Jillian Hanes, 6, of Waterford is surprised when she looks in the mirror after having her face painted. DOUG LOYER Special to the Times
(mariettatimes.com) – BrAva Fight, a local non-profit organization, is making great strides locally aiding children with cancer and their families by raising funds for childhood cancer research. BrAva Fight is letting these children and families know that they are not alone in their fight.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Organizers of BrAva Fun Day, held Saturday in Muskingum Park, feel it is important to take action. Members of the community can do so by being supportive with words, action and by helping financially. BrAva Fight is the face of childhood cancer locally. A non-profit organization, BrAva was formed in 2011 by co-founders Traci Nichols and Desni Crock, whose children were battling cancer at the time and were going through the similar experiences.
According to committee member Erin Roberts, since BrAva was formed, over $120,000 has been donated to local families whose children are fighting cancer and to CureSearch, which is a national organization that does childhood cancer research. Saturday, BrAva presented CureSearch with a check for $20,000.
Roberts said, “We have adopted 25 families from our local area. Treating a child with cancer is expensive and there is travel involved. Many travel to Columbus or to Ruby Memorial in Morgantown. There is a lot of costs that people don’t think about.”
Nichols, BrAva’s president, presented the $20,000 check to CureSearch representative Katie Petersen. Petersen said, “We are thrilled with the BrAva Fight organization. They are a terrific group that has been generous with donations.”
Each year, according to CureSearch, the parents of approximately 15,500 children will hear the words “your child has cancer.” BrAva would like to put an end to that. Their motto is “Fighting childhood cancer until we find a cure.”