $5,500 was raised for Team Believe and it all went to Brain Tumor Research at RCHSD.
The latest fundraising effort, and the first BRICK hosted event, is a comedy night in San Diego on April 19, 2012. You can buy your ticket or make a donation at www.helpsdkids.org/comedynightforbrick. A wonderful group of people spent many hours and donated huge amounts of gifts and talents to make this event successful. Dan Nanian, of “Last Comic Standing” fame, donated his time and serves as our headliner. Karen Robertson, one of Les’ grandmas, chaired the event and secured many corporate sponsors. Sue Amick, Les’ other grandma, and Laura Amick, Les’ great-grandma, rounded out “Team Grandma” and took care of many details along the way. I must say that the Fountain Family didn’t do much work on this event as we have been kept busy with life. Praise Jesus for a team of grandmas who caught the vision and ran with it.
BRICK is still a young fundraising effort, yet we hope to bring in much needed dollars to improve the future of brain cancer kids. If you have any ideas you would like to share with us, please leave a comment on this post with your contact info (click on the "# comments" at the bottom of this page). I'm moderating the comments, so I won't publish your contact info on the blog. To donate to the Brain Tumor Research effort at Rady’s Children’s Hospital - San Diego follow this link. www.helpsdkids.org/comedynightforbrick. All proceeds go directly to Brain Tumor Research at RCHSD and are tax deductible. You can donate even after the comedy night is over, as long as the link is still active.
If you want to know more about Les Fountain’s specific brain cancer diagnosis and treatment story, you can peruse this blog. Les had cancer in 2003 before there was CaringBridge and other websites like that, so we created our own website to keep everyone up to date – and have since moved the content over to this blog. We hope you enjoy reliving Les’ story.
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| Les, Jason, and Cecillia Fountain - 2012 |