Goal: $11,220.00
Specific Need
$30,000 to begin grants for families in the Manhattan - Flint Hills region battling childhood cancer. This includes offering each family assistance navigating clinical trials, connections to childhood cancer resources, financial support to travel to trials, assistance with unexpected expenses, emotional support during the journey, and if needed bereaved parent and sibling support. We are now able to walk with the family and share the knowledge acquired over four years of immersion in the national and regional childhood cancer community.
Additional funds to continue funding research right on the cusp of breakthroughs for pediatric brain cancer and to bring to life the DMG Data Hub to study the longitudinal clinical trial, imaging and genomic data for pediatric brain cancer.
Additional funds to support DIPG/DMG brain cancer family needs nationally.
Mission
Tough2gether Foundation fights childhood cancer alongside families impacted with this devastating news. Our mantra is Connect . Question . Collaborate . Cure. During the last full year of operations we have done just that delivering nearly $2M in family support and research through collaborations Tough2gether has established acrossed the country.
We place special emphasis on supporting regional Kansas families and families fighting childhood brain cancer, the most deadly childhood disease. Whether it is gas card or hotels to travel to trials, paying rent when a parent must become the caretaker, or purchasing a child size casket. We know when we come together we're Tough2gether. No child should fight alone.
Tough2gether funds research for pediatric brain cancer working very closely with researchers across the country. We know this journey because our son Jace fought Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) courageously for 25 months. The NIH cancer funding allocates only 4% to all childhood cancer. Now, pediatric brain cancer is THE most deadly type of cancer. We've funded in the first year $1.2M in research by bringing foundations together, started a national brain tumor board, a national BrianStorm Summit for advocates and researchers, a DMG Data hub to study longitudinal data of the disease and helped 150 families.
We're not finished. We know this journey well. Our son Jace Ward battled courageously for 25 months. He inspired us to make sure the children who had not yet found their voice were never forgotten. Join with us.
Let's work together for the day that we are no longer afraid of what cancer can do to our children, but celebrate what was accomplished when generous caring individuals came together to help the smallest among us.
Profile
There was one moment when we stood in silence as the doctor said "You have an inoperable, aggressive, terminal brain tumor. I began to cry. Jace asked "How long do I have. I'm not afraid to die, I'm afraid of not making an impact before I do." The doctor replied you have 6-9 months. Jace was 20 years old, otherwise perfectly healthy, ready for a weekend in the 'ville.
Tough2gether Foundation was founded by Jace Ward and his parents Roger and Lisa Ward of Wamego. Jace Ward was a 20 year old KSU student headed for law school when he was diagnosed with the most deadly pediatric brain cancer called DIPG. DIPG ravishes children and young adults stealing their voice, sight, walk, swallow, use of their limbs, hearing until the child is locked in their body. Eventually stealing the child's last breath. All the while, the child knows everything that is happening. They never lose their cognitive ability. No standard of treatment has changed for children with DIPG in 60 years. At that time Neil Armstrong's daughter lost her life to the same tumor. We can change this 2gether.
Jace entered clinical trials on the cutting edge in hopes of making a difference. He advocated, and we continue to advocate nationally speaking at the White House Cancer Moonshot Forum, the NIH on patient data and immunotherapy and leading an effort to end randomized trials for terminal pediatric conditions.
We have helped over 400 families directly who feel absolutely lost. We started parent chat feed, and now a platform for famlies with childhood cancer. We host emotional support online, we provide family grants to pay expenses so the family can stay together, afford their health insurance and groceries while in treatment. We listen and navigate the family to treatment, resources and sharing of brain tissue for research.
It is humbling to see the reach of Tough2gether Foundation across the world in such a short time period within pediatric brain cancer. However, the work is not done. We know there are regionally families battling childhood cancer who are told, as we were, to go home and make memories. They deserve the right to try innovative treatments and to also receive the best advice available across the country. Tough2gether is opening regional support with navigation to treatment as centers of excellence.
We are able to do this work without incurring the cost of paid staff to date. This allows every dollar to go into patient support and research funding. Please join us as we continue to grow the reach of Tough2gether Foundation.